Patent ID: 7373353

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of reducing a number of index entries for use in an index associated with an object, comprising: determining a number of index entries for the object; if the number of index entries does not exceed a threshold number, storing the index entries in the index, wherein the index is a grid index comprised of a plurality of grid cells, the object is a geometric shape, and said determining a number of index entries is based on how many grid cells the object overlaps; if the number of index entries exceeds the threshold number, storing an indicator of the object in a pool storage area; subsequent to the storing of an indicator of a geometric shape in the pool storage area and in response to a query, evaluating the grid index to produce a group of one or more possible candidates based on grid cells that respective geometric shapes in the index overlap; adding the geometric shapes stored in the pool storage area to said group of possible candidates to produce an interim group of possible candidates; and filtering the interim group of possible candidates by comparing approximations of the geometric shapes of the interim group of possible candidates with a query area specified in the query to produce filtered candidates.