CA2305851A1 - Graphical user interface system - Google Patents

Abstract

A software-based system to facilitate user interaction with graphical arrangements of information displayed on a computer screen. In one embodiment of the invention, the system establishes an arrangement of displayed information, such as a digital map, a first control panel for manipulating the display, and a second command panel for manipulating the display based upon information selection. The displayed information, and the first and second panels are configured such that when information queries are initiated and results generated, those events are presented on the computer screen without blocking the information as displayed.
Query tabs of the second panel are arranged to facilitate information access, management and presentation. In a second embodiment of the invention, the system is configured to enable the user to selectively display the information at successive levels of magnitude. The system is further configured to enable the user to display the information of a particular level of magnitude into levels of sub-magnitudes. The system enables such selection while displaying on the screen information that is neither too sparse nor too dense for the particular levels of magnitude/sub-magnitude selected. This capability is particularly advantageous in the display of digital maps.

Description

r-irrc 1H ~r,~,~, 1,-~,~ ~ " , .",~_ ,.,.,.~.r~ __. .____ GRAPHICAL tJSER INTERFACE SYSTEM
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims the priority benefit of U.S. provisional application serial number 801129,716, filed April 16, 1999, of the same title for the same inventors and assigned to a common assignee.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates tv computer-based systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to windows-based systems which have graphical arrangements designed to enable users to interact with software loaded on to computer devices. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a digital interactive mapping system including user-controllable tools for geographic map manipulation and display, and for management and presentation of map-related data and information.
BACKGROUND ART
FIGURES 1A-1 D depict features and limitations of prior art, mapping software user interfaces for a better appreciation of the innovations and advantages of the present Graphical User Interface System (GUIS) invention.
FIG. 1A illustr$tes the user interface of the Del-acme Street Atlas USA~
1.0 map software CD-ROM released in 1991. To the right of the partly obscured map screen at 1 in FIG. 1A, note the column that consumes about 25% of the display width -- including a map overview at x in the lower right corner, beneath a compass rose suite of map panning or lateral movement controls at 4, topped by the zoom in-out buttons one on either side of a magnitude read-out at 5, with a nine button array of command buttons at 6 uppermost in the column. Graphic and numeric map scale indicators at 8 appear towards the left in the bottom bar under the map screen.
The FIG. 1A screen capture pictures a user operation enabled by the Street Atlas USA~ 1.0 interface. First, the user pushed the "STREET" button in the array at 6 which prompted the Streets Find dialog box at 8 to pop up over a substantial portion of the map screen. Next, the user entered ''beech" in the Street Name input box inside of the Street Find dialog box at 9. Clicking on the Search button then prompted a search of a limited map area, pulling up a single "Beech St" reverse-video text record inside an output area within the Street Find dialog box. Pushing the Locate button, thereafter, resulted in the highlighting of the "BEECH" street vector at 10 on the map screen.
Street Atlas USA 1.0 was also capable of automatically panning to this specific "Beech Street" in Dodge City, Kansas from a distant map view focused far example on an out~of-state location - and/or zooming in from a larger-scale, lower magnitude map display of a greater geographic area with less local detail.
These general capabilities to pan and zoom efficiently among map displays of different scales and appropriate levels of map detail were supported by the technology disclosed in U_S.~Pat. No. 4,972,319 by inventor David M. DeLorme, '15 issued Nov. 20, 1990, and titled ELECTRONIC GLOBAL MAP GENERATING
SYSTEM. Such a global Street Find operation must deal with the fact that there are many "Beech Streets" in different towns and cities. Street Atlas USA ~ 1.0 solved this problem with a previous, narrowing or filtering search operation --for example, by asking the user to input a specific city, town, state, andlor zip cede, and also by prompting the user to choose among fiwo or more "Beech Street"
location records.
One major disadvantage illustrated in FIG_ 1A is that the Streets Find dialog box at 9 covered a large fraction of the map screen 1, afters obscuring the highlighted "Beech Street" vector, or other identifying place-names or landmarks.
Other problems with this generation of user interface stemmed from adherence to the windows-type programming convention that superimposed windows dominated, and underlying windows and options were disabled. As Tong as a Streets Find dialog box was the active window on top of the map screen, other tools and map controls were not useable, following this programming rule of thumb. Even when concurrently enabled and compatible, the presence of two or more dialog boxes simply obscured more of the visually important map screen.
Users and programmers alike preferred to allow only one command window or dialog box on the map screen et a time --for a better view of the map display, and

2 to avoid conflicting operations. This meant many mouse clicks and movements for combined or sequenced map operations, such as global/local search procedures and resolving tedundant street or place names. To fetch and use the next desired tool or control, the user first had to cleat away the current or active dialog box. Then, the cursor typically had to be moved to the edge of the display in search of the next desired command or control, most often another dialpg box, again obscuring some substantial portion of the map screen. Frequently, the current dialog box blocked the very changes that the user was attempting to make upon the map screen, if not other important information on the map.
Combined and/or multi-step operations were harder to track, learn, or retrace --insofar as component tasks were usually performed in a series of dialog boxes only deployed one at a time over the map screen. A design dilemma arose between the ease-of-use of large command buttons and map controls - as shown along the right side of the "classic" Street Atlas USA~ 1.0 user interface in f=IG. 1A -~ and the resultant loss of the visible map display falling under this generously-sized tool facility.
Street Atls~s USA~ 1.0, and other best-selling DeLorme map software products to follow, exhibited a second major disadvantage or difficulty with fine-tuning of magnitude or map scale and level of detail. The preferred technology detailed in the Det_orme '319 patent speeded map panning and zooming with a hierarchy of map tiles which determined successive magnitudes in jumps, by cutting the parent geographical area viewed into four child areas or tiles related by a file name system. This facilitated fast map redrawing and changes in map perspective at substantial increments convenient for intuitive searching or location chores. Such four-fold or squared jumps in the geographic areas viewed made it difficult, however, to more finely adjust map displays andlor map printouts, for example, far a presentation about one or more specific geographic areas of interest -- at a standard map scale (such as 1:24,000) -- with appropriate levels of detail and map symbol sizing. Addition of a simple "pure-scale" or "photo-zoom" magnification/enlargement cs~pability was of limited assistance --shrinking or swelling to overly cluttered or sparsely detailed map views at either extreme. Simply adjusting the map scale also blew-up or reduced the size of place-name text, road widths, map symbols and so forth - whereas a finished

3 Ht'K 14 ceJeJe~ i. r ~ .tee r m i mw r, m..m.~... _~. . . -----map presentation calls for uniform, legible sizing of map symbols on related maps, even when the map scales are deliberately varied and/or adjusted to standard scales.
FICA. 1B1 is a screen capture from DeLorme's Global Explorer~ CD-ROM, first released in 1993. As shown in the screen capture, Global Explorer included an overview map at 12 in the lower right corner, again making up the base of a column of controls and commands along the right side of the display. Next up in this column was a mixed array of eight command and control buttons at 14 including zoom controls, world versus region selectors, and access to a Help facility -- surmounted at 15 by a scale bar and a magnitude readout. The Global Explorer command and control column at right was topped at 17 by a tabbed dialog box area for performing alternative user commands, or user inputloutput operations, in one single area off the map screen or without any dialog box intruding over the map screen. In other words, different dialog boxes or information boxes appeared in the upright rectilinear area at 17, accessed respectively by the GAZ, AIR, ST[reets], and KEY tabs in a row below at 18.
For example, shown at 17 in FIG. 1B1, Global Explorer provided a dialog box for user input of departure and destination points for air flight route computations accessed by the AIR tab in the row of tabs at 18. Resulting air routes were displayed on the map screen, as shown between New Orleans and Atlanta at 19 - with a corresponding flight distance output appearing in the dialog box which remained "off the map" at 17 all during the operation. Other tabs at 18 called up other characteristic dialog or information boxes for gazetteer or place-name searches, or street name searches, or an explanation of map symbols. Global Explorer also facilitated display of text information about selected places --as shown in FIG. 1 B2 - in a scrollable text information box at 22 which popped up over the bottom 16% of the map display height, This text information box toggled on/off in response to the user checking the "Show" checkbox, then pushing the ulnfo" button at Z1 within the "Place" search dialog box, which had been activated as an alternative in the upper right corner of the display by depressing the "Gaz"
tab below.

4 HrfC 1'i GeJeJeu 1 i vv n w . .._.,...- . .. .._,._.. -DeLorme's U.S. Pat. No. 5,559,707 by inventors David DeLorme and Keith Gray, issued Sept. 24, 1996, and titled COMPUTER AIDED ROUTING SYSTEM
("CARS"), disclosed typical user interface screens from DeLorme's 1994 Map'N'Go~ 1.0 release. , This background art interface mixed commands and controls within a "classic" column in the righthand 25 % of the display. A
menu bar was added across the top of the display in Map'n'Go~ 1.0 as shown in the CARS patent drawings. This typical Windows-style top menu prompted File, Edit, View, Routing, or Help sub-menus to drop down over part of the Map Screen. By making a selection from these sub-menus, or depressing one of the command buttons at right, the user was enabled to engage an enlarged, enhanced variety of mapping tasks and information. User input, output and information were managed in characteristic dialog boxes, popped up generally dne at a time over a substantial part of the map screen, and/or obscuring part of the command/controhoverview map column at right. Map'n'Go~ 1.0 and the CARS
patent provided improved routing technology. A user could input Start, Finish and intermediate waypoints, calculate quickest, shortest or preferred routes, and get computed routes shown on the map display, with text directions, and printout travel plans and route detail maps. The technology disclosed in Map'n'Go~ 1.0 and DeLorme's CARS patent included customized multimedia travelog presentations of text, audio, andlor graphic information about selected types of points of interest found within a region or corridor of user-selected dimensions along an optimal route computed between waypoints input by the user. As shown in the CARS patent, the routing inputs, the text directions and estimated route travel time and distance, the selection of points of interest or POI
categories, the travelog slide show controls, and the series of multimedia presentations about POIS along a route, were all managed within various dialog boxes ~ which obscured substantial parts of the related underlying map screen.
For example, the Map'n'Go~ 1.0 map display followed along the route computed according to the user's inputs by moving under and around the superimposed dialog box displaying text and/or graphic pictures about selected types of points along the way_ The dilemma of the user losing sight of critical parts of the map screen persisted, and was compounded perhaps, by increased and improved user options and map-related information presentations done in dialog boxes

5 worked "on the map", involving longer menu hierarchies, and more and mouse clicks, and longer series of mouse movements back and forth over the display.
FIG. 1C is a screen capture from DeLorme's Street Atlas USA~ 5.0, released in 1997. Following a general trend in Microsoft~ Windows""
applications, commands and controls have accumulated in the triple stack of menu and tool button bars, and shortcut input boxes, strung across the top of the display. This triple stack consumed about 11 % of the display height and included a menu bar at 30 on top, above a second row of divers command and control buttons at 3'1, with more command buttons in a third strip below at 32.
This bottom strip at 32 also included two small input boxes for selecting e.g.
place names for route Start and Finish paints. A tall overview map appeared in the lower right corner at 34, but easily removed at the user's option by clicking on the "x" button in the upper left corner to increase the visible area of the main map screen. (A version of the "classic" command/control column interface was still available under "Options" in the top menu bar.) However, in the default Street Rtlas USA~ 5.0 interface shown in FIG. 1C, the "mag" (i.e. magnitude level) and scale bar readouts were placed far beneath the relevant zoom controls within an otherwise apparently empty bottom bar at 35, that covered about 4% of the display height.
FIG. 1C further shows a typical drop-down menu at 38 for user selection among various "Search" options one-at-a-time. Note that this "Search" menu has been dropped down and temporarily covers not only a~ significant fraction of the map screen but also a big chunk of the second and third rows of command buttons and shortcut dialog boxes at 31 and 32. In the operational sequence shown in FIG. 1C, the user selecting "Find" from a drop-down menu at 38 has called up the "Find" dialog box, covering most of the visible bottom half of the map screen. (The drop-down menu routinely disappeared when such a selection was made - to keep more of the map screen in view. To save on drawings, this FIG 1C screen was created and captured after the "Find" dialog box 36 had already been called up and the drop down menu had disappeared, as programmed - by asking for the drop~down menu a second time.) FIG. 1 C
illustrates problems which grew with added features in this generation of mapping

6 software interfaces. (1 ) the increasing amount of mouse clicks and movements required to select and implement commands or user input/ output operations;
(2) for addressing more complex sets of command selections, various disappearing menus and sub-menus, which temporarily covered parts of the map screen and other options, but then left novice and skilled users alike working in a disconnected dialog box, with few immediate clues about the current chain of command and the other compatible or alternative user options; and (3) continued coverage of substantial parts of the map screen (and related controls and commands) during user input/output operations by row upon row of top-heavy menu bars, hard to decipher command buttons, new input boxes, plus pop-up menu and sub-menu boxes - plus one or more dialog boxes plopped as often as not right where the user wanted to see the map in the midst of critical inputloutput sequences.
On the other hand, the "Find" dialog box at 3B in FIG 1C included the set of three alternative "Placename", "Zip" and "Phone" tabs to select differing kinds of map-related searches within the current dialog box. This tab arrangement was much clearer and faster than having to access the same three search options one at a time with many more mouse clicks and motions, going through drop-down menus to find three different, disconnected dialog boxes. However, the unified "Find" dialog box 36 still obscured much of the map screen. And within the "Search menu" at 38, redundant menu items seemingly suggest separate, specialized "Placename", "Zip" and "Phone" options -- like the distinct "Locate by Address" menu item, which did access a unique dialog box for street address searches.
In fact, another disadvantage of the style of interface illustrated in FIG. 1C
was a tendency to "belt-and-suspenders" redundancy or duplication among the confusing triple rows of overlapping menu options, mixed command/control buttons, and shortcut input boxes provided at 30, 31 and 33. For example, access to routing options was duplicated by the "Route" menu option at 30 leading to many commands and dialog box options, a "Route Directions" iconic button third from the right at 31, the partially obscured shortcut boxes for Start and Finish inputs running from the left to middle of the row at 32, plus a battery of

7 four command buttons for the quickest, shortest, preferred, and scenic routing options in the middle right at 32 flanked by three mare unrevealing iconic, command buttons for "Points of Interest", to "Filter Points of Interest" and for "Along the Way" information. In other words, many approaches to routing operations were provided, but the function of most of the pictographic buttons was not plain. Cursor activated Tool-Tips offered cryptic names for the iconic buttons, however, requiring extra mouse travel, and still offering casual or novice users scant information_ Similarly, arrow icons, partly .obscured in the top row at 31, provided zoom controls for changing the map magnitudes, duplicated by three menu item zoom controls provided under the ambiguous "View" in the top menu bar at 30; however, these redundant zoom controls were all located over the map screen far above the directly responsive magnitude and scale bar read-outs situated in the lower bar at 35. The pencil icon button near the middle right of the second row at 31 popped up "Draw" tools - also redundantly available as one of many disparate menu items under Options" in the upper row at 30.
Commonplace in an era of feature-packed Windows applications, all this duplication and redundancy assured that dedicated users eventually stumbled on desired options, becoming familiar with the cryptic menu items and command icons, with repeated mouse motions, experimental explorations, Tool-Tips, advice from an experienced user or tech support, and study in the Help facility. A
further disadvantage, however, was the underutilized space in FIG 1C devoted to repeated ranks of menus and command/control buttons at 30, 31, and 32. The space taken away from the principal map view by these three top rows of duplicative user options nonetheless remained practically half-empty. The bottom bar at 35 was even more barren or under-utilized.
FIG. 1 D is a screen capture from DeLorme's AAA Map'n'Go~ 5.0 as released in 1999. FIG 1 D depicts a state-of the art version of a specialized, side-by-side, split-screen for related text directions and route mapping operations and output, as first introduced by DeLorme in Map'n'Go~ 1.0 in 1994. The text directions box on the left at 40 interacted with the highlighted route display at 41 on the map screen at 42 to the right. An existing computed route, as shown in FIG 1D, could be amended and re-calculated -- for example, by adding another stopover or side-trip, which the user could input by engaging a variety of drop-

8 Hr f~ 1 ~i G!'JeJeJ a n -» n n v n a m t~.u n n . w.m.~. ~.~ . . ._ --._ _ _ .
_ down menus (e.g. "Plan Trip" at 44), command buttons (e.g. at 45, the cryptic icon to "Manage Stops and Vias"), and/or the shortcut "Start" and "Finish"
input boxes at 46, among many redundant routing command access options. The resulting modifications to the existing route would be reflected both on the route map screen at 42 on the right, and in the text directions box at 40 to the left in FIG. ID. Clicking on a selected item, such as a particular road name, in the text directions box 40 at left would cause the route map 42 at right to re-center on the location of the selected item or road segment, even to zoom in for a closer look at local road details in more urban areas. Problems identified in relation to the previous background art figures persisted in AAA Map'n'Go~ 5,0, however. For example, important operations were still managed in dialog boxes as shown at in FIG. I D -- which popped up and covered substantial parts of the text directions box 40 and/or the routing map screen 42. The user still had to repeatedly move the mouse up to the top of the display, puzzle over cryptic command buttons and menu choices, often click and click through menu and sub-menu hierarchies in order to find and fetch alternative user commands and controls. Menus for one kind of command at feast temporarily covered the alternative user input/output options. Moreover, the valuable space at the top of the display was spent an row after row of redundant command and menu buttons and input boxes, mobbed together, tough far users to read, pick out, or see logical and functional connections and groupings.
The split-screen interface in FIG. 1 D was a specialized option. AAA
Map'n'Go~ 5.0 defaulted to a user interface with the map screen extending across the full width of the display like the one pictured in FIG_ 1 C. It was not always easy or intuitive for the user's eyes to follow the quick transition from the wider map screen; shown in previous Figures, to the side-by-side, split map and text directions screen in FIG. 1D. The default map screen space was cut in half or re-shaped. Scale changes usually accompanied this re-sizing. The geographic location of the map center often moved to embrace the overall route, and the map screen space had to be shifted over to a smaller area towards the right. To get their bearings after these transformations, even experienced users had to, at least, pause and re-orient from the wider map to the split route map screen by finding familiar places or identifying landmarks.

9 These advances and the disadvantages found in the background art bring to mind the larger mapping software interface design challenge. The interface ought to be robust, easily teamed and simple to use. Effective, intuitive visualization on the map display is critical. The challenge is preferably not to make map "bloatware" i.e. large complicated, mapping software packages, with volumes of user documentation, numerous commands, multiple screens, macro facilities and/or coding in special proprietary languages to make interactive presentations of maps and related information. At the other extreme, the aim is also not simply to "dumb-down" existing mapping software product models -adding wizards, while reducing capabilities. The target market includes skilled home computer users, consumers with special interests like topographic maps, and small business users wanting better competitive geographic information processing at a reasonable price, and with a manageable learning curve.
~ 5 Routing, data imports, data management, specialized datasets, 3-D
capabilities, GPS tools, map draw and label options, handheld support, map and related data presentations, and Internet information and transactions, are all among the most likely components to be mixed and matched in designing various members of a product family and succeeding versions of map software products embodying this novel interface design. The real challenge is how best to pres,ant, organize, and help ordinary users to select, utilize, and combine optimal map and data controls and tools in order to get the results the user desires from the map display, and how to most effectively access and present diverse information related to the map display. There must be a way to put together more map information and tools with elegant access and coherent interactions, OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
One object of the present invention is to provide a novel, mapping software user interface design, with a primary map screen area -- which avoids or minimizes blocking the user's view of this primary map display andlor its most important aspects. The map screen is an important work space, useful for input as well as a show place.

This user interface configuration should also include a distinctive space for map view controls and related readouts - such as controls and indicators related to zooming panning, scale and/or level of map detail adjustments, and so forth.
These map controls should be grouped together and readily accessed from the primary map screen, and other user work areas.
Another object is to designate a particular area for increasing user commands and input/output options, "off the-map", logically grouped by function -- and easy to identify, reach and deploy. The user options and commands should be well-organized function by function and in expected order of user priority or frequency of use. It should also be easy to select, change, sequence, and backtrack tasks within and between functional command groups and modulated sub-groups of user options.
The user interface arrangement should offer one centralized facility that supplies quick, intuitive access with a minimum of mouse clicks and excess mouse movement to the entire range of user commands and input/output options provided with the particular mapping software application. Six to twelve choices in one orderly rack, well-placed as close as possible to all the work to done, is no doubt better, much easier and more fun to use than a triple-decker phalanx of thirty or more poorly differentiated options.
Preferably, this improved user interface design should also supply an overview map area of the larger geographical context around the primary map screen, Yet another object of the new mapping software user interface configuration is to include one or more convenient spaces or output areas for presentations of characteristic map-related information such as text, graphics, video, still pictures, data tables, online or lntemet information. Also desired are capabilities for these "off the-map" presentations to interact with the primary map screen and vice-versa.

hr ft 1'-1 GCJCJU 1 n .~ n i n ~ ~ . ~~ .._.~ . . . e...r.~~, _ _ _ An additional object of the present invention is to define protocols far optimum sharing of the overall display space between the various component user interface areas. For example, during intensive data operations, the map screen might cede a reasonable part of the display space for better access and manipulation of the data tables. However, the center of the map screen or other important map objects or focal areas should remain always in view; the expanded data table area should manually or automatically return to its normal size when the data operations are complete. Detailed conventions are needed to govern such screen sharing transactions between all the major component areas of the user intertace.
One mote object of the present invention is to provide much finer adjustablfity of map magnitudes or successive levels of map detail for use in concert with magn~cation and enlargement for composing presentation quality map displays and printouts - which particularly correspond to standard map scales_ Further objects of the present invention include elimination of wasted or unused display space, and an overall design that recycles designated display areas for alternative tasks - telling the user where to look and what to expect next by way of equivalent steps, selections, and inputloutput boxes - with the map screen, the various commands and the map-related information presentations interacting, and sharing display space efficiently, rather than competing for pixels and user attention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved through a novel software command and control system that facilitates user interaction with displays of information that may be manipulated, managed and presented on a computer screen. Although the presentation command and control system of the present invention may be utilized in any number of fields in which the manipulation and presentation of significant amounts of data are of interest, it is particularly suited to the field of digital maps. However, it is to be understood that the prESent invention is not limited solely to digital map presentations.

One aspect of the present invention relates to the organization of the command and control access n:gions of a display as they relate to the information display that is to be managed. In regard to a digital map display, the present invention is a computer based map-display system for displaying digital maps of varying levels of magnitude on a computer system including a screen having an observable viewing area. The system includes, among other things, a database, or a database to be accessed, including digital map data corresponding to map coordinates of map surface regions. The data is organized into one or more groups of map detail information, with a unique map presentation associated with each group of map information. The database may also include information of interest that may be associated with the digital maps.
The system further includes software for manipulating the digital map data and the related information of interest_ The software is operable through the computer system and is configured to regulate a map presentation on the screen, which .map presentation is based upon the digital map data. The software includes the capability to establish a presentation region for presenting the map presentation on the screen. In particular, the presentation region displays the map presentation in a first region of the observable viewing area of the screen. The software is further operable to establish a control panel in a second region of the observable viewing area of the screen. Among other things, the control panel display is configured to include one or more map display control elements for regulating the map presentation.
In order to aid the user, the first region and the second region are substantially side-by-side. Further, the software is established to create a command panel for presenting on the screen one or more sets of information from the information of interest in association with the map presentation. The command panel establishes a task control region for displaying a task control panel in a third region of the observable viewing area of the screen, The task control region is established below the presentation region when observed on the computer screen.
A second aspect of the present invention that makes user interaction with displayed information relates more particularly to digital map displays, although it may be applicable to other fields of information-manipulation interest. In particular, this second aspect relates to map scales and magnitudes that may be selected by the user who observes a map on a computer screen. As with the presentation control arrangement described above, a map manipulation component of the present invention is a computer-based map generation system for use with a computer system including a mass storage component, and a screen connectable to the computer system. The display component of the present invention includes a database, or access to a database, including one or more files of digital map data corresponding to map coordinates of map surface regions. The files are preferably organized into one or more groups of map detail information of successive levels of magnitude, with a unique map presentation associated with each group of map information. Further, the groups of map detail information are each organized into a plurality of subgroups of map detail information of successive levels of sub-magnitudes, with a unique map presentation associated with each of the plurality of subgroups.
In combination with that database, the present invention includes software operable through the computer system and configured to allow a user to selectively access the database and generate for display on the screen a map presentation including one or more of the groups of digital map data associated with the levels of magnitude and levels of sub-magnitudes. The software enables the user to move from one level to another as desired and continue to present an the screen a map display that is preferably neither to crowded with map information nor lacking in sufficient detail associated with that information.
The software of the present invention is further configured to present, manipulate, and print the map display in a variety of ways to be described more fully herein.
These and other advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon review of the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.
BRIEF' DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FiC. 1A illustrates the user interface of Street Atlas USA~ 1.0 map software CD-ROM as released by DeLorme in 1991, showing background art.

FIGS. 1B1 and 1B2 are screen captures from DaLorme's Global r Explorer~l.0 CD-ROM first released in 1993, by way of background art.
FIG. 1C is a screen capture from Street Atlas USA~ 5.0 as released in 1997 by DeLorme, exemplifying background art.
FIG. 1D is a screen capture from DeLorme's AAA Map'n'Go~ 5.0 released in 1999, depicting background art.
FIG. ZA is a screen capture from DeLorme's XMap~ Business map software product released in 1999, embodying the present GUIS invention.
FIG. Z8 is an XMap~ Business screen capture showing a Find Search for all "Jones" in Yarmouth ME, fallowed-up by a limited expansion of the Command Panel, with an automatic recentering of the map display -- to better view the results.
FIG.2C is a subsequent XMap~ Business screen capture showing the selection of a particular "Jones", the resultant panning, zooming and Map Tag centered on that Jones' address - then a follow-up user re-sizing of the Overview Map and Command Panel.
FIG. 2D1 and FIG. 2D2 are simplified drawings of typical mapping software user interfaces, according to the present invention, depicting space sharing protocols between the Command Panel and Map Screen areas.
FIGS. 2E1-4 are screen captures of Topo USAt"' 2.0 default and expanded Find Tabs under the Local Index SubTab, and default and expanded Navigate Tabs - including an expanded elevation Profile Subl"ab for interaction with a topographic map display in the Map Screen (not shown).
FIG. 2F is a screen capture of the entireTopo USA'"' 2.0 user interface showing - in a default-sized Command Panel -- an interactive elevation Profile nrw i-r ~uuu ~. .~~ . ~. . .~.,..~ ""...-.--- -SubTab display under the corresponding 2-D map display up in the Map Screen of a user-drawn route for hiking in mountainous terrain.
FIG. 2G is a a screen capture of the Topo USAt'" 2_0 user interface in full, showing a default-sized 3-D Tab within the Command Panel area underneath a corresponding 3-D map display on top of the related 2-D map display up in the Map Screen.
FIGS 3As, 3Ap, 3Bs, 3Bp, 3Cs, 3Cp, 3bs, 3Dp, 3Es and 3Ep are pairs of screen captures (indicated by''...s") matched with corresponding, hardcopy map printouts (indicated by "...p") generated by a "beta" version of Topo USAtm 2.0;
this set of Figures shows Mags/Octaves coarse/fine adjustments of scale-and-level-of detail, adjustments of the display-oriented "Photozoom" percentage magnify-reduce control, and/or adjustments of the "pure" Scale Slider control 1 S under the Print Tab.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, a new user interface (or "UI") for computer mapping software can be implemented in tangible media like CD-ROMs or DVDs andlor online, e.g, on the Internet. The new UI can also be incorporated in a range of mapping software products, varying in available functions and data -- from simpler retail consumer products used mainly for viewing road and place names, and on to intermediate products with added routing, handheld PC support, GPS, topographic data and large map printing capabilities -- as well as more or less advanced geographic information system mapping software products with built-in business and residential address datasets, data importing and management facilities. The presEnt invention can be embodied, or amplified, in a modular fashion. For example, additional or supplemental data or functionality might be appended from accessory tangible media, downloaded from a related Internet web site, or included upon the original media however clocked" in hidden or encrypted files, with the "keys" available for an added license fee payable by credit card. In this disclosure, the innovative subject-matter is sometimes also referred to as GUIS standing for "Graphical User Interface System".

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.~ ~~~.~.»_,_~ _. ._ This disclosure concentrates on mid-range, preferred embodiments implemented on CD-ROM or DVD, for example: (1) DeLorme's Topo USAF"' 2.0 topographical map product provided on a set of CD-ROMs with 3~D and elevation profiling features; and (2) DeLorme's XMap~ Business 1.0 CD-ROM set, including built-in business and personal address information, data import and dataset management capabilities. The present GUIS invention preferably accommodates various other features and options such as: (a) vector road data, natural features, place-name, accommodations (e.g. hotels, restaurants, stores, and campgrounds), cultural attractions, and other point of interest (POI) data, even audio and/or pictoral multimedia information relating to points and routes;
(b) printing of maps, directions, travel plans, large plotter and mosaic wall maps, 3-D perspective maps, andlor map-related datasets - including capabilities to finely adjust map scales, I~vels of detail or magnitude, and to print out maps at standard designated map scales; (c) routing and directional tools and displays for use overland and/or road-bound, also navigational voice input and/or output;
(d) map drawing and labeling tools; (e) GPS capabilities such as position location, tracking routes, off-course corrections, logging and replaying actual travel paths;
and post-processing recorded GPS data; (f) online or Internet links for updated road construction, weather, trafFc, or POI or location information; and (g) support for related, smart phone, PDA or handheld PC mapping software available at least as an add-on option.
Specific mapping software products embodying the present GU15 invention could include greater or lesser types and amounts of map data and tools: e.g. multimedia about specific types of paints of interest, other geocoded datasets; accessory software tools e.g, for cartography, aerial photography, surveying, spatial analysis etc.; as well as alternative hardware add-ons and interfaces e.g. a digital or video cameralGPS system for recording and geographically locating or mapping visual images. The preferred embodiment can be implemented with a screen resolution of 800 pixels wide x 800 pixels high, as generally assumed in this disclosure. The present invention can be implemented also on personal computer monitors or other display apparatus with screen resolutions like 640 x 480, 768 x 1024, 864 x 1152 and 1024 x 1280, among Ht'K 14 GVJtJe1 1 ! ~ 4rJ r- ru n a m -.~- ~ ~ ~ ..."_, ~.~ ._., . , J ~
~.~_.._ others. The novel GUIS user intertace for mapping information applications can also be embodied in handheld, in-vehicle or PDA platforms, and online e.g. on the Internet, intranets, networks or web pages, as well as in embedded or dedicgted systems.
FIG. 2A is a screen capture from XMap ~ Business, a mapping software product released on CD-ROM by DeLorme in December 1999. As shown in FIG.
2A, this new user interface preferred embodiment includes four major rectilinear areas, or user work spaces, on the computer monitor or display: (1) at 100, the Map Screen is preferably the largest area as a rule, dominating the upper left display; (2) the Control Panel shown at 102 is preferably a vertical, narrow band flanking the Map Screen along the right side of the display; (3) under the Map Screen, the preferably next-largest component UI area is the Command Panel at 103 (preferably topped by the Map Tool bar at 106 -- which also borders the bottom edge of the Map Screen); and (4) the Overview Map area at 105 is preferably the smallest UI component adjacent to the Command Panel in the lower right corner of the display; at the user's option, Map Query, Web Info, or other text or graphic information relating to the Map Screen can also be displayed in the space at 105 -- as an alternative to the Overview Map display. The preferred embodiment user intertace and its four principal component areas cover the entire available monitor screen, as a general rule. Title, Help, Minimize and Exit buttons, Windows menus, or other operating system task or status bars may also appear typically across the top and/or bottom of the overall display, as shown at 107 and 108 in FIG. 2A, if the user desires.
FIG. 2A further illustrates the preferred relative proportions or dimensions, and respective positioning of the various, major, user interface components, according to the present invention. The Map Screen, shown at 100, extends across approximately 90% of the available display area width. The Control Panel at 102 occupies the remaining about 10% of the width of the display typically adjacent to and to the right of the Map Screen. The Map Screen and the Control Panel are substantially the same in height, both taking up the upper roughly 78% of the vertical extent of the display. The Map Tool Bar at 106 1$

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includes a horizontal row of tabs, running substantially the full width and about 5% of the height of the display area. This Map Tool Bar at 106 is optimally placed between the Map Screen 100 plus the Control Panel 102 above, and the Command Panel 103 plus the Overview MapNVeb Info/ Map Query Area 105 below. This arrangement is preferred, as detailed hereinafter, because the Map Toot Bar tabs (e.g. Find, XData, Print, MapFolio, Draw, Navigate, GPS, Prefs, Netl.ink, Map and Query at 106 in FIG. 2A) each access a particular suite of user input/output options, accessible in the Command Panel 103 or the Overview/Query Area 105 below, that interact with the Map Screen 100 or Control Panel 102 above. Moreover, such interactions are managed largely without the disadvantages of menus, dialog boxes, or other inpuUoutput or information facilities intruding upon, or even temporarily obscuring, any significant or substantial aspects of the Map Screen 100. During a default or normal operational mode, shown irt FIG. 2A, the Command Panel at 103 and the OverviewlQuery Area 105 occupy substantially the same vertical dimension --sharing a horizontal band which cuts across the lowest 17% more or less of the display height devoted to the UI of the present invention. Except when expanded or contracted at the user's option or automatically, the Overview/Query Area preferably covers about 18% of the available display width -- with the Command Panel 103 preferably defaulting to occupy the remaining 82% approximate width of the display.
The FIG. 2A screen capture also shows a Product Title, Help, Minimize, and Exit bar at 107 across the very top of the display, as well as a Start, Icons for Other Minimized Windows, Clock bar at 108 along the very bottom edge of the display. Both these bars are fairly standard, optional, default Microsoft Windows application bars, which the user can remove. Therefore, the bars at 107 and were not taken into account in measuring or specifying the relative percentage heights of the UI components in relation to FIG 2A, as specified in the foregoing paragraph. In other words, the measurements and proportions were reckoned from the top of the lower bar at 108 to the bottom of the upper bar at 107.
The default Windows bars at 107 and 108 will be deemed present, but ignored, as above throughout the rest of this disclosure -- wherever various display dimensions and proportions are specified -- in relation to other Figures as well.

Because of its top visual priority for most map software operations and users, the Map Screen at 100 is preferably enlarged to fill the leftover vertical display space should the user elect to remove both or one of the default Windows bars at 107 or 108. The proportional areas or display heights and widths detailed in this S disclosure are preferable for desktop personal computer map software applications. Alternative dimensions ar relative areas may be more appropriate for other platforms embodying the present GUIS invention. For example, Internet, Web page or other online applications may benefit from a wider Control Panel, on the order of 17-20% + of the display width, and/or a taller Command Panel/Dialog Box area, upwards of about 25% of the display, because of basic web page design, presentation and framing considerations well-known in that art.
On the other hand, applications designed for high-resolution imagery (e.g.
rasters or aerial photos), typically used on large monitors, might well be designed with Control Panels and Command Panels narrower or less tall than the proportions specified heretofore.
FIG 2A aids further specification of the general functions of, and the interactions between, the Map Screen, the Control Panel, the Map Tool Bar command mode selector tabs, the Command Panel and the Overview Map/Query area. More details are presented hereinafter, relative to the other drawings and Figures, and in the DeLorme map software product HeIpDocs included as appendices with this disclosure.
The Map Screen 100 pans across the earth's surface in any direction, and zooms in and out to view diffierent sized geographic areas at variable scales, and/or at discrete, appropriate levels of map detail. These map changes are managed by mouse operations on the map itself, andlor keyboard strokes which directly affect the map view, as detailed in the passages on "Mouse Functions", "Panning/Re-centering the Map", "Using View Boxes" and "Zooming In and Out"
in the XMap Business 1.0 and Topo USA 2.0 Help Docs appended hereto. Such changes in latitudellongitude at the center of the map or at the active cursor location on the map, and changes in the ground level elevation (Togo USA 2.0 only), and map view magnitude changes -- initiated on the Map Screen itself --interact with and are reflected in the corresponding read-outs in the Control Panel r-~rr< 1~ emeie~ 1 r ~..,i , ~. ~ ."~~.~ ~ ,,.",.,~... __ . .
102 for Detail or Zoom Level, Latitude and t-ongitude, Elevation (Topo USA 2.0 only) and the Scale Bar. Changes made upon the Map Screen 100 itself, or with keyboard strokes, get reflected in the Overview Map 10~ -- for example, by resizing and/or repositioning of the black box within the Overview Map 108, which represents the current map view perimeter as shown on the main Map Screen 100. The Overview Map 105 responds too to lateral shifts in the location upon the earth's face being viewed, as well as changes in map magnitude or the vertical apparent viewing distance, made by the user working on the Map Screen 100. The Map Screen 100 also generally interacts with the alternative Query mode that shares the space of the Overview Map 105. As detailed further hereinafter, when the map Query mode is toggled on at 105 (instead of the Overview Map), then clicking on a selected object upon the Map Screen 100 prompts a display of related information (e.g. text,. graphics, videos etc.) at 105 about the point, polygon or other map object selected on the Map Screen 100.
(n yet another alternate mode, this added information displayed at 105, about one or more map objects selected by the user working on the Map Screen 100, includes Web Info i.e. typically more up-to-date online or Internet information such as location-specific weather, current events, road construction, traffic, and so forth. The Map Screen 100 also preferably has impact on the Command Panel 103. Far example, when the routing toolbox is active or open under the Navigate tab in the Map Tool Bar at 106, then a specific Start and Finish point or location for routing computations can be picked and input by the user visually mouse-clicking on a selected cursor location on the Map Screen 100.
Characteristic green or red Start and Finish symbols will appear at the respective selected map locations on the Map Screen 100. Moreover, these actions upon the Map Screen 100 are automatically entered in the appropriate Start and Finish input dialog boxes concurrently visible and active under the Navigate tab within the Command Panel area 103.
Similarly, as detailed throughout this disclosure, the Map Screen 100 in FIG. 2A is designed to interact with most or all of the other alternative user input/output modes available within the Command Panel 103 under the array of mode selector tabs which the user can activate - preferably one at a time --in the conveniently located Map Too( Bar at 106. For example, the Map Screen 100 Hf'K 14 GU'VJVJ 1l~~iG rr~ rlcrm.c riiwuuu ~.~.~,~~_~.._._. .._ .____-...
generally serves as a "canvas" or a display surface on which the user can draw diverse objects, create and place varied map Labels, as managed in the Command Panel 103 under the Draw tab. While under the GPS tab, the Command Panel 103 provides numeric readouts of the user's current speed and heading, a visual compass bearing, and real-time information on immediate latitude, longitude and elevation - concurrent with the display of a special cursor moving across the Map Screen 100 which more visually depicts the user's current location, heading, speed, and so forth -- by interpreting GPS
satellite signals that detect the user's present position. More details on the interactions between the Map Screen 100 and the options made available in the Command Panel 103 are provided hereafter in this disclosure, including the HeIpDocs in the appendices.
As shown at 102 in FIG. 2A, the Control Panel impacts directly on the map views displayed on the Map Screen 100 and the Overview Map 105. For example, the "Zoom Level" box enables the user to make coarse-fine adjustments in the magnitude (i.e. scale and appropriate detail level increments) of both the main Map Screen 100, and the Overview Map 105 displays, to get closer views of smaller areas of the earth's surface, or more distant views of larger geographic areas. Right under the coarse~ne or magloctave, numerical "Zoom Level" adjustment box, a row of three buttons marked with arrows prompts both the Map Screen 100 and the Overview Map 105 to zoom "in" or "out" one "mag", or to zoom "out" four "mags" jumping among the coarse increments or primary levels of map magnitude. Further details on map magnitude and scale adjustments appear hereafter in this disclosure, including the appendices, especially with reference to FIGS. 3As, 3Ap, 3Bs, 3Bp, 3Cs, 3Cp, 3Ds, 3Dp, 3Es and 3Ep and Table 1.
Next proceeding from top to bottom in the Control Panel at 102 in FIG. 2A
is a ring of eight arrow buttons at traditional, true (or magnetic) compass points forming an operative, compass rose graphic icon. These compass rose map panning buttons enable users working "off-the-map" to shift the center of the map displayed on the Map Screen 100 and the Overview Map 105 together to the East, West, North, South ~- and so forth. The central and ninth button inside of the compass rose enables the user to return to the last map view, and so forth, paging back to the center of up to 256 Map Screens and the corresponding Overview Maps 105. The Control Panel 102 is too a logical place for similar paging forward controls -- well-known in the art - to replay or advance the user's Map Screen history. In the DeL.orme commercial XMap~ Business 1.0 and Topo USAF"' 2.0 embodiments of the present invention, the Control Panel 102 provide only passive read-outs of the "Latitude" and "Longitude" of the current cursor location or the map center; however in other GUIS embodiments, these may be input facilities or active controls re-centering the Map Screen 100 and Overview Map 103 on a user specified location, such as N 45° by W 73°.
In its Control Panel 102, under the lat/long indicators, Topo USAt"' 2.0 includes passive readouts, one indicating the elevation above sea level of the ground level at the current cursor location, as well as another indicating the intervals between topographic contour lines available for the present map view on the Map Screen 100. XMap~ Business 1.0 omits these elevation and interval indicators --illustrating the fact that the particular configuration and elements of the Control Panel 102 (or of any other of the major interface components) are application or product specific, and variable to some extent, within the present invention's scope. Specific controls and indicators may also be provided as after-market add-on modules. For example, an elevation indicator accessory for the Control Panel 102 of XMap~ Business 1.0 might be included as part of a topographical data add-on product downloaded for a fee online. Alternative embodiments may provide substitute, or additional, read-outs and/or active controls geared to UTM
or other geographic coordinate systems.
Nomenclature of assorted components also varies. Fvr example, near the bottom of the Control Panel 102 In FIG. 2A, both XMap~ Business 1.0 and Topo USAF" 2.0 include the capability to adjust by percentage increments (50%, 75%, 100%, 150% and 200%) the magnification or reduction of the map display on the Map Screen 100. This control is termed "Display" in Topo USA''" 2.0 and "Magnify" in XMap~ Business 1,0. Despite the different names, the "Display"
and "Magnify" controls work much the same in the two products. For example, suppose the default read-out on the scale bar near the bottom of the Control Panel 102 is "500ft" when "Magnify" or "Display" are at "100%". If the user clicks on 50% in "Display" or "Magnify", the Map Screen 102 view changes to show an enlarged geographic area in which the same-sized scale bar line reads "1000 ft".
Text, road widths and map symbols are reduced to half their size on the Map Screen as well with the change from 100% to 50% in "Magnify" or "Display";
however, there is no change in the actual size or geographic scope of the Overview Map 105; Instead the size of the black box within the Overview Map representing the Map Screen perimeter enlarges to show the increase in geographical area viewed at 50%. Conversely, setting "Magnify" or "Display" at 200% brings the map display of the Map Screen 100 to a much closer-up view of a reduced area on the surface of the earth; the scale bar reads "250ft."; Map Screen text, road widths and symbols on the Map Screen 100 double in size;
and, within the unchanging Overview Map 105 the black box shrinks to show the reduced geographic area inside of the Map Screen's perimeter. Moreover, "Display" and "Magnify" only affect the map size displayed on the Map Screen 100 and the size of the black box in the Overview Map 105 - but, by design, not impacting upon the scale or appearance of hardcopy map prints which XMap~
Business 1.0 and Topo USAr'" 2.0 manage in the Command Panel 103 under the Print tab. Some other product -- embodying the present invention -- could provide a differently integrated scale adjustment capability within the Control Panel 102, which would affect hardcopy print operations managed within the Command Panel 103 ~. as well as the digital map views, What is most important for general understanding of the role of the Control Panel 102 in the present invention is that it is the appropriate cabinet and convenient access point for "Display" and "Magnify" or other controls which impact on the map view presented on the Map Screen 100, as reflected in the Overview Map 105 - also, for responsive read-outs like the scale bar.
XMap~ Business 1.0 permits the Control Panel 102 in FIG. 2A to get partly covered up by a limited upward expansion of the Overview Map/Map QueryNVeb Info area at 105 - as detailed further hereinafter, particularly with reference to FIGS. 2B and 2C. Alternatively, the instruments and displays in the Control Panel 102 could be ordered from top to bottom and right to left, or could be designed to compress with a minimal loss of function. Higher priority or more frequently used facilities ideally are grouped towards the top andlor the right within the Control Panel 102. For one thing, this is a convention that the user may find natural or can readily learn for faster more intuitive access to the most important controls. More significantly perhaps, the Overview Map/Map Query/Web Info area at 105 in FIG. 2A and/or the Map Screen 100 may be enlarged, within the scope of the present invention, and as a matter of specific application design -- for example, for purposes of providing increased online information related to the current map, or for a more commanding Overview Map 105 perspective, or in order for improved viewing of high-resolution raster, remote sensing data, or aerial photos on the Map Screen 100. The Zoom Level 7 0 adjuster, generally and preferably, occupies a priority position near the top of the Control Panel 102; the associated up-down arrows are located on the far right, where a user can still reach them despite some lateral expansion of the Map Screen 100. The three zoom buttons and the eight compass rose pan buttons are also fairly elevated within the Control Panel 102, and might be compressed, or rearranged into some more vertical arrangement in order to make more room for the Map Screen 100, if needed. The XMap~ Business Control Panel 102 also contains some bare or unused space e.g. below the LatlLong read-outs, and both above and below "Magnify". (In alternative embodiments, this space might be used e.g. for "GPS AutoPan" button or readout - to indicate and enable control over whether the map display is "locked-on" GPS satellite information). These unused areas could be compressed to allow the Overview Map 105 to be enlarged upwards -- while still keeping at least the most useful levers and gauges on the Control Panel 102 in sight and/or within reach. The DeLorme logo and the XMap~ Business product name might also be shifted up over into the middle of the empty top bar at 107, allowing all the Control Panel 102 features to slide up and remain in view -~ if required by a particular application or operation.
Alternatively, for example in Topo USAF"' 2.0, only the Command Panel 103 expands upwards to take a limited space from the Map Screen 100 in defined situations detailed more hereinafter -- which protects the Control Panel 102 from obstruction by the Overview Map 105. To prevent user confusion and promote agile map control, it is desirable that the Control Panel 102 instruments and handles be easily and quickly found, manipulated and/or interpreted in predictable and consistent locations and formats.

In sum, the Control Panel 102 of the present invention flexibly provides a consistent, handy venue for "off map" controls like panning, zooming, adjusting magnitude and/or magnification, and so forth, which directly affect both map displays, The Control Panel 102 of the present invention also generally provides reliable read-outs - easy for the eyes of the user to reach, close to both the Overview Map 105 and the Map Screen 100 -. of the latitude, longitude, elevation, scale, level of detail, user history, enlargement factors, and other information useful for understanding the current map views in accord with the specific mapping application. The Control Panel 102 can directly or indirectly set-up or determine operations performed under selected tabs within the Command Panel 103, which might also proceed independent of one or more current map view adjustments made within the Control Panel 102 -- mainly as a matter of application requirements attd product design.
As shown in FIG. 2A, the Overview Map/Query area 105 works in conjunction with the Map Screen 100. The Overview Map 105 provides a smaller sized but larger scale perspective of the geographic area under view on the Map Screen 100. The black box in the Overview Map 105 represents the perimeter of the Map Screen 100. The Overview Map 105 is not, however, just a tail wagged by the Map Screen 100. For example, by clicking anywhere in the Overview Map 105, the user makes the Map Screen 100 re-center on that point, moving the Map Screen 100 much greater distances than one re-centering click inside the Map Screen 100. The user can also re-center the Map Screen 100 by dragging the black box in the Overview Map 105 around with the mouse.
The Overview Map area 105 also does double or triple duty as a Map Query and Web Info display area, for map-related information displays. As shown in FIG.
2A, the user can toggle the Query button at the far right end of the Map Tool Bar 106 above the Overview Map 105. The Query button converts the space occupied by the Overview Map into a venue for the display of information about points, polygons, vectors or other map objects selected on the Map Screen 100.
For example, in Topo USAtr" 2.0, the Query box and related characteristic cursor mode enable the user to click the mouse on natural features depicted on the map for more text information about the feature e.g. lake areas and depths, the height and other facts and statistics about a selected mountain and so on. In XMap~
Business 1.0, the Query mode enables the user to click on map polygons on the Map Screen 100 such as political subdivisions, parks, areas with specific vegetation, and so forth. Then, XMap~ Business 1.0 Map Screen 100 highlights the selected polygon with "marching ants" animating the outline of the polygon area. Within the scrollable Query box at 105, a display of text information about the polygon appears. For example, text concerning the highlighted area may tersely say "Evergreen Forest, Woodland, 11.42 sq, miles." Alternatively, the scrollable Query box may present lengthy factual or fictional documents, or still pictures, or videos about the selected map object and/or its surroundings. In XMaptl~ Business 1.0, for example, information about the point, road segment or other vector, or polygon selected by the cursor in the Map Query mode is shown in the visible Query box 105. Scroll buttons are supplied in the Query box 105 if there is additional information 8vailable about the selected map object -- or about many other features within the geographic yr political region encompassed by the current Map Screen 100 - additional information overflowing the current size of the Query box at 105. By manipulating the scroll buttons, the user can pull added map-related information Into view within the area alloted to the Query box 105. The informational content available by scrolling the Query box 105 is not limited to the map object picked by the cursor. In fact, the Query box is quite a gold mine of information about other points of interest and/or the general area framed by the current Map Screen 100. By scrolling in the Query box 105, the XMap~ Business 1.0 user can get demographic information on the local area, including the population of the immediate Zip code area, also population density, household, housing, income, average commute and so forth. Moreover, within limits and according to the present invention, the OverviewMapIQuery box at in FIG. 2A may be enlarged, as detailed hereafter with particular reference to FIG. 2C. This means that the Query box might be literally expanded as a more prominent "off the-map" space for displaying e.g. text, statistics, marketing or real estate information, digital photos, aerial photos, videos, and/or other graphic images. Such diverse information can be prioritized, ordered, and/or arranged in various useful or meaningful ways. For one example, a presentation of information "played" th the QueryIWeb Info box 105 may be related to points of interest along a route -- as an alternative embodiment of the inventian disclosed in DeLorme's U.S. Pat, No. 5,559,707 titled COMPUTER-AIDED ROUTING
SYSTEM ("CARS").
This Query box area at 105 in FIG. 2A furthermore functions as an "off-the-map" display area for Web Info e.g. construction, weather, events, traffic and/or other updated information about locations shown on the Map Screen 100, which is or has been downloaded from the Internet or other online resources.
Web Info is triggered to appear in the Query box in XMap~ Business 1.0 by the user clicking upon characteristic symbols on the Map Screen 100 associated with downloaded information. The Query/Web Info box 105 can also be programmed to function as a "mini-browser" and/or an "hITML viewer" interacting between the GUIS interface, particularly the Map Screen, and the Internet, or other online resources, and so forth. Further details on the Query/Web Info box 105 may be found in the DeLorme product HelpDocs included in the appendix to the present disclosure.
The multiple uses of the area at 105 in FIG 2A alternatively for the Overview Map 105, the Query and Web Info modes - each one interacting in a characteristic way to provide additional information concerning the Map Screen 100, and/or selected map objects - is one way that the present GUIS invention more efficiently uses and designates specific interface areas for the improved display of map-related information.
The Map Tool Bar at 106 in FIG. 2A takes a central position to perform pivotal functions according to the preferred embodiments of the present mapping software user interface invention. Background art designs have variously located essential commands and controls around the edges of the display ~- often accumulating user options in one or more rows of menus, buttons and input boxes across the top of the display. Tha present invention preferably situates the Map Tool Bar as shown at 106, nearer the middle of the interface, just under the primary Map Screen 100, and on top of the Command Panel 103 which is preferably the second largest and, perhaps, the second most intensively utilized area in most implementations of the present invention. (The Map Screen 100 ordinarily gets the most attention; the Control Panel 102 is also heavily used;

however, these generalizations will vary from user tv user, by specific tasks, and from application to application-) The Map Tool Bar 106 is also a relatively short distance for visual location and mouse travel from the Control Panel 102 and the Overview MapIQuery box 105.
The Map Tool Bar 106 is further preferably configured substantially as an easily scanned array of alternative command Tabs arranged, for example, from left to right, in order of the predicted priority or frequency of use by the typical user. Preferred mapping software embodiments of the present invention, with mid-range feature like Topo USAF"' 2.0 and XMap~ Business 1.0, have about 6 to 12 Tabs, arranged distinguishably, in one row. More or less Tabs, even multiple rows of Tabs, are possible within the scope of the GUIS invention; however, too many buttons massed together have disadvantages, shown in the background art. Instead of cryptic icons, each Tab preferably bears a reasonably meaningful legible name, identifying the group or species of functions performed largely within the Command Panel 103 under the Tab so termed. In XMap~ Business 1.0, these command Tabs have, for example, been entitled "Find", NXData", "Print", "MapFolio", "Draw", "Navigate", "GPS", "Prefs" and "NetLink". In Topo USA~'r' 2.0, the equivalent command tabs names were "Find", "Print", "Save", "Draw", "Navigate", "GPS", "3-D", "Pref', end "NetLink". A "Handheld" command Tab is also available for example as an add-on module for mapping software support for PDA devices. Icons may be used, but relatively descriptive names are preferred for ease of learning and changing tasks within the interface with less experimentation, Tool Tips, hesitation, and backtracking. Further wasted time and frustration navigating the Command Panel 103 interface is avoided because the most commonly used command Tab, "Find", is already activated, as an initial default, at the far left in the Map Tool Bar at 106 in FIG. 2A. (n other words, the preferred setup for the command Tabs means user options, estimated to be most frequently used, already are available for immediate use in the "off-the-map" user input/output Command Panel 103 under the "Find" Tab. There is no need to travel or hunt with a tiny mouse to get started - no command buttons to decipher and depress, no menus and sub-menus that must be interpreted, then navigated click by click before getting right down to work. An added advantage of the preferred Map Tool Bar arrangement at 106, shown in FIG. 2A, includes the fact that all the major alternative command facilities are available for use in the Command Panel 103, Access to any other one of these user inputJoutput options - such as "Print" or "Draw" or "Navigate" ~ merely takes a very brief journey via mouse along the handy row of command Tabs in the Map Tool Bar, and one click on a selected alternative tab. This one click then devotes the entire Command Panel area at 103 to an orderly "off the-map" arrangement of this particular input/output option, which the user selected with one click, as described in more detail hereafter. The reader will recall that the background art taught much longer paths of mouse travel, more hunting for the right menus and/or buttons, and more mouse clicks and slides in order to access, typically, a less comprehensive dialog box annoyingly placed over a substantial portion of the Map Screen and/or other important areas of the display.
Substantially all mid-range mapping software applications include the following more or less indispensable Tabs: "Find", "Print", "Save" or "File"
or "Data", "Draw"; some form of "Navigate" or "Routing" Tab suited to the application, plus "GPS", "3-D", "Preferences", and "NetLink". Specialized products feature Tabs for their target markets such as a "Golf' or a "Fishing"
or a "Photo" or an "Outdoor Journal" Tab. The present invention Map Tool Bar 106 preferably utilizes a system of tabs and sub-tabs, accessible one-at-a-time -to avoid user confusion and potential software conflicts. Alternatively, as a matter of good design and specific application requirements, more than one command or user option may be concurrently accessed by an alternative system of tabs, or equivalent means for presenting and selecting among commands or user input/output options known in the art such as menus, program listings, arrays of icons, input of each command name or first letters, and so forth. Priorities among Tabs are established in the design process considering factors such as industry norms, market studies, research and/or experienced judgments about consumer preferences, statistical or anecdotal information on patterns of product use, relationships and/or conflicts between user options, and so forth. The Map Tool Bar 106 is preferably designed and programmed to accommodate later add-on user options.

The Map Tool Bar 106 in FIG. 2A also contains three arrow buttons, towards the right, which manually initiate or override carefully limited routines for enlargement and minimization of the Command Panel 103 and/or the Overview Map/Map Query/Web Info box at 105. These enlargement and minimization protocols for systematic exchange of display space between principal intertace areas, according to the present invention, are further detailed hereafter in this disclosure,,particularly with reference to FIGS. 2B-2C. In this context, to better understand the general advantages of the GUIS Map Tool Bar 106, it suffices to observe that when the Command Pane) 703 and the Map Tool Bar 106 expand partway upwards across the Map Screen 100, as described hereafter, the Map Tool Bar 106 becomes even more centrally located and accessible for efficient user operation. The Map Tool Bar 106 in FIG. 2A also conceptually includes the "Map" and "Query" buttons to toggle between the Map Query and Overview Map modes in the versatile Overview area at 105. XMap~ Business 1.0 treats the Map Tool Bar 10B more as one unit spanning the Command Panel 103 and the Overview Area 105 -. whereas the Topo USAtm 2.0 embodiment of the LUIS
invention, for example, enables the Command Panel 103, and the Map Tool Bar 106 above it, to expand upward apart from the "Map" and "Query" toggle buttons and the multi-purpose Overview area 105 - as detailed further hereinafter.
FIG. 2A further introduces the general features of the Command Panel 103. This Command Panel 103 facilitates alternative user input/output operations, organized preferably in functional groupings, with each group or family of operations accessed by hitting a Tab in the Map Tool Bar at 106. For example, in FIG. 2A, the Command Panel 103 shows u$er input/output options made available under the initial or default Find Tab, more particularly a "Phone List by Person" search in progress, The user had picked this search made from a menu (not shown) presented nearby upon hitting the "Search For" button right under the "Find" Tab from a list of optional modes. The other search modes listed within this menu included "Street Address", "Street Intersection", "Businesses", "Zip Code", "Zip Code for a Place", "Area Code and Exchange", "Along My Route", "Radius Search", "(legion Search" and "Latitude/ Longitude".
(More details about each of these search modes are provided hereinafter, particularly in the XMap~ Business 1.0 HelpDocs found in the appendix with helpful table of contents and index.) Selecting the Phone List by Person"
option set up the Command Panel 103 as shown in FIG. 2A for this specific type of search - providing the name of the selected search mode, plus a sample of acceptable input (e.g. "Doe John, Yarmouth ME"), and configuring the output table with columns suitable for the specified search mode. If the user selected another search modality (e.g. "Zip Code") instead ~ then, that mode of search would have been named next to the "Search for" button, appropriate sample input provided below, and the output table tv the right organized accordingly. In this manner, with a couple of mouse clicks and minimal mouse travel, the user is enabled by the present invention to readily select among the various, related user input/output options, or sub-groups of commands, offered "off-the-map" within the Command Panel 103 in FIG. 2A under any one of the principal Tabs provided in the Map Tool Bar 106.
16 Generally and preferably, under any Tab in the Map Tool Bar 106, operations in the Command Panel 103 proceed from top to bottom and/or from left to right. The user quickly learns to focus his or her eyes and the mouse cursor first towards the upper left corner of the Command Panel 103 - as a normal rule. As pictured in F'IG 2A, under the "Find" tab for example, the "Search for" menu button is by design located and operated first in the upper left corner.
As just described, this button enables the user to select the desired search mode with minimal mouse activity and configure the Command Panel 103 to do the selected kind of search or find operation. Next, beneath the "Search for"
button, the user can view samples of various forms of input that work using the selected z5 search mode by hitting the "Examples" button just below. Moreover, a mode-specific example of acceptable input is also automatically displayed to the right of the "Examples" button. From top to bottom, in FIG. 2A, next the user typically moves dawn into the actual input box where he or she may enter e.g. "Jones, Yarmouth, ME". Under the input box on the right is the next logical step ~ the "Search" button, which prompts XMap~ Business 1.0 to search in a database, for example, for persons with the last name "Jones" at addresses in "Yarmouth, ME."
Results of this database search appear in short order in the output table towards the right across the Command Panel 103 as shown in FIG. 2A. Where appropriate, the best of multiple matching database records is presented first highlighted at the top of the output table. Next, the user can double-click on the uGo To" button, just to the right of his or her last activity using the "Search"
button, or click an the highlighted top record in the output table. Either action prompts XMap~ Business 1.0 to re-center the Map Screen 100 an the highlighted address, then mark the location with a MapTag or a label with the person's name and address. Additional buttons to the right of the "Go To" button facilitate further operations such as selecting a particular MapTag en the map in order to have the corresponding record entered or highlighted in the output table -- also clearing MapTags. Further operations can be pertormed to the right, manipulating the output table and the records in it, in relation to the Map Screen 100 - as detailed hereafter.
On the one hand, such left-to-right, top-to-bottom structuring, prioritization, and sequencing of user input/output operations, in the Command Panel 103 in FIG. 2A, according to the present invention, is natural - like reading --making the user interface more intuitive, easy to use and learn. On the other hand, the preferred embodiments of the present invention build on this left/right/top/battom organization, which is more or less standard for almost all command tabs or user options marshaled in the Command Panel 103 area. For example, placing the best matching database records at the top of the output table is not only intuitive but it also means that the inferior matches fall down within the output table, where they are less likely to be missed, or have to be scrolled after. This allows the height of the Command Panel 103 to be relatively low, and give the Map Screen 100 more room, for many multiwrecord operations. The user is usually not inconvenienced so long as he or she is primarily interested in the visible best matches heading the list of records in the output table. (Of course, the user can scroll the list of records in the output table. As disclosed hereinafter, there are also special, somewhat limited provisions for manually ar automatically expanding the Command Panel 103 area upwards, for example, for a better view of needed multiple records further down in the output table, But these operations entail further mouse clicks, if not some reduction in the area available for the Map Screen 100. More map view and less mouse actions do get taken into account in designing embodiments of the present invention). Moreover, the concentration of the primary menus, the mode identifier, main command buttons, and critical input boxes, etc. towards the left in the Command Panel 103 fits together very nicely with another feature of the present invention. The Overview Map/Map Query/ Web Info box at 105 is enabled manually or automatically to expand, when needed or desired for a particular applicatian, for example, for an enlarged view of text or digital images and/or online information related to objects on the Map Screen 100 - as described further hereinafter. This Overview Map/Map Query/ Web Info box 105 might expand sideways from right to left at least halfway or a bit farther across the Command Panel 103, without much compromise of user input/output operations, because -- by design -- the important user commands, options, input and output are situated in the left half or left third approximately of the Command Panel 103. The contents of the output table could be partly covered, and at least the important name data in the first column would remain visible still - as shown hereafter particularly with referencE
to FIG. 2C_ What is more, the Map QuerylOverview Map/Web Info box at 105 in FIG_ 2A might be enlarged even further e.g. to cover up the entire output table -but, the important "Search for" button, the search input box, and the pivotal "Search " and "Go To" buttons would nonetheless show and still be operable on the far left side of the Command Panel 103.
In preferred embodiments of the present GUIS invention, substantially all user input/output options - offered under the rank of Tabs in the Map Tool Bar 10fi in FIG. 2A and within the adjustable Command Panel 103 - conform to these left-to-right-top-to-bottom general structural rules of procedure, priority and placement. Additional design considerations include minimized mouse activity, restrained but effective use of pop-up menus and icons, spelling out the current operational mode and instant options, providing context-sensitive examples for easy use, offering the user helpful clues about the operational context (indicators for active tabs, depressed or disabled buttons, offering scroll buttons only when there are records off screen, etc_), logical but flexible and sometimes overlapping functional groupings of user options under a system of tabs and sub-tabs, or some equivalent transparent organization, and so forth ~- plus, a strong emphasis on visually interesting and informative interactions back and forth between the Map Screen 100 and the user inputloutput options or commands exercised under various Tabs and functional groups within the Command Panel 103 in FIG. 2A.

Persons who are skilled in the art of mapping software will readily observe these structural principles and design considerations integrated into the preferred r embodiment user commands and input/output options described throughout this disclosure, particularly with regard to the screen captures depicting the novel GUIS user interface and the XMap~ Business 1.0 and the Topo USA'm 2.0 HeIpDocs, provided hereinafter, as appendices, each with a helpful table of contents and index.
To detail further aspects of the present invention, this disclosure now tells more of the story of the "Phone list by Person" database search, based on the input by the user of "Jones, Yarmouth, Me", performed under the "Find" Tab within the Command Panel 103 in FIG. 2A. Looking at the user interface portrayed in FIG. 2A, the user may want to see more of the various "Jones"
data records in the output table. Therefore, the user hits the lower scroll button on the right side of the output table, overflowing with "Jones" in FIG. 2A. This action causes the user intertace to change according to the present invention as illustrated in FiG. 2B
FIG. 2B is a XMap~ Business 1.0 screen capture, summing up the next chapter in this tale of the "Phone fist by Person" search for "Jones" in Yarmouth, Maine. FIG. 2B shows that the Command Pane) z03 expanded upward to supply a better view of multi-record database search results. The Map Screen 200 is only partially covered, however. To keep the likely main focus on the Map Screen 200 in view, the map display automatically re-centered, by moving "up"
in a manner of speaking, within the remaining area of the Map Screen 200. These interface changes were prompted when the user hit the scroll button on the output table, which contained too many records for convenient consideration within the default-sized Command Panel 203. In a nutshell, the user can now see all the "Jones" records in the output table, and still see most of "Yarmouth, Me". To let the user access more records "off-the-map", the Map Screen area 200 was shifted upwards on the display, also reduced in size to some extent.
But, in FIG. 2B, the Map Screen 200 still has essentially the same focus as it did before in FIG. 2A thanks to the automated re-centering of the map display.

Here is a synopsis of the last chapter in our story about using XMap~
Business 1.0 and the present GUIS invention to do a map search for all the "Jones" in "Yarmouth, Me". Looking at FIG. 2B, a logical next step for a typical user may well be to choose a particular "Jones" from the expanded output table and see where that person's address is found on the Map Screen 200. Let's suppose that the user clicks with his or her mouse upon the record for "Jones Frank A..." next to last near the bottom of the list in the expanded output table.
This action transforms the user interface further, according to the present invention, as illustrated in FIG. 2C.
FIG. 2C is a XMap~ Business screen capture showing the subsequent selection of a particular "Jones", the resultant panning and zooming to the particular address, and placement of a Map Tag on that Jones' address in the center of the Map Screen 300 - then a follow-up "manual" or user prompted reciprocal re-sizing of the Overview Map 305 and the Command Pane) 303. In other words, according to the present invention, clicking on "Jones Frank A..."
prompted the XMap~ Business 1.0 program to automatically shift, re-focus or re-center the map on Frank Jones' home address in another part of Yarmouth, Maine, The program was also designed to automatically zoom the map to a closer magnitude or less distant perspective more appropriate in most cases for viewing individual addresses on the Map Screen 300. The mapping software also composed and placed a MapTag, based on the selected database record in the output table below, showing more precisely where "Frank Jones" lives. At this point, the Command Panel 303 is still enlarged to the extent allowed. For a better view and understanding of the Map Screen 300, the user then made a couple of manual adjustments: (7) bringing the Command Panel 303 partway back down to its default size; and (2) manually enlarging the Overview Map 305 across the Command Panel 303 to the left, in order to get a big picture of where "Frank Jones" address is within Yarmouth, Maine.
This disclosure now provides more detail on FIGS. 2B and 2C and the present GUIS invention, with some reference back to FIG. 2A.

In FIG. 2B, the Map Screen at 200 has ceded a limited amount of display space to the enlarged Command Panel 203. in effect, the Command Panel 203 and the Map Tool Bar 206 have moved up and now cover about 50% to S5% of the available display height - (whereas in FIG. 2A, the default arrangement of the present invention set the Map Tov) Bar 106 together with the Command Panel 103 at a total of about 22% of the available display height). Doing the math, this means that the Map Screen 200 in FIG. 2B now occupies the upper 50% to 45%
of the available display vertically. (In the default mode, the Map Screen 100 was given more headroom or about 78% of top part of the height of the available display, as shown in FIG. 2A). The Overview Map 205 in FIG. ZB has also expanded upward in, unison with the Command Panel 203; the Overview Map 205 now partially covers some of the generally less important lower portions of the XMap~ Business 1.0 Control Panel in FIG. 2B. (As a matter of design, and specific application requirements, the Overview Map area in the Topot'" USA
2.0 interface remains at the default height, in similar situations, when the Tvpo"r' USA
2.0 Command Panel is expanded upwards; this leaves more of the Topotm USA
2.0 Control Panel for the user to see and use). (n FIG. 2B, the important Zoom Level indicator in the XMap~ Business 1.0 Control Panel 202 remains in view indicating a magnitude/octave detail level of "13-0" (unchanged from "13-0" in FIG. 2A; in other words, the map was not zoomed and the level of map detail and scale were not changed in the transformation from FIG. 2A to 2B).
FIG. 2C depicts subsequent automated and manual operations, according to the present GUIS invention. The Map Screen 300 has been automatically re-centered on the location of the "Jones Frank..." address selected in the output table, as a prior step, below within the Command Panel 303 in FIG. 2C. The Map Screen 300 also zoomed automatically in for a closer, more appropriate view of the individual address location, as indicated by the responsive Zoom Level indicator, near the top of the Control Panel 302, that now shows "15-7" on the indicator of numerical magnitude/octave level of scale and detail- (This is explained in more detail hereafter). The closer map view is apparent on the Map Screen 300 as is the MapTag automatically placed to show the selected address, using data from the selected address data record in the output table.

User comprehension and orientation throughout such transformations are further assured by specific scripting of the flow and order of the Command Panel and Overview Map expansion and map reoentering and zooming operations. For example, the transition from the default to the expanded Command Panel 1031203, as shown in FIGS. 2A..28, preferably proceeds as follows. After the scroll button is hit at the bottom of the output table (which contains records that cannot be seen), then the first thing the user sees is the expansion of the Command Panel. Next the Overview Map is enlarged in XMap~ Business, rising up to fill the empty expanded area under the Map and Query toggles at the right of the Map Tvol Bar. Thereafter the black box within the Overview Map, representing the perimeter of the Map Screen scrunches up to show that the Map Screen is being reduced in height to accommodate the expanded Command Panel. Finally, the map display is re-centered within the remaining Map Screen area by appearing to move or jump °up". Likewise to help the user understand what the program is doing, the panning and zooming operations shown from FIG.
2B to FIG. 2C are also scripted and choreographed First the Overview Map 2051305 re-centers on the geographical location of the particular address selected by the user. The map display on the main Map Screen follows suit next, panning and zooming "in" on that address, whereupon the MapTag appears.
These scripts or steps are enacted in a few seconds, or less, on state-of the-art personal computers - for the novice and experienced user alike to see, more easily grasp, and not be confused or distracted by, the re-sizing of the respective interface areas and the map display refocusing upon one or more selected addresses. Persons skilled in the art of mapping software will readily appreciate how to adapt alternative visual cues, operational sequences, timing considerations, and so forth equally suitable to the task of making such transformations of the user interface, the map location and zoom factor, and in the proportions of the overall display space accorded to the various interface elements intuitive, less distracting and more pleasing to the eye - within the scope of the present GUIS invention.
FIG. 2C further reveals the maximum height, indicated by the dotted line a-b, to which the Map Tool Bar 306 and Command Panel 303 are allowed to expand, according to the present invention and XMap~ Business 1.0 design, above the default height for the Map Tool Bar 306 and the Command Panel 303.
This default height is indicated by the dotted line y-x in FIG. 2C (and also shown in FIG. 2A, where this story of the "Jones, Yarmouth, Me" search got started).
FIG. 2C additionally illustrates "manual" or user-mouse-prompted-and-controlled adjustments of the relative display space assigned to the key components of the present invention. The user in FIG. 2C has used a version of the well-known cursor mode for grabbing and dragging, enlarging and reducing the size of windows. This is the up-down arrowldouble line cursor 307 shown grabbing the top edge of the Map Tool Bar 306 in FIG. 2C. The user grabbed the Map Tovl Bar 306 with this special cursor 307, and pulled the Map Tool Bar 306 and the Command Panel 303 down to the position evident in FIG. 2C -- no doubt in order to see more of the Map Screen 300 and MapTagged address location above.
The user has also taken advantage of tho innovative XMap~ Business 1.0 design, and used the same kind of special cursor to enlarge the Overview Map 305 part way to the left, across the Command Panel 303, getting a more useful Overview Map 305 perspective as regards the "Jones Frank..." address and the rest of "Yarmouth, Me". The Overview Map 305 could be enlarged even further towards the left, covering more of the Command Panel 303, but no further than the limit represented by the dotted line c-d. In other words, according to the present invention, the relative size and visibility of the major respective parts or areas of the interface can be expanded or contracted -~ but only within defined limits -- keeping the most important parts of e.g. the Map Screen 300 and the Command Panel 303 in sight.
in FIG. 2C, the Map and Query Tabs to the right in the Map Tool Bar 306 are expanded as the Overview Map (or Query or Web Info) box 305 expands at the user's immediate control or automatically over a limited part of the Command Panel 305. The manual control buttons 30$ for resizing respective areas (within prescribed limits) are also moved towards the left in the Map Tool Bar 306. New arrow buttons appear at 310 in FIG. ~C for scrolling the Tabs to access the user input/output or command options "hidden" under the expanded Map and Query toggles. Alternatively, the Map and Query buttons could remain their original size as shown in FIG. 2B, leaving all the other Tabs in view in the Map Tool Bar 306 in FIG. ZC, even as the Overview Map,IQueryIVlleb Info box 305 expands to the left. As yet another alternative, the Tebs to the left could compress. For special applications, moreover, the Overview Map may actually be a Close-up Map i.e. providing closer rather than mare distant views of the same general geographic area as the Map Screen 300. Alternative embodiments might also utilize the empty space at the left of the expanded Command Panels in FIGS. 2B and 2C; See, for example, FIG. 2E2, where a TopoT"' USA 2.0 expanded FIND Tab uses the entire width of the Command Panel 303 for a more fully visible search data output table. Within the scope of the present invention, other Help tips, or substantive map-related information, may advantageously pop-up and be seen in the empty space under the Search button on the far left in the expanded Command Panel 203 and 303 in FIGS. 2B and 2C respectively. For example, this space could be use to promote supplemental demographic household data available online for a fee to enhance the address information in the data output table filled with "Jones" address data records in FIGS.
2B and 2C.
Any of the major GUIS interface areas may be minimized almost entirely by manual control as is well-known in windows-type programming.
Preferably, a bit of any minimized area is left showing as a visual reminder of its availability - and/or so the user can click on the remaining trace of the minimized Command Panel or Map Screen, for example, to get it back on the display in its default or other desired proportions. For example, as shown in FIG. 2C, the Overview Map lQueryNVeb Info box at 305 can be "manually" returned to its default width (as shown in FIG. 2B at 205), or the Overview Map IQuery/lNeb Info box at 305 can be almost completely minimized aver to the far right of the display e.g. by using the familiar double-arrow-double line cursor at 30'T in FIG. 2C to drag it as far as possible by its left side towards the right. But, according to the present GUIS invention, there is a minimum limit haw far the Overview Map IQueryIWeb Info box at 305 can be closed, represented by the vertical dotted line f g in FIG. 2C.

In other words, even when minimized as much as possible, within the inventive interface design, a small vertical strip of the Overview Map IQuery/Web Info box 305 is left peeking out; for example, in the Overview Map mode, the user can still see the Map Mode button and bits of the black box indicating the perimeter of the geographic region displayed on the Map Screen 300 above. For example, in the preferred embodiments, at least 3% of the display width is devoted to let some of the Overview Map/QueryIWeb Info box area peek out, even when the user tries to minimize it with familiar manual controls.
FIG. 2D1 and FIG. 2b2 are simplified drawings of typical mapping software user interfaces, according to the present invention, depicting space sharing protocols between the Command Panel and Map Screen areas.
The GUIS interface design promotes the primacy of the Map Screen 100, and avoids obscuring the user's view of the Map Screen 100, as an overall rule.
There are exceptions - according to the present invention - for specified purposes, and of limited scope. For example, types and stages of user operations require scrolling or browsing long output tables, large texts, and/or viewing still or moving pictorial or graphic information . For instance, the Topo~"' USA 2.0 preferred embodiment "pops up" or expands a results box, within an enlarged Command Panel moved up and covering about 50% of total display height, for purposes of certain operations in FIND and NAVIGATE, which involve the viewing of large tables of data records, extensive route information, elevation profiles, and so forth. Generally, operations under the FIND Tab sometimes entail scrolling long result lists of place-names, address records and so forth.
Similarly, the user occasionally needs to review extensive text travel directions, or travel-ordered listings of waypoints, route names, turns, and so forth, even multimedia presentations about points of interest along a computed route -under the NAVIGATE Tab. These operations would be hard to perform within the limited space of the default Command Panel, at a height of about 17% to 20% of the display. Therefore, the present invention allows the Command Panel to grow up, within limits, as particularly needed. Handy manual user controls or override buttons can bring the Map Screen quickly back to its default size and/or enable the user to manually adjust the relative amounts of Map Screen and Command Panel within defined limits. Expansion of the Command Panel over the Map Screen is not enabled for modes of operations yr Tabs which do not involve viewing large sets of records, big pictures, or other extensive information.
Pertinent default-sized and expanded Command Panel Tab are illustrated in FIGS. 2E1 to 4 - which .are screen captures of Topo USAF'" 2.0 default and expanded Find Tabs under the Loca1 Index SubTab, and default and expanded Navigate Tabs - including an expanded elevation Profile SubTab for interaction with a 2-D topographic map display in the Map Screen {not shown).
FIGS. 2D1 and 2D2 further illustrate a preferred mapping software procedure according to the present GUIS invention -- which automatically keeps objects or regions of user interest in view in remaining visible top portions of the map screen, during those exceptional instances when, for example, operations which are text-intensive, and/or involve much information e.g., in pictorial and/or database form, justify limited coverage of or encroachment upon the map screen by an expanded Command Panel and relevant results box.
FIG. 2D1 is a simplified representation of the inventive user interface with Map Screen occupying approximately the upper 80% of the height of display over the Command Panel. The dotted-line rectangle is a MBR or "Minimum Bounded Rectangle" {optionally visible to the user on map screen) surrounding an object on the map of interest to the user. In FIG. 2D1, this object is a highlighted vector representing an optimum route between "BOISE" and "HOME", which was computed based an user input of starting point, destination, and/or other parameters. The object could also be a geographic point, place-name ar other mappable feature. The threshold step is that the user interface technology "knows" that one or more points or objects have priority or are of interest to the user, For example, the user interface can be programmed, absent other criteria, to assume that the user is interested in the center of the current map view.

Alternatively, the last point or mappable object picked or viewed by the user can be given priority. By means well-known, the priority criteria might also take account of the current operations being engaged in by the user, such as FIND
or location operations, or NAVIGATE or routing operations. For example, priority may be given to viewing one or more selected locations related to the current FIND or Search operation, or priority may be given to keeping the entire route from Start to Finish, or a user selected segment of the route, as input by the user under Navigate. In other words, mappable objects can be assigned priority as being of interest to the user based on multi-factor criteria, such as the object on the map screen most recently selected by the user in relation to the tool or command set currently being employed. For example, FIG. 2D1 readily illustrates a scenario in which the user has just called for the calculation of an optimal route between selected geographic points.
In addition to seeing the computed route highlighted on the map screen, users of interactive mapping software also typically want text information listing the waypoints, road names, bearing, estimated driving times, turning directions and other information about the computed route. Therefore, within the NAVIGATE set of commands, automatically or at the user's option, the text results box can ba enlarged as shown in FIG. 2D2 to facilitate the user browsing or scrolling through the text travel plan related to the route highlighted on the map screen. Alternatively, according to the present invention, mapping software can provide "off- the-map" multimedia information about one or more locations shown on the current Map Screen -- with resulting geocoded textual and/or visual material optimally considered, selected, and further manipulated or processed by the user either within the Query box or within the Command Panel, - while the corresponding objects on the map screen remain in the user's full view.
Therefore, FIG. 2D2 also illustrates the priority object or computed route MBR
being shifted upwards to stay in the user's sight within the remaining visible part of the Map Screen -- thus not being at least partially obscured by the expanded results box and Command Panel.
More specifically, FIG. 2D1 illustrates a priority object, e.g. a route MBR, situated on the map screen at distances A1 and B1 from the top of the screen and the Map Tool Bar, respectively, such that expansion of the Command Panel area, although desirable in special cases, would cover or obscure at least part of the MBR or priority object on the map screen, FIG. 2D2 illustrates the solution to this problem. In FIG. 2D2, the route MBR or object of interest has been shifted closer to the top edge of the screen (A1 > A2) and remains visible above the Map Tool Bar and expanded Command Panel/results box (B1 > or = B2 > 0). Having . identified a priority object, in those instances when it is appropriate to enlarge the Command Panel/results box area, the user interface program thusly keeps priority objects in the remaining visible Map Screen area.

A skilled programmer can readily see how to make alternate embodiments and variations of the technology disclosed in relation to FIGS. 2D1 and ZD2.
For example, the center of a large MBR should stay in view even if the top and bottom edges of the MBR are obscured (A2 < 0 and B2 < 0) or pushed "under"
the top and bottom edges of the reduced Map Screen. Alternatively or in addition, map scale and/or magnitude can be changed to fit a larger MBR or priority object with in the reduced Map Screen. However, stable map scale andlor magnitude are often preferred as more user-friendly and intuitive for most users, because redrawing and reorientation of the user's eye to the map at a different scale or magnitude does not distract or confuse the user. When the Command Panel is returned to its default 20% of screen height, after special enlarged operations, then normally the priority object and map screen return to their initial condition and positions, as shown in FIG. 2D1.
Systematic protocols, criteria and syntax to govern the sharing of display space among the major areas components of the GUIS interface should include all or at feast some of the following considerations, among others:
(1 ) limits on enlargement and minimization of the Map Screen, Control Panel, Command Panel, Map Tool Bar, and Overview MaplQuery/Vlleb Info box, as illustrated in this disclosure;
(2) which of the five GUIS components will be involved, or left as is, throughout a particular screen-sharing transformation; for example, a version of the present GUIS interface specialized for viewing photographic images might foster a 3-way interaction between the Map Screen, Command Panel, and Query box; the location depleted in the photos shown in the Query box would be marked by map symbols on the Map Screen, and the photos, their subject matter, the compass direction end the date and time of each photo was taken, and so on, would be recorded in a data output table In the Command Panel;
(3) what Tabs or Subtabs within the Command Panel, for example, will be involved in expansion operations and which will not expand as a rule;
(4) priority yr protected regions, buttons, data tables, etc. and their positioning or repositioning within any of the five major GUIS component areas, and within the various specialized Tabs in the Command Panel and/or the alternative information modes displayed in the Overview MapIQuery/Web Info box ..- in response to expansion by adjacent interface areas;
(5) manual controls for resizing the Map Screen, Control Panel, Command Panel, Map Tool Bar, and Overview Map/QueryMleb Info box - in the form of scroll bars, buttons, special cursors, a mouse click or double-clicks on certain areas lines - and when such manual controls will be active or disabled;
(6) the one or more triggers andlor conditions which prompt "automated"
resizing of the Map Screen, Control Panel, Command Panel, Map Tool Bar, and/or the Overview Map/QueryNVeb Info box; for example, data output tables or results boxes in the Command Panel area are sometime such triggers (a) if there are 3 or 5 or "x" more records in the table than can be viewed without scrolling the table, and (b) the user hits the appropriate scroll button;
alternatively, the Map Query box might automaticailly enlarge -- in certain applications with a special focus on photographs - depending on the amount of digital photo data found related to the current map display on the Map Screen; and (7) "automated" routines entailed or associated when e.g. the Command Panel and/or the Query/Overvlew Map/ /Web Info box are interacting andlor resized - for example, panning, zooming, andlor re-centering the Map Screen on a priority MBR - for another example, displaying a series of photographs about locations along a route in the Query box while simultaneously highlighting the location where each photograph was taken on the Map Screen, and at the same time also highlighting the data record associated with each photograph within a self scrolling data output table within the Command, with the Query box enlarging or teducing depending on the photograph's size and resolution.
Referring to the XMap~ Business 1.0 Zoom Control (shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C) or the equivalent Topo"r' USA 2.0 "Detail= adjustment (shown in FIGS. 3As, 3Ap, 38s, 3Bp, 3Cs, 3Cp, 3Ds, 3Dp, 3Es and 3Ep ) numerical magnitude/octave spin controls found near the top of the Control Panel of each product, the arrows will change octave, with the up arrow making the value smaller (i.e. from 14-1 to 14-0); a timer of less than a second will interrupt the map draw when the user clicks on the arrow again.
FIC. 3Bs illustrates how the Ove~yiew Map and Map Screen interact to give the user information about the current magnitude and scale adjustments and the actual appearance and geographical of map printouts generated under those particular adjustrnents_ This is done by the black box within the black box in the Overview Map area in FIG. 3Bs, as well as the shaded bars on either side of the Map Screen -- which indicate the size of the geographic area include within map printouts made according to current magnitude/octave and Print Tab scale slider adjustments compared to the Photozoom 50% reduction in area view on the map.display on the Map Screen.
The Photozoom setting does not, however, impact on the resulting final map printouts crafted in under the Print Tab, as shown in FIG. 3Bp in the preferred XMap Business and Topo USA 2.0 embodiments.
The new user intertace system of the present invention facilitates user adjustment of the "Detail'- (Magnitude-Octave). and /or "Display" (Photozoom) controls on the Control Panel, and/or Scale slider control under the 2D Option under the Print map tool button. In one preferred embodiment, the Topot'" USA
Z.0 "Detail" (Mag-Octave) control varies gross -- fine levels of detail or map resolution as well as rnap scale in increments; density of mapped information, size of text, vector line widths and other map symbolization features remain relatively stable across such adjustments of magnitudes and octaves. The Display or photozoom control in Control Panel enables the user to magnify or reduce the on-screen map image much like a lens or photocopier zoom control;
text size, width of roads and other vectors, and the size other map symbols, like swampy area graphics, grow/shrink with Display adjustment; i.e., a word (e.g., a placename), that is a scale mile long and 800 scale feet high on the screen, remains a scale mile long and 800 scale feet high as the mapped area is enlarged or reduced for a closer or more distant view on the map screen. This adjustment is handy for easier viewing and reading of the map, for example, when used for in-vehicle navigation. In the preferred embodiment, this Display or photozoom control affects the map screen but is not taken into account in printing and/or saving maps. The Scale slider control within the Command Panel in the Print facility enables "zoom" adjustment for printing and/or saving maps, keyed to the magnitude-octave system disclosed below, but changing the size of text, map symbols and line widths and map information density in printed or saved output much like the simple Display photozoom control. In effect, adjustment of Scale slide control under Print enlarges or reduces the geographic area to be printed or saved as a map; the preferred embodiment displays the margins or perimeter of the geographic area to be printed or saved on (or off) the map screen; the user can scroll or pan the map in order to view the margins or perimeter of expected printouts or saved maps, in accord with varied settings or adjustments of the Scale slide control in Print.
The present invention further facilitates saving or printing maps at standard map scales, while still working on displays with different resolutions.
Particularly, for use in hardcopy form where distances can be determined with a ruler and scale conversion, map users find standard map scales convenient.
Moreover map users are used to working with certain standard scale maps like USGS 7.5 minute or 1:24, 000, or 30x 60 minute or 1: 100,000 maps. The present invention enable users to variously adjust magnitudes-octaves in Detail, the map-screen photozoom in Display, and/or the Scale slide control under Print.
But, the map engine "thinks" in terms of pixels or device coordinates to work with varying display resolutions {800x600 pixels, 768x1024 pixels, etc.). Moreover, personal computer printers vary In dpi or ''dots per inch" i.e. the density of the ink spots put on the paper, depending on the capabilities and settings of various printers. As disclosed hereafter, the present invention enables printing and saving standard scale maps, which can even be labeled with standard ratio map scales (e.g_ 1 inch or meter on map = 100,000 inches or meters on earth).
Typical use scenario reveals the mapping software user picking a location of interest, selecting a desired magnitude, adjusting octaves, and/or the Scale slide photozoom adtustment in Print The present invention allows great user flexibility in making such adjustments while still printing andlor saving maps at standard map scales by the following preferred means. The program goes out and gets the current dpi setting information from the printer. The program also takes into account the Magnitude, Octave and/or the Scale slide photozoom adjustments selected by the user. Standard scale maps can then be printed in accord with the following algorithm or the corresponding table derived therefrom.
The algorithm is more efficient than a "look-up" table and is therefore preferred for faster computing and more efficient storage. This disclosure also includes printscreens illustrating various adjustments of the Detail, Display and Scale slide controls and corresponding map printouts facilitated by the disclosed technology, namely as shown in FIGS. 3As, 3Ap, 3Bs, 3Bp, 3Cs, 3Cp, 3Ds, 3Dp, 3Es and 3Ep Those figure identifications include the notation "p" to designate printouts obtained using the "Print" tab of the Command Panel and the notation "s" to designate corresponding screen captures of the Topo~'" USA 2.0 user interface as adjusted to produce the resulting map printouts.
As indicated, the mag and octave determine the level of detail of a map as adjusted in Detail. These two along with the photozoom, as adjusted by the Scale slide in Print, determine the scale of a map. For this discussion we can ignore the effect of the map projection on the scale. For any projection there is at least one point for which the scale is "true". The mag, octave and photozoom determine this "true" scale.
The scale of the maps can be inferred from the formula below for the number of pixels per degree.
(1 ) P = (1024/360)~Z~2M[1gl(16-m)] pixel/degree Where M is the mag, ranging from 0 to 31 m is the octave (sub-mag), ranging from 0 to 7 g Z is the photo-zoom. This can be any positive real number.
In addition to its effect on scale the photo-zoom also has the effect of modifying the map object symbolization. It acts as a multiplier of the size of text, line widths, symbol sizes, etc. For example, a road that is symbolized as a 7 pixel wide line will be symbolized as a 14 pixel wide line when the photo-zoom is 2Ø Since the photo-zoom effects the scale in a similar manor, it does not affect the geographic coverage of the symbolization.
The device coordinate scale defined above becomes a physical map scale when the map is rendered on a physical device (e.g. rendered on a monitor or printed). The scale can be expressed as 1.X where X is given by the following formula.
X - [P pixel/deg]~[360/40040 deglkm]I[39000 inches/km]~[R pixelslinch]
or (2) X = [1024/(4004039000)]~Z-2M[16/(16-m)]/R
' Where R is the output resolution in dots per inch Given the resolution (R dots per inch) of the video display, formula (2) can be used to compute an actual map scale. So, for any display, the mag, octave and photo-zoom determine the scale in device units, but the size of the output device (from palm top to projection screen) will determine from there the actual scale.
When printing it is desirable for the mag and octave to map to a standard print scale, regardless of the actual resolution of the printer. The scale is determined using formula (2) with the value of R set to 132.935085 dpi when the mag-octave pair is less than or equal to 13-0, and set to 136.128 dpi when the pair is greater than or equal to 13-1. The photo-zoom is determined by taking the ratio of the actual resolution of the printer to the resolution used to choose the scale. These dpi values were chosen empirically to force our definition of scale to map to standard map scales for each mag-octave pair.
In this manner, all the standard map scales are represented by a mag-octave pair, Incrementing or decrementing the mag halves and doubles the scale respectively, whale stepping through the octaves causes the scale to change linearly- Table 1 presents a summary of the mag-octave values and their relationships to map scale, distance/pixel values.
While the invention has been described with reference to particular example embodiments, it is intended to cover all modifications and equivalents within the scope of the following claims.

40040 circumference of the earth (km) 133 dpl (dots per Inch) up to 13 0 138.128 dpf (dots per inch) 13-1 and up 5238 dpm (dots per meter) 5363 dpm (dots. per meter) zoom 161(16- default print MagOctaveoctave) scale mlpix ftJpix 0 0 1.0000 20.4,800,00039,101_56128,383.46 0 1 1.0667 192,000,00036,657_71120,359.50 0 2 1.1429 179,200,00034,213.87112,335.53 0 3 1.2308 166,400,00031,770.02104,311.56 C ' 0 4 . 1.3333 153,600,00029,326.1796,287.60 0 5 1.4545 140,800,00026,882.3288,263.63 0 6 1.6000 128,000,00024,438,4880,239.66 0 7 1.7778 115,200,00021,994.6372,215.70 1 0 1.0000 102,400,00019,550.7864,191.73 1 1 1.0667 96,000,00018,328.8660,179.75 1 2 1.1429 89,600,00017,106.9356,167.77 1 3 1.2308 83,200,00015,885.0152,155.78 1 4 1.3333 76;800,00014,663.0948,143.80 1 5 1.4545 70,400,00013,441.1644,131 _82 1 6 1.6000 64,000,00012,219.2440,119.83 1 7 1.7778 57,600,00010,997.3136,107.85 2 0 1.0000 51,200,Op09,775.3932,095.87 2 1 1.0667 48,000,0008,164.4330,089.87 2 2 1.1429 44,800,0008.553.4728,083.88 2 3 1.2308 41,600,0007,942.5026,077.89 , ~
2 4 1.3333 38,400,0007,331,5424,071.90 , 2 5 1.454'5 35,200,0006,720,5822,065.91 .d 2 6 1.60b0 32,000,0006,109.6220,059.92 2 7 1.7778 28,800,0005,498.6818,053.92 0 3 0 1.0000 25,600,0004,B87.7016,047.93 -t~

3 1 1.0667 24,000,0004,582.2115,044.94 3 2 1.1429 22,400,0004,276.7314,041.94 3 3 1.2308 20,800,0003,971 13,038.95 _25 3 4 1.3333 19,200,0003,665.7712,035.95 3 5 1.4545 17,600,0003,360.2911,032.95 3 6 1 _6000 16,000,0003,054.8110,029.96 3 7 1.7778 14,400,0002,749.33- 9,026.96 4 0 1.0000 12,800,0002,443.858,023_97 4 1 1.0667 12,000.0002,291.117,522.47 4 2 1.1429 11,200,0002,138.377;020.97 4 3 1.2308 10,400,0001,985.636,519.47 4 4 1.3333 9,600,000 1,832.896,017.97 4 5 1.4545 8,8.00,000 1,680.155.516,48 4 6 1 .6000 8,000,000 1,527.405,014.98 4 7 1.7778 7,200,000 1,374.664,513.48 0 1:0000 6,400,000 1,221.924,011.98 5 1 1.0667 6,000,000 1,145.553,761.23 5 2 1.1429 5,600,000 1,069.1$3,570.49 5 3 1.2308 5,200,000 992.81 3,259.74 6 4 1.3333 4,800,000 916,44 3,008.9 5 5 1.4545 4,400,000 840.07 2,758.24 5 6 1.6000 4,000,000 763.70 2,507.49 5 7 1.7778 3,600,000 687.33 2,256.74 6 0 1.0000 3,200,000 618.96 2,005.99 6 1 1.0667 3,000,000 572.78 1,880.62 6 2 1.1429 2,800,000 534.59 1,755.24 6 3 1.2308 2,600,Q00 496.41 1,629.87 6 4 1.3333 2,400,000 458.22 1,504.49 6 5 1.4545 2,200,000 420.04 1,379.12 6 6 1.6000 2,000,000 381.85 1',253.74 6 7 1.7778 1,800,000 343.67 1,128.37 7 0 1,0000 1,600,000 305.48 1,003.00 7 1 1.0667 '1,500,000 286.38 940.31 7 2 1.1429 1,400,000 267.30 877.62 0' 7 3 1.2308 1,300,000 248.20 814.93 7 4 1.3333 1,200,000 229,11 752.25 7 5 1.4545 000 210.02 689.56 1,100 , 7 6 1:6000 1,000,000 190.93 626.87 7 7 1.7778 900,000 171.83 564.19 8 0 7.0000 800,000 152.74 501.50 8 1 1.0667 750,000 143.19 470.15 8 2 1.1429 700,000 133.65 438.81 "'-' 8 3 1.2308 650,000 124.10 407.47 8 4 1.3333 600,000 114.56 376.12 8 5 1.4545 550,000 105.01 344.78 p 8 6 1.6000 500,000 95.46 313.44 '~' 8 7 1.7778 450.000 85.92 282.09 9 0 1.0000 400,000 76.37 20.75 9 1 1.0667 375,000 71.60 235.08 9 2 1.1429 350,000 66.82 219.41 9 3 1.2308 325,000 62.05_ 203.73 9 4 1.3333 300,000 57.28 188.06 9 5 1.4545 275,000 52.50 172.39 9 6 1.8000 250,000 47.73 156.72 9 7 1.7778 225,000 42.96 141.05 0 l.oooo zo0,o00 38.1~s 1x5.37

10 1 1.0667 187,500 35.80 117.54 10 2 1.1429 175.000 33.41 109.70 10 3 1.2308 162,500 31.03 101.87 10 4 1.3333 150,000 28.64 94.03 10 5 1.4545 137,500 26.25 86.19 6 1.6000 125,000 23.87 78.36.

10 7 1.7778 112,500 21.48 70.52

11 0 1.0000 100,000 19.09 62.89 11 1 1.0667 93,750 17.9Q 58.77 11 2 1.1429 87,500 16.71 54.85 11 3 1.2308 81,250 15.51 50.93 11 4 1.3333 75,000 14.32 47.02 ~ 5 1.4545 68,750 13.13 43.10 11 6 1.6000 62,500 11.93 39,78 11 7 1.7778 56,250 10.74 35.26 1 0 1.0000 50,000 9.55 31.34 Z

12 1 1.0667 46,875 8.95 29.38 72 2 1.1429 43,750 8.35 27.43 12 3 1 _2308 40,625 7.76 25.47 G7 12 4 1.3333 37,500 7.16 23.51 12 5 1.4545 34,375 6.56 21.55 12 6 1.6000 31,250 5.97 19.59 n~

12 7 1.7778 28,125 5.37 17.63

13 0 1.0000 25,000 4.77 15.67 13 1 1.0667 24,000 4.47 14.69 a 13 2 1.1429 22,400 4.18 13.71 "c3 13 3 1.2308 20,800 3.88 12.73 13 4 1.3333 19,200 3.58 11.75 =.

13 5 1.4545 17,600 3.28 10.77 13 6 1.6000 16,000 2.98 9.79 13 7 1.7778 14,400 2.68 8.82

14 0 1.0000 12,800 2.39 7.84 14 1 1.0667 12,000 2.24- 7.35 14 2 1.1429 11,200 2.09 6.86 14 3 1.2308 10,400 1.94 6.37 ~j 14 4 1,3333 9,600 1.79 5.88 ~

14 5 1.4545 8,800 1.64 5.39 14 6 1.6000 8,000 1.49 4,90 14 7 1.7778 7,200 1.34 4.41 0 1.0000 6,400 1.19 3.92

15 1 1.0667 6,000 1.12 3.67 15 2 1.1429 5,600 . 1.04 3.43 ~

15 3 1.230$ 5,200 0.87 3.18 15 4 1.3333 4,800, 0.89 2.94 15 5 1.4545 4,400 0.82 2.69 15 6 1.6000 4,000 0,75 2.45 15 7 1.T778 3,600 0.67 2.20

16 0 7.0000 3,200 0.60 1.96 16 1 1.0667 3,000 0.56 1.84 16 2 1.1429 2,800 0.52 1.71 16 3 1.2308 2,600 0.48 1.59 16 4 1.3333 2,400 0.45 1.47 16 5 1.4545 2,200 0.41 1.35 16 6 1.6000 2,000 0.37 1.22 n CA 02305851 2000-04-17 ', 16 7 1.7778 1,800 0-34 1.10

17 0 1.0000 1,600 0.30 D.98 17 1 1.0667 1,500 0.2B 0.92 17 2 1.1429 1,400 0.26 0.86 17 3 1.2308 1,300 0.24 0.80 17 4 1.3333 1,200 0,22 0.73 17 5 1.4545 1,100 0.21 0.67 17 6 1.6000 1,000 0.19 0.61 17 7 7778 900 _ 0,55 1 0.17 .

18 0 1.0000 800 0.15 0.49 ar 18 1 1.0667 750 0.14 0.46 18 2 1.1429 700 0.13 0.43 i 18 3 1.2308 650 0.12 0.40 18 4 1,3333 600 0.11 0.37 18 5 1.4545 550 0.10 0.34 18 6 1.6000 500 0.09 0.31 18 7 1.7778 450 O.OB 028 .r

19 0 1.0000 d00 0.07 0.24

20 0 1.OOOD 200 3.729E-021.224E-01 ~'r I

21 D 1.0000 100 1.865E-026.122E-02

22 0 1.0000 50 9.323E-033.061 E-D2

23 0 1.0000 25 4.661E-031.530E-02

24 0 1.OOOD 12.5 2.331 7.652E-03

25 0 1.0000 6.3 1.165E-033.826E-03

26 0 1.0000 3.1 5.827E-041.913E-03

27 0 1.0000 1.6 2.913E-049.565E-04 27 6 1.6000 1.0 1.821 5.978E-04 O

28 0 1.OOOD 0.8 1,457E04 4.783E-04 '~

29 0 1.0000 0.4 7.283E-052.391 E-04

30 0 1.0000 0.2 3.642E-051.196E-04

Claims (36)

What Is Claimed Is:

1. A computer-based map generation system for use with a computer system including a mass storage component, and a screen connectable to the computer system, the map generation system comprising:
a. a database capable of being stored on the mass storage component and including one or more files of digital map data corresponding to map coordinates of map surface regions organized into one or more groups of map detail information of successive levels of magnitude, with a unique map presentation associated with each of said groups of map detail information, and wherein each of said groups of map detail information is further organized into a plurality of subgroups of map detail information of successive levels of sub-magnitudes, with a unique map presentation associated with each of said plurality of subgroups;
and b. software operable through the computer system and configured to allow a user to selectively access said database and generate for display on the screen a map presentation comprising one or more of said one or more files of digital map data associated with said levels of magnitude and said levels of sub-magnitudes,

2. The map generation system as claimed in Claim 1 wherein each of said plurality of subgroups of map detail information includes substantially equivalent amounts of said map detail information.

3. The map generation system as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said software is configured to permit the user to view said map presentation by selecting one or more of said successive levels of magnitude and one or more of said successive levels of sub-magnitudes.

4. The map generation system as claimed in Claim 3 wherein said database further includes a plurality of sets of information of interest associated with said map information, said software being further configured to cause selectable display of one or more of said sets of information of interest on said map presentation, and wherein said software is configured such that a scale of display of said one or more sets of information changes with changes of said levels of magnitude and said levels of sub-magnitudes.

5. The map generation system as claimed in Claim 1 wherein a level of detail of said map presentation changes with changes in said levels of magnitude.

6. The map generation system as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said software is configured to permit the user to view said map presentation by selecting a map reduction or enlargement value observable on the screen such that a selected reduction or enlargement value corresponds to a particular level-of-magnitude value associated with said levels of magnitude and a particular level-of-sub-magnitude value associated with said levels of sub-magnitudes.

7. The map generation system as claimed in Claim 6 wherein said database further includes a plurality of sets of information of interest associated with said map information, said software being further configured to cause selectable display of one or more of said sets of information of interest on said map presentation, and wherein said software is configured such that a scale of display of said one or more sets of information remains substantially the same with changes of said levels of magnitude and said levels of sub-magnitudes.

8. The map generation system as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said software is configured to present said map presentation on the screen such that changes in said levels of sub-magnitudes results in a the area of map displayed on the screen without a change in the resolution of said map detail information presented.

9. The map generation system as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said software is further configured to present on the screen a map-print slide scale marker and to allow the user to view on the screen said map presentation at a selected level of detail, modify a position of said slide scale marker, and set a printed map representation of said map presentation that may be at a level of resolution that is the same as or different from the level of resolution of said map presentation.

10. The map generation system as claimed in Claim 9 wherein groupings of said successive levels of magnitude and groupings of said successive levels of sub-magnitudes are arranged to correspond to standard printable map scales.

11. The map generation system as claimed in Claim 10 wherein one of the standard printable map scales to which said groupings of levels of magnitude and sub-magnitudes corresponds is 1:24.

12. The map generation system as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the computer system includes a first computer device and a second computer device, wherein the first computer device is coupled to the screen and is controllable by the user, wherein the second computer device is coupled to the mass storage component and is designed to run said software based upon instructions received from the first computer device, and wherein the first computer device and the second computer device are remote from one another.

13. The map generation system as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the mass storage component is selected from the group consisting of floppy diskettes, CD-ROMs, and DVDs.

14. A computer-based map-display system for displaying digital maps of varying levels of magnitude on a computer system including a screen having an observable viewing area, the map-display system comprising:
a. a database including digital map data corresponding to map coordinates of map surface regions organized into one or more groups of map detail information of successive levels of magnitude, with a unique map presentation associated with each of said groups of map detail information, said database further including information of interest that may be associated with said digital map data; and b. software operable through the computer system and configured to regulate a map presentation on the screen, wherein said map presentation is based upon said digital map data, wherein said software includes:
i. a presentation region for presenting said map presentation on the screen, wherein said presentation region displays said map presentation in a first region of the observable viewing area of the screen;
ii. a control panel in a second region of the observable viewing area of the screen, wherein said control panel includes one or more map display control elements for regulating said map presentation, wherein said first region and said second region are substantially side-by-side; and iii. a command panel for presenting on the screen one or more sets of information from said information of interest in association with said map presentation, wherein said command panel establishes a task control region for displaying a task control panel in a third region of the observable viewing area of the screen, wherein said task control region is below said presentation region when observed on the screen.

15. The map-display system as claimed in Claim 14 further comprising a map overview region for displaying a map overview encompassing said map presentation, wherein said map overview region is side-by-side with said third region and is below said second region when observed on the screen.

16. The map-display system as claimed in Claim 15 wherein dimensions of said task control region and said map overview region may be adjusted with respect to dimensions of said presentation region.

17. The map-display system as claimed in Claim 15 wherein dimensions of said task control region and said map overview region may be adjusted with respect to one another.

18. The map-display system as claimed in Claim 14 wherein said task control panel includes one or more tabs that when selected by a user initiate access to said database to obtain said informative of interest that may be displayed while said map presentation remains observable on the screen.

19. The map-display system as claimed in Claim 18 wherein said tabs are located at an upper region of said command panel adjacent to and below said presentation region.

20. The map-display system as claimed in Claim 19 wherein said tabs are arranged in a hierarchical arrangement with a most-frequently accessed tab in a leftmost position and a least-frequently accessed tab in a rightmost position when observed on the screen.

21. The map-display system as claimed in Claim 20 wherein said rightmost tab is associated with a command option related to additional map information obtainable from an interconnected network of computer systems or from an independent mass storage device.

22. The map-display system as claimed in Claim 18 wherein one or more of said one or more tabs includes a plurality of sub-tabs each associated with a particular command option related to a command option of its corresponding tab.

23. The map-display system as claimed in Claim 22 wherein said sub-tabs may be accessed or hidden by activating an associated one of said tabs.

24. The map-display system as claimed in Claim 18 wherein one or more of said one ar more tabs, when activated, generates a dialog box within said third region, wherein said dialog box presents dialog information associated with a command generated by activating a selected tab.

25. The map-display system as claimed in Claim 24 wherein said software is configured to enable modification of said map presentation associated with specific dialog information upon selection of one or more specific sub-boxes of said dialog box.

26. The map-display system as claimed in Claim 14 wherein said presentation panel spans about 90% of the horizontal extent of the screen and said control panel spans about 10% of the horizontal extent of the screen.

27. The map-display system as claimed in Claim 26 wherein said presentation panel and said control panel span about 75% of the vertical extent of the screen.

28. The map-display system as claimed in Claim 15 wherein said map overview region includes a first view box to represent said map presentation and a second view box to represent a printable map presentation.

29. The map-display system as claimed in Claim 28 wherein said first view box is encompassed by said second view box.

30. The map-display system as claimed in Claim 18 wherein said software is further configured to allow a user to adjust dimensions of said command panel to permit simultaneous viewing of said accessed information of interest and said map presentation.

31. The map-display system as claimed in Claim 30 wherein said software is further configured to allow the user to variably adjust the dimensions of said command panel to accommodate the amount of said accessed information retrieved from said database.

32. The map-display system as claimed in Claim 31 further comprising a map overview region for displaying a map overview encompassing said map presentation, wherein said map overview region is side-by-side with said command panel and is below said second region when observed on the screen, and wherein when dimensions of said command panel are adjusted, dimensions of said map overview region are simultaneously adjusted.

33. The map-display system as claimed in Claim 32 wherein when accessed information of interest is retrieved, said software is configured to enable the user to display said accessed information on said map presentation, and wherein when said accessed information is displayed on said map presentation, said software may automatically adjust resolution of said map presentation to show said accessed information on a second map presentation of a different level of magnitude.

34. The map-display system as claimed in Claim 33 wherein said software is further configured to permit the user to adjust a level of magnitude of said map presentation without a change in the dimensions of said access information of interest displayed on said map presentation.

35. The map-display system as claimed in Claim 33 wherein said software is further configured to re-center said map presentation in said first region when resolution of said map presentation is automatically adjusted.

36. A computer-based display system for displaying information an a computer system including a screen having an observable viewing area and allowing a user to access, manage, and present the information on the screen, the display system comprising:
a. a database including digital information organized into one or more groups of information, with a unique presentation associated with each of said one or more groups of information; and b. software operable through the computer system and configured to regulate a presentation on the screen, wherein said presentation is based upon said digital information, wherein said software includes:
i. a presentation region for presenting said presentation on the screen, wherein said presentation region displays said presentation in a first region of the observable viewing area of the screen;
a control panel in a second region of the observable viewing area of the screen, wherein said control panel includes one or more display control elements for regulating said presentation, wherein said first region and said second region are substantially side-by-side; and iii, a command panel for presenting on the screen said one or more groups of information in association with said presentation, wherein said command panel establishes a task control region for displaying a task control panel in a third region of the observable viewing area of the screen, wherein said task control region is below said presentation region when observed on the screen.