Patent ID: 8335788

Claim:
A method of identifying contiguous physical operation areas in a space identification coordinate system, the method comprising: retrieving, via a processing device, coordinate data for a physical operation area utilized by a business represented in an absolute distance space identification coordinate system; converting, via a processing device, the coordinate data for the physical operation area in the space identification coordinate system from an absolute position value to a unique relative position value, wherein the unique relative position value is assigned to the physical operation area based on absolute distance based on a grid; searching at least one search criterion; retrieving the unique relative position values for all of the physical operation areas that meet the at least one search criterion; comparing, via a processing device, each of the unique relative position values retrieved to each of the other unique relative position values retrieved, wherein the comparison reveals whether the pair compared is contiguous according to a predefined contiguity value, wherein a contiguous pair is defined as any two physical operation areas on a single floor of a building utilized by the business for which a value of an absolute difference between the unique relative position values for the two physical operation areas is equal to or less than the predefined contiguity value; and reporting contiguous pairs of unique relative position values retrieved.