1. A computer-implemented method for performing an operation on a set of graphical components in a computer-aided design (CAD) application executing on a computer system, the method comprising the steps of: detecting that a statement includes: an operation identifier that specifies said operation, pattern matching criteria comprising an identifier associated with a container object that is associated with one or more graphical components, and an attribute identifier that identifies an attribute; and executing said statement by identifying said set of graphical components that satisfy said pattern matching criteria, wherein a graphical component satisfies said pattern matching criteria when the graphical component is one of the one or more graphical components associated with the container object, and wherein said set of graphical components includes at least two graphical components, performing said operation on said attribute of each graphical component in said set of graphical components that satisfy said pattern matching criteria, generating a frame within an animation by altering state information corresponding to each graphical component in said set of graphical components, and displaying said frame on a display device or storing said frame in a memory.