Patent ID: 6154219
Filing Date: 2000-11-28
Classification: G06T,G09B

Abstract:
A method for drawing map features and associated labels to be displayed on a map, comprising the steps of:compiling a list of map features to be potentially displayed on a map, the map features comprising point features and non-point features, each feature comprising an associated label positionable in a plurality of potential label positions;assigning a label selection priority to each feature in the list;ordering the features in the list in priority order;drawing the non-point features in the list to a representation of the map; andselecting point features, labels associated with the point features, and labels associated with the non-point features for drawing to the representation of the map by:a. retrieving a selected feature from the list in priority order;b. if the label associated with the selected feature can be placed in one or more of the potential label locations for the selected feature without causing a collision with any of the features or associated labels having a higher priority, drawing the label for the selected feature to the representation of the map in one of those locations and, if the feature is a point feature, also drawing the feature to the representation of the map;c. if the label associated with the selected feature cannot be placed in one of the potential label locations for the feature without causing a collision with any of the features or associated labels having a higher priority, deleting the selected feature from the first list;d. if the label has been drawn for the selected feature, determining whether there is a collision between the label and one or more point features having a lower priority and, if so, removing the features involved in the collision having the lower priorities from the list; ande. repeating steps a-d until labels for all of the features remaining in the list have been drawn.