Patent Publication Number: US-2004044469-A1

Title: Displaying road maps

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
       [0001] This application relates generally to displaying road maps in a computer program, such as a transportation planning application for use in supply chain management.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0002] Many different types of geographic services exist. These services use “geo-servers”, which include computer hardware and/or software that provide geographic information.  
       [0003] In operation, a geo-server receives input geographic information and provides output geographic information in response to the input geographic information. For example, a geo-server may translate addresses received from an external computer system to geographic coordinates, such as longitudes and latitudes (referred to as “geocoding”). The geo-server may also provide the external computer system with a map that shows routes between the addresses.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0004] In general, in one aspect, the invention is directed to a method of displaying a road map in a transportation planning computer program. The method includes receiving data for the road map, rendering the road map from the data, augmenting the road map with landmark information, and toggling between a route view of the road map and a symbolic view of the road map. The route view displays a driving route between two locations on the road map. The symbolic view displays straight lines between locations on the road map. This aspect may also include one or more of the following features.  
       [0005] The road map may include target locations and expected stop-over locations between the target locations. The target locations may be customer locations. The landmark information may include points of interest along a route between two or more target locations. For example, the landmark information may include one or more of a gas station along the route, a location of a restaurant along the route, and a location of construction along the route, or other such features.  
       [0006] The method may include displaying at least one of distance and travel time for a selected route on the road map, selecting a shipment associated with the transportation planning computer program, and requesting data for a road map associated with the selected shipment. The data for the road map may include data associated with the selected shipment. The method may include requesting the data from a geocoding service and receiving the data from the service. The data may be routed via a server that provides a generic interface to servers associated with plural geocoding services.  
       [0007] In other aspects, the invention is directed to an apparatus and machine-readable medium containing instructions that are used in performing the foregoing method.  
       [0008] In general, in another aspect, the invention is directed to a graphical user interface (GUI) for a transportation planning computer program. The GUI includes a window to display a road map that defines target locations, a route between the target locations, and a landmark along the route, and a list of shipment options, at least one of the shipment options corresponding to the road map. This aspect may also include one or more of the following features.  
       [0009] The GUI may include a first field to display a travel time between the target locations and a second field to display a distance between the target locations. The GUI may include a button for toggling between a route view of the road map and a symbolic view of the road map. The route view may display a driving route between two locations on the road map. The symbolic view may display straight lines between locations on the road map. Zoom-in and zoom-out controls for increasing or decreasing the size of the road map may also be included.  
       [0010] Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, including the claims and drawings. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0011]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a network containing an Internet graphics server.  
     [0012]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the software architecture of the Internet graphics server.  
     [0013]FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process for providing data to the Internet graphics server.  
     [0014]FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process performed by the Internet graphics server for providing a generic interface to plural geo-servers.  
     [0015]FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a process performed by a transportation planning application for rendering road maps provided by the Internet graphics server.  
     [0016]FIG. 6 is a graphical user interface for displaying the road maps. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION  
     [0017] Referring to FIG. 1, a network  10  includes a base computer system  12 , an Internet graphics server (IGS)  14 , and multiple geo-servers  15 ,  16 ,  17 . Connections between these and other devices on network  10  may be via Ethernet, phone line, and/or wireless link, for example. Network  10  may include a local portion  19  comprised of base computer system  12  and IGS  14  and an external portion  20  comprised of geo-servers  15 ,  16 ,  17 . The local portion may be a local area network (LAN) running a protocol such as RFP, and the external portion may be a wide area network (WAN) and/or the Internet running a protocol such as HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol). It is noted that devices depicted on the local portion may be on the external portion and vice versa.  
     [0018] Geo-servers  15 ,  16 ,  17  are used by various geographic services, such as the ESRI ArcIMS and PTV eMapServer, to provide output geographic information to IGS  14  in response to input geographic information received from IGS  14 . Generally speaking, the term “geocoding” refers to converting input geographic information, such as addresses, into output geographic coordinates. Geographic services, however, also provide other features, such as route planning and distance calculation. These features enable users to plan routes and determine distances between specified locations. Geographic services also provide road maps, as described below.  
     [0019] Thus, the input or output geographic information referred to above may include geographic coordinates (e.g., a longitude and latitude) of an address. The input or output geographic information may include a street address, a city, a country, and the like. The output geographic information may also include, e.g., routes, such as streets, between two locations, travel time between those locations, and map(s) showing the locations, and the like. Geographic information other than that described here may also be used for input or output.  
     [0020] IGS  14  has a server architecture in which data from base computer system  12  and/or other source(s) can be used to generate graphical or non-graphical output. IGS  14  can be used to encapsulate geographic services&#39; functionality. To this end, IGS  14  provides, to the base computer system or other source(s), geographic services including, but not limited to, sending and receiving requests for displaying maps, routes, planning, coordinates, and addresses.  
     [0021] Base computer system  12  runs one or more software applications, which may provide inputs to IGS  14 . Among these applications is transportation planning application  22 . Transportation planning application  22  contains various features relating to supply chain management. Supply chain management refers, generally, to managing commerce (e.g., product shipments) between a manufacturer, various intermediaries, such as distribution centers, wholesalers and the like, and customers. Transportation planning application  22  may be used to determine routes for transporting goods along the supply chain, among other things. Transportation planning application  22  generates one or more graphical user interfaces (not shown) that include one or more fields for entering geographic (and other) information that can be provided to IGS  14 .  
     [0022] In this embodiment, IGS  14  is a dedicated computer or other processing device that contains memory  24  and one or more processors  25  that run software (executable instructions)  26  stored in memory  24  to provide the functionality described herein (see view  27 , which depicts the architecture of IGS  14 ). It should be noted, however, that the IGS is not limited to this architecture and, instead, can include any combination of hardware and/or software, as noted below.  
     [0023] Software  26  may include, but is not limited to, network software  29  for communicating over network  10 , operating system software  30 , and operational software  31  for transmitting information between geo-servers  15 ,  16 ,  17  and base computer system  12 . Operational software  31  may include various modules that convert data between formats for transmission to applications running on base computer system  12  and from such applications to a geo-server.  
     [0024]FIG. 2 shows the architecture of operational software  31  in one embodiment of IGS  14 . Operational software  31  includes communication modules  32 . Communication modules  32  include RFC listener module  34  and HTTP listener module  35 . RFC listener module  34  and HTTP listener module  35  “listen” for communications from network  10 , e.g., to pick-up communications from base computer system  12 .  
     [0025] More specifically, communication modules  32  receive data from network  10 , filter the data to detect IGS-destined communications, convert the data from the RFC or HTTP format to an IGS-internal data format, and provide the resulting converted data to multiplexer  36 . Communication modules  32  also output data from IGS  14  (to, e.g., base computer system  12 ) onto network  10 , in the process performing any necessary conversions to RFC or HTTP format.  
     [0026] Multiplexer  36  is the central instance for data communications between communication modules  32  and portwatchers  39 ,  40 ,  41  (described below). Multiplexer  36  sends data packets from a communication module, via a portwatcher, to an interpreter (described below). Multiplexer  36  “knows” which interpreters are available and therefore can assign the data packets based on the number of available interpreters in order to balance the load of each interpreter.  
     [0027] Multiplexer  36  can also turn interpreters on and off via a portwatcher. As a result, multiplexer  36  can perform active load balancing. That is, if the number of data packets exceeds a predetermined limit, then multiplexer  36  can turn on an interpreter and thereby lessen the number of data packets that each of the other interpreters must process. In this embodiment, there is one multiplexer for IGS  14 ; however, any number of multiplexers can be used.  
     [0028] A portwatcher is a software module that instantiates the components (e.g., the interpreters) configured for the portwatcher, registers with multiplexer  36 , and informs multiplexer  36  of the interpreters that are available.  
     [0029] Each portwatcher communicates with multiplexer  36  using, e.g., a socket interface or a shared memory if the multiplexers and portwatchers use the same hardware. A portwatcher receives its “requests” (e.g., to obtain geocoordinates and/or a map) from multiplexer  36  and can return its status if requested by multiplexer  36 . Requests that portwatchers receive from multiplexer  36  are sent by the portwatchers to the appropriate interpreters. A portwatcher may service one or more software modules (e.g., interpreters, engines, etc.). These software modules carry-out the requests and send results back to multiplexer  36  via the portwatchers.  
     [0030] Software modules  45 ,  46 ,  47 , which are C++ applet “plug-ins” in this embodiment, are installed on IGS  14 . Alternatively, JAVA plug-ins may be used.  
     [0031] IGS Geographic Services  
     [0032] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, geo-interpreters  45 ,  46 ,  47  correspond to respective geo-servers  15 ,  16 ,  17 . Each geo-interpreter is designed to communicate with its corresponding geo-server. Multiple geo-interpreters may communicate with the same geo-server and/or a single geo-interpreter may communicate with multiple geo-servers.  
     [0033] Each geo-server  15 ,  16 ,  17  is capable of recognizing data having a specific format. Data that is not formatted properly, in general, cannot be processed by the geo-server and/or may not be processed properly. Geo-interpreters  45 ,  46 ,  47  perform data formatting for their respective geo-servers  15 ,  16 ,  17 . For example, in a case that geo-interpreter  45  is written for geo-server  15 , geo-interpreter  45  generates data that is in a format that geo-server  15  understands. In a case that geo-interpreter  46  is written for geo-server  16 , geo-interpreter  46  generates data that is in a format that geo-server  16  understands, and so on.  
     [0034] Each geo-server also has a specific access protocol. The geo-interpreters are therefore also configured to provide the correct access protocol for their corresponding geo-servers.  
     [0035] Any number of geo-interpreters may be installed per IGS, thereby permitting connection to any number of different geo-servers. Interpreters may also be included in IGS  14  to connect to other geographic information systems, such as map databases and the like.  
     [0036]FIG. 3 shows a process  50  to provide geographic services from IGS  14  to transportation planning application  22 . Transportation planning application  22  receives ( 52 ) input geographic information from one or more GUIs (not shown). Transportation planning application  22  passes the input geographic information to a lower-level software application  23  on base computer system  12 . Lower-level software application  23  generates ( 54 ) standard eXtensible Markup Language (XML) code that defines the address information and passes that XML code to a geocoding framework application  28  within lower-level application  23 .  
     [0037] Geocoding framework application  28  generates ( 55 ) a table from the XML code and passes that table back to transportation planning application  22 . Geocoding framework application  28  generates the table by extracting XML fields from the XML code and inserting the former XML fields into the table. In this embodiment, the table is a look-up table (LUT) containing rows that include the XML code; however, other types of tabular and non-tabular formats may be used. Transportation planning application  22  transmits ( 56 ) the table containing XML code to IGS  14  via network  10  using a protocol such as HTTP or RFC.  
     [0038]FIG. 4 shows a process  60 , which is performed by software in IGS  14  for obtaining geographic information from one (or more) of geo-servers  15 ,  16 ,  17 . Process  60  receives ( 61 ) input geographic information from transportation planning application  22 . As noted above, the input geographic information is formatted as a table containing XML code.  
     [0039] Process  60  selects ( 62 ) a geo-server from which to obtain output geographic information that corresponds to the input geographic information. Process  60  may select the geo-server based on one or more factors. For example, the input geographic information may include an indication of which geo-server to select. A user running transportation planning application  22  may input the indication of which geo-server to select or IGS  14  or transportation planning application  22  may select a geo-server automatically based on input geographic information (or some other criteria). Alternatively, multiplexer  36  (FIG. 2) may select the geo-server, e.g., by performing load balancing, as described above.  
     [0040] By way of example, one geo-server  15  may provide more accurate information for a particular country, such as Germany, than another geo-server  16 . Accordingly, IGS  14  may contain a rule whereby each time a user indicates an address in Germany, IGS  14  automatically selects geo-server  15 . The same process may be applied for other fields as well. For example, one geo-server may provide more accurate information for a particular continent (e.g., Europe), area of a city, country, or for a particular mode of transportation. For example, one geo-server may provide more accurate information for roadways and another geo-server may provide more accurate information for railways.  
     [0041] In other instances, the desired geographic information may not be available from one geographic service, but may be available from another geographic service. If IGS  14  knows beforehand which geographic services provide which information, IGS  14  can direct geographic requests accordingly. If IGS  14  does not know the types of information available from the various geographic services, IGS  14  can request the information from more than one geographic service. For example, IGS  14  can output a request to multiple geo-servers concurrently, or try each geo-server sequentially until IGS  14  obtains the requested information.  
     [0042] Process  60  transmits ( 64 ) the input geographic information to an interpreter that corresponds to the selected geo-server. For example, if ESRI is selected as the geo-server, process  60  transmits the input geographic information to the interpreter that is designed to work with ESRI. As noted above, this transmission may be performed via multiplexer  36  and a portwatcher.  
     [0043] The interpreter receives the input geographic information and formats ( 65 ) the input geographic information (i.e., the generic XML-tabular format described above) so that it is compatible with the selected geo-server. That is, the interpreter converts the data so that the format of the input geographic information is compatible with the data format of the selected geo-server. In the example described above, if the ESRI interpreter is selected, the interpreter converts the generic XML tabular data to the data format that is recognized by ESRI. The same process is true for interpreters for other geocoding services. Thus, IGS  14  provides a generic interface to multiple geocoding services.  
     [0044] Process  60  transmits ( 66 ) the reformatted input geographic information from the interpreter to the selected geocoding service, together with any instructions, such as the type of data requested from the geocoding service. Transmission may be over a network, such as the Internet or the like. Since the data is in the format that is recognized by the geocoding service, the geocoding service can process the data and provide the requested output geographic information. For example, if the input geographic information is geographic coordinates, the output geographic information provided by the geo-server may be specific addresses that correspond to the input geographic coordinates.  
     [0045] The geo-server transmits its output (the output geographic information) back to IGS  14 . The appropriate communication module, e.g., RFC listener module  34  or HTTP listener module  35 , receives ( 67 ) the transmission and, via multiplexer  36  and a portwatcher, provides the output geographic information to the appropriate interpreter. For example, if ESRI provides the output geographic information, the output geographic information is provided to the geo-interpreter (e.g., geo-interpreter  17 ) that is used to communicate with the ESRI server.  
     [0046] Geo-interpreter  17  formats ( 69 ) the output geographic information so that a format of the output geographic information is compatible with a device that provided the input geographic information. In this embodiment, the interpreter converts the geographic information received from the geo-server from the format that is recognizable by the geocoding service to the XML-tabular format described above. Other conversions, however, may be performed.  
     [0047] Interpreter  17  transmits ( 70 ) the output geocoding information in XML-tabular format back to transportation planning application  22 . Transmission may be via a network, such as the Internet. Referring to FIG. 3, transportation planning application  22  receives ( 57 ) the output geocoding information from interpreter  17 , performs any necessary conversions on the output geocoding information, and displays the results in a GUI (not shown).  
     [0048] Different types of geocoding functions may be available through IGS  14  depending on the capabilities of the various geo-servers. These functions may be provided by sending the necessary instructions to a geo-server, obtaining the information from the geo-server, and sending that information back to the transportation planning application in the manner described above. In some cases, which are specified below, IGS  14  may perform some additional processing on data received from a geo-server before sending the data back to the transportation planning application.  
     [0049] The IGS “routing” function obtains the route, distance and drive time between a start location and an end (target) location. IGS  14  provides the start and end locations (e.g., addresses, geographic coordinates, etc.) to a geo-server, which replies with the route, distance and drive time between the start and end locations. In addition, a user may define a sequence of stop-over locations (i.e., scheduled stops) that have to be passed on the way from the start location to the end location. The effects of these stop-over locations on the overall route, distance and drive time are taken into account by the geocoding service when determining the route, distance and drive time. The start and end locations may be defined in terms of their geographic coordinates, as described above.  
     [0050] The “average speed” function determines the expected average speed along a specified route. This information is provided by a geo-server once a route between two locations is specified, and can take into account the type of roadway along the route. For example, the average speed function may take into account whether a roadway is a highway, freeway, city road, etc. The geocoding service uses the expected average speed, along with the route&#39;s distance, to determine the expected travel time along the route.  
     [0051] The “route determination” function is performed in the geo-server. The routes are determined based on the geocoordinates of the start location, the target location, and, if provided, any stop-over locations. In addition criteria like the shortest route or the fastest route can be taken into account. The drive time is calculated based on the route and the given average speed. The result is sent back from the geo-server to the IGS.  
     [0052] The information is then provided from IGS  14  to the transportation planning application, as noted above.  
     [0053] The “distance and duration matrix” function is performed by the geo-server after the request is sent from the IGS to the geo-server. This function determines a matrix of distances and durations between various locations based on the geocoordinates of a given set of locations obtained from one or more geographic (e.g., geocoding) services.  
     [0054] The “map display” function generates a map for a given area defined by two geocoordinates. The two geocoordinates, which define opposite (diagonal) corners of the map, are provided to a geo-server. The geo-server replies with the requested map. The map can have different levels of detail. The level of detail depends on the geocoding service(s) used to obtain information for the map.  
     [0055] Several additional functions may be provided through IGS  14  that can affect the way a map is displayed. These functions may be implemented through a geo-server. The functions include displaying descriptive text, such as names or other information, on the map, displaying objects on the map in different styles, displaying different routes between two points in different colors, and displaying different types of objects in different shapes and colors. Other functions include the ability to zoom-in or zoom-out on a map, and to resize a container (e.g., window) that displays the map.  
     [0056] A map can be provided in different graphic formats, such as bitmap, JPEG, GIF, PNG, etc. The map can be displayed with different layers, e.g., rivers, roads, etc. A legend can be displayed on the map or as a separate picture object showing information such as the scale of the map and the like. Different regions of the map can be colored differently, e.g., to highlight different area code regions (see below). Objects on the map can be selected by a click A path can be generated by drawing a line from one customer to another customer and then performing the necessary calculations to determine the driving route between the two customers.  
     [0057] Displaying Road Maps  
     [0058] Referring to FIG. 5, a process  80  is shown for displaying road maps within transportation planning application  22 . In process  80 , transportation planning application  22  receives ( 81 ) data for a road map from IGS  14 . The data is received in response to a request that is transmitted to IGS  14  in the manner described above. The IGS renders ( 82 ) a road map from the data. The road map may be rendered in a GUI  84 , such as the GUI shown in FIG. 6.  
     [0059] As shown in FIG. 6, GUI  84  includes a window  88  to display road map  87 . Road map  87  itself includes target locations  90  to  93 . These target locations correspond to destinations along a route in a supply chain. The destinations may be customer locations, distribution center locations, warehouse locations, and the like. Road map  87  may also include expected “stop-over” locations (not shown) between the target locations. In this context, stop-over locations are scheduled stops on the way to a destination (e.g., a stop at a customer).  
     [0060] Road map  87  may be displayed in a route view (shown) or a symbolic view (not shown). In the route view, road map  87  displays actual roads between the target locations, together with icons or the like to indicate the target locations. Different icons may be displayed for different types of target locations. For example, customers  90 ,  91 ,  92  may be displayed using one type of icon and a distribution center (DC 1 )  93  may be displayed using another type of icon. Stop-overs may be displayed using yet another type of icon. The routes may be displayed using different colors and sizes. The roads are displayed in a format that is generated by the geo-server.  
     [0061] The actual route to be traveled by a vehicle is displayed as an outline of the road(s) to be traveled. The route may be displayed using a distinctive color (e.g., red) or style (bold). Different routes (e.g., alternative roads between two target locations) may be displayed on the same road map using different colors, textures, etc. Similarly, the shortest or quickest route may be displayed using different colors.  
     [0062] The route view shows the exact route to drive between two locations. The route contains all segments between two locations. If the symbolic route view is selected, the segments and parts are neglected and the route object contains only the stop, target and stop-over locations. In this regard, a segment of a route is the way between two following waypoints, which are passed from one location to another, e.g., a segment is the way from a certain exit of a road to a next exit. A waypoint is a significant point on a route. The waypoints of a route may include points that are passed to drive from the start to the target location of a route. A waypoint can be a point where a certain direction has to be taken (crossing, etc.) or any other point that defines describes the route to drive.  
     [0063] After selecting one route on the map, the transportation planning application calls an event-handler routine, which identifies the route. For this selected route, information at its segment level is listed in an additional pop-up window showing the route&#39;s distance, duration and description.  
     [0064] For all routes, distance and duration information is displayed in an additional window. The event-handler routine reacts if a route is selected. If a route is selected, the route&#39;s object is identified. Then, the route&#39;s distance and duration is determined and displayed above the map. After pressing a button identifying the route&#39;s description, the description is displayed in a pop-up window.  
     [0065] As described above, the actual route to be traveled may be determined by a geo-server and provided to transportation planning application  22  via IGS  14 . IGS  14  may provide the map of the route. IGS  14  renders the map to show the route.  
     [0066] In the symbolic view, roads may still be displayed on the road map; however, the routes are displayed as straight lines between target locations (rather than as an outline of roads to be traveled). The straight lines may be displayed in any color or style to differentiate the lines from the roads. IGS  14  provides the routes and the map (e.g., from a geo-server). IGS  14  renders the map and transportation planning application  22  determines the straight lines (segments) in the symbolic view. Alternatively, IGS  14  may determine the straight lines and provide the straight lines to IGS  14 , together with information indicating where they are to go.  
     [0067] The geo-server can generate and place landmark icons on the map. These landmark icons can be augmented by IGS  14 . Landmark icons indicate the location of landmarks on the map, usually along or near to a route specified between target locations. In this context, a landmark is any point of interest. Examples of landmarks include, but are not limited to, gas stations, restaurants, construction zones, sights, and buildings. Each landmark may be illustrated using a distinctive icon. For example, a “pump” may be used to show a gas station, a yellow triangle may be used to show construction, etc.  
     [0068] Referring back to FIG. 6, GUI  84  contains various features for altering the appearance and content of road map  87 . Shipment list  95  provides a list of shipments scheduled for delivery via transportation planning application  22 . Each shipment is linked to a corresponding road map. The road map shows the route that a vehicle will take to deliver the shipment. Clicking on a shipment in the shipment list causes transportation planning application  22  to display the road map that corresponds to that shipment in window  88 .  
     [0069] The route for a particular shipment may be obtained from a geocoding service via IGS  14  in the manner described above. That is, the data for each shipment contains target locations, which are provided to IGS  14 , along with a request for a road map containing a route between the target locations.  
     [0070] Information pertaining to shipments along a selected route may be displayed in a “pop-up” window (not shown). A user may obtain this information by clicking on “select route” button  96  and then selecting a route on road map  87 . The information pertaining to a selected route may include, e.g., distances, durations, and descriptive text associated with segments along a selected route. In this context, a “segment” of a route constitutes the path (e.g., path  99 ) between two locations along a route. The information displayed in the pop-up window may also relate to a shipment being transmitted along that route, e.g., the contents of the shipment, delivery schedules, and the like.  
     [0071] Shipments can be organized by vehicle or by order. That is, a shipment can constitute an order or the contents of an entire vehicle. Thus, shipment of individual orders or the contents of an entire vehicle (which may contain multiple orders) can be planned and tracked using transportation planning application  22 . In this context, an “order” is a request for delivery of one or more products.  
     [0072] Along with the display of road map  87 , GUI  84  displays field  100  containing the expected travel time to complete a selected route and field  101  containing the distance along the route. The distance may be displayed in user-specified units, such as miles or kilometers. GUI  84  also contains toggle button  102 . Toggle button  102  “toggles” the display of road map  87  between the route view and the symbolic view described above.  
     [0073] Controls  104  allow a user to zoom-in or to zoom-out on road map  87 . Road map  87  can be shifted within display window  88 . That is, clicking on center map button  105  and clicking on a point in road map  87  will orient road map  87  so that the point clicked becomes the center of the map. Navigation arrows  106  allow a user to scroll over road map  87 .  
     [0074] Layers of road map  87  can be displayed using a control button (not shown) on GUI  84 . That is, a user can configure road map  87  so that only roadways are displayed and then add (or later subtract) “layers” of detail, such as street names, buildings, geographic features (rivers, mountains, etc.), points of interest and the like.  
     [0075] Other Embodiments  
     [0076]FIG. 1 shows computers for implementing processes  50 ,  60  and  80 . Although computers are shown, processes  50 ,  60  and  80  are not limited to use with the hardware and software of FIG. 1. They may find applicability in any computing or processing environment. Processes  50 ,  60  and  80  may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of the two.  
     [0077] Processes  50 ,  60  and  80  may be implemented in computer programs executing on one or more programmable computers or other machines that each include a processor and a storage medium readable by the processor (including volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage components).  
     [0078] Each such program may be implemented in a high-level procedural or object-oriented programming language to communicate with a computer system. However, the programs can be implemented in assembly or machine language. The language may be a compiled or an interpreted language.  
     [0079] Each computer program may be stored on a storage medium or other article of manufacture (e.g., CD-ROM, hard disk, or magnetic diskette) that is readable by a general or special purpose programmable computer for configuring and operating the computer when the storage medium or device is read by the computer to perform processes  50 ,  60  and  80 . Processes  50 ,  60  and  80  may also be implemented as a machine-readable storage medium, configured with computer program(s), where, upon execution, instructions in the computer program(s) cause a machine to operate in accordance with processes  50 ,  60  and  80 .  
     [0080] The inventions are not limited to the embodiments described above. For example, IGS  14  is not limited to use with the geocoding services mentioned herein. Any geocoding service may be used with IGS  14 . Maps may be displayed in transportation planning application  22  without using IGS  14 . That is, transportation planning application  22  may interact directly with a geocoding service (server) in order to obtain the information needed to display GUI  84 .  
     [0081] Other embodiments not described herein are also within the scope of the following claims.