JP2000081839A - Map data transferring and displaying method, and system and recording medium therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the amount of map data made to circulate on a network and to enhance the throughput, and to reduce the network load. SOLUTION: An area specification screen and the receiving state screen of map components of the area are prepared on the screen of the display device of a user computer 1 and, in an additional retrieval processing, the additional map component specifying data inputted by using the received state screen are transmitted to a server computer 2 as an additional retrieval request and corresponding map component data are obtained from the server computer 2 and these obtained map component data are added to a map display table 16 and then a map is displayed based on data of the updated map display and generating table 16.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a map data transfer / display method for acquiring map data of a desired area (region) from a server computer via a network such as the Internet and displaying the map data on a computer display screen used by a user. The present invention relates to a system and a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a map information processing system using the Internet, map data constituting a unit area is stored in a server computer as a set of map component data classified in a hierarchical structure according to components such as roads and houses. There is a map database prepared by preparing a map database, searching for the map component data of the area requested from the user's computer via the Internet from the map database, transferring it to the requesting user's computer, and displaying it. .

[0003]

However, in the above-described conventional map information processing system, when a user designates an area, all the map component data included in the designated area is read from a map database. Search and forward to the requesting computer. In other words, even when the user wants to display a map of only the roads in the designated area, the data of all the map components such as a house and various facilities are searched and transferred to the requesting computer. It is designed to be displayed. In this case, unlike the text data, the map data generally has a large capacity. For this reason, in a configuration in which data is transferred via a network such as the Internet, the data transfer time is lengthened, and the time required for the target map to be displayed on the user computer is lengthened, resulting in a decrease in throughput. There's a problem. In addition, the flow of a large amount of data over a network causes an increase in network load, which has been an obstacle in applying to actual work such as facility management and customer management.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to provide a map data transfer / display method and system capable of reducing the time required for displaying a desired map and reducing the network load.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a map data transfer / display method according to the present invention transmits a map data transfer request to a server computer via a network, and transmits the map data transfer request to the server computer. In the map data transfer / display method of transferring designated map data via a network and displaying the map data on a user's computer,
An area designation screen and a reception status screen of the map component of the area are prepared on the display device screen of the computer used by the user, and in a new map search process, the area designation data and the area designation data input using the area designation screen are input. The map component designation data of the area input using the reception state screen is transmitted to the server computer as a new search request, and the map element data of the corresponding area is obtained from the server computer, and the obtained map configuration is obtained. A map display table is generated from the element data, and a map is displayed on a display device screen based on the data of the map display generation table. In an additional search process, an additional map component input using the reception status screen is used. The designated data is transmitted to the server computer as an additional search request, and the corresponding map configuration request is transmitted from the server computer. Get the data, and adds the acquired map component data to said map display table, and displaying a map on a display device screen based on the data of the updated map display generation table.

Further, in the map data transfer / display system of the present invention, the server computer stores the map data constituting the unit area as a set of map component data classified into components such as roads and houses in a hierarchical structure. A map database, and search processing means for retrieving map component data of the area requested by the user's computer from the map database and transferring the map component data to the requesting user's computer, the user's computer comprising:
The area designation screen and the reception status screen of the map component of the area are displayed on the display device screen, and in the new map search processing, the area designation data input using the area designation screen and the reception status screen are used. The input map component designation data of the area is transmitted to the server computer as a new search request, map data of the corresponding area is acquired from the server computer, and a map display table is obtained from the acquired map component data. Is generated, and a map is displayed on the display device screen based on the data of the map display generation table. In the additional search processing, additional map component designation data input using the reception status screen is requested. To the server computer, and obtain the corresponding map component data from the server computer. Figure component data added to the map display table, characterized in that it comprises a processing means for displaying a map on a display device screen based on the data of the updated map display generation table.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing a configuration of a map data transfer / display system in an Internet environment to which the present invention is applied. A user computer 1 having an input / output device such as a display device 4, a keyboard 5, and a mouse 6, It comprises a server computer 2 having a map database 3, and the user computer 1 and the server computer 2 can be connected via a network 7.

The user computer 1 includes a map display program 11 using a plug-in method for displaying a map and transmitting and receiving data, a WWW (World Wide Web) browser 12 for displaying map data and receiving input from a user. ,
It consists of a map display table 16 for storing and managing already received map data.

The map display program 11 comprises a search control process 13, a data synthesis process 14, and a map information display process 15.

On the other hand, the server computer 2 searches the map database 3 for corresponding map data based on a search key input by the user via the WWW browser 12,
Map search program (hereinafter referred to as CGI program) that returns to the user computer 1 via the network 7
21.

The map data stored in the map database 3 includes, for example, a map layer 201, a map character layer 202, a house character layer 203, as shown in the schematic configuration diagram of FIG.
In the state of the equipment layer 204, the map data constituting the unit area is stored as a set of map constituent data classified into constituent elements such as roads and houses in a hierarchical structure. The map layer 201 represents a map such as a road constituting a unit area, and includes an image 2011, a target building 2012, a house 2013,
It is further hierarchized into a mudless building 2014, a terrestrial / vegetation world 2015, and the like. The map character layer 202 represents characters added to roads and the like on a map. In addition, house character layer 2
03 represents a character added to a house, various buildings, and the like. The facility layer 204 indicates the position of a utility pole, sewage facilities, and the like. The image 2011 is obtained by converting a part of a map into raster data. For example, roads and buildings may be converted into raster data. Target building 2012
Represents a target building on a map. The house 2013 and the non-walled building 2014 represent residential buildings and buildings similar thereto on a map. The terrestrial / vegetation world 2015 represents the name of a natural world such as a lake or a river on a map.

The CGI program 21 of the server computer 2 is capable of searching for hierarchical map components as shown in FIG. 2 in units of layers. Therefore, the search control process 13 of the user computer 1 includes W
As shown in FIG. 3A, the WW browser 12 is provided with a function of displaying a reception state screen 30 that displays the reception state of map data and the search request state in units of layers. In the reception status screen 30 shown in FIG. 3A, a search request is designated for each layer such as a road or a house, and the state of data of the already received layer is displayed. FIG.
The mark of the reception status / search request 31 is not displayed on the reception status screen 30 in the initial state shown in FIG. In FIG. 3B, as the reception status / search request 31, a mark “●” is added to the house / river layer, so that it is requested to search the data of the house / river layer. It represents. Further, in the reception state screen of FIG. 3C, since the “●” mark is added to the house / river layer, it indicates that the data of the house / river layer has already been received.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, a map display table 16 for storing and displaying received map data includes a map information management unit 160 for managing a display range of a map and received data, It is composed of a map data part 170 of a figure.

The mesh number information 161 of the map information management unit 160 indicates a plurality of mesh numbers 164 represented by (X, Y) coordinates obtained by dividing the map data of the map database 3 into a two-dimensional space, and the number of meshes. 163 meshes
The display range of the map received by the map information management unit 160 can be managed in mesh units.

The layer management information 162 includes a layer number 166, a layer name 167, and map data defined for the layer when the map data is classified into layers such as roads and houses. A reception flag 168 for determining whether or not the data has been transferred, and a display flag 169 for determining whether or not graphic data has been output to the WWW browser 12.
And the number of these layer managements is defined by the number of layers 165.

On the other hand, the graphic data group 172 of the map data section 170 includes graphic element data for displaying a graphic, and the number of graphic data groups is defined in the graphic data group number 171. The graphic data group 172 includes a layer number 173, the number of graphic elements 174 defined in the graphic data group, and graphic element data 175 including display information of the graphic.
Each figure data group (1 to m) can be associated with the layer management information 162 of the map information management unit 160.

Next, the search control processing 13 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 shows an example of an area designation screen for designating a target area. A mesh number designation button 511 for designating a target area by mesh number, and a mesh area designation button 511 for designating a target area by address. Address designation button 512 and a telephone number designation button 513 for designating a target area with a telephone number (area code). For example, when a target area is designated by an address, the address designation button 512 is turned on by a mouse click operation. Then, a search screen by address as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed, and after inputting address information 514 from the keyboard 5 in units of prefecture, ward, and town in the search screen,
The search button 515 is turned on by a mouse click operation. Thus, the input of the area designation is completed, and FIG.
The screen 30 of (a) is displayed. In this case, if the second search request is made in the same area, the state shown in FIG.
As shown in (c), the screen 30 with the identification mark “●” of the layer already received is displayed.

Here, a state is shown in which a second search request in the same area is made, and a screen 30 with an identification mark “●” of a layer already received is displayed as shown in FIG. 3 (c). Assume that

In order to add and display data of a new layer to the already received map data, the newly added data is displayed on the reception status / search request screen 30 shown in FIG. Specify the layer to be displayed. This designation is performed by selecting the identification mark column of the reception status / search request flag 31 by a mouse click operation and adding an identification mark “●”.

When an operation of selecting a layer for additional display is performed,
In the search control process 13, the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6 is executed.

That is, in the search control process 13, first,
Upon receiving an input from the map data reception status / search request screen 30 (step 61), the reception status / search request flag 31 is referred to in the order of layer number (step 62). Here, the reception flag 1 of the layer management information 162 in the map display table 16
68 is compared with the reception status / search request flag 31 input in the reception status / search request screen 30 (step 63), and the layer number in which the flag 31 is changed from off to on is stored.
If not, the process is repeated until the final layer is reached (steps 64 to 65). If all layers are compared, the map area that has already been displayed, that is, the mesh number that has already been displayed, is stored in the map information management unit 16 of the map display table 16.
0 from the mesh number information 161 (step 6
6) Using the mesh number and the layer number stored in step 64 as a search key, the CG of the server computer 2 is used.
It is transferred to the I program 21 via the network 7 (step 67).

The CGI program 2 which has received the request for the additional search reads the map data of all the layers in the mesh area specified by the search key from the map database 162, and then reads the map data of the layer newly requested to be added from the map data. Is extracted, and the extracted layer data is transferred to the user computer 1 via the network as differential map data (map data of an additional layer).

FIG. 7 shows the CGI program 2 in FIG.
3 is a flowchart showing a synthesis example of the difference map data created in Step 1 and a map display table 16 already received, and a processing procedure of a data synthesis process 14. CGI program 2
1 creates and transfers difference map data in the same format as the map data section 170 of FIG. WWW browser 12
In the data synthesizing process 14, when the graphic data groups (1-n), which are the map data of the layer requested by the user to be added, are received as the differential map data 75A (step 70), the graphic data portion of the differential map data 75A is received. 75B is read (step 71). Then, the read graphic data section 75
A graphic data group (1 to n) 75B is cut out from the beginning of B, and the map information management unit 160 has the same layer number as that in the data
The reception flag of the corresponding management layer is set to ON (steps 72 and 73). By repeating this process (steps 72 and 73) the number of graphic data groups (n) of the difference map data 75A, the difference map data 75A can be used for the existing map data 7 of the map data section 170 in the map display table 16.
Update 5C. In addition, the figure data portion 75B of the read difference map data 75A is copied to the final figure data group of the existing map data 75C (step 75), and the difference map data number (m) of the existing map data 75C is added to the difference map data. By adding the number of graphic data groups of 75A (step 76), all the received map data are managed collectively. The map data to which the difference map data 75A has been added is stored in the map data storage unit 76A after addition.

Next, the processing in the map data display processing 15 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In FIG. 8, first, the map data portion after synthesis (76 in FIG. 7)
A) is read (step 80), and layer numbers are sequentially obtained from the top of the graphic data group (step 81). It is determined whether the display flag is OFF from the layer management information 162 of the map information management unit 160 having the same layer number as the layer number acquired here (step 82).
The number of graphic elements existing in 72 is output for the number of elements defined in the graphic element number 174 (steps 83, 84, 8).
5). If the layer display flag is ON in the determination in step 82, it is determined whether or not there is a next graphic data group. If so, the layer number 17 of the next graphic data group is determined.
3 and the same processing is repeated.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a display change screen 91 in a case where a map is displayed on the screen of the display device 4 in layers according to the received map data. Character layers, house character layers, equipment layers, etc. are displayed.
01, non-display 902, and layer display 903 are displayed. Full display is the layer (for example, map layer)
The non-display means that the layer (for example, the map layer) itself is not displayed at all. In the layer display, the map data of only the layer specified by the user among the map data having a hierarchical structure belonging to the layer (for example, the map layer) is displayed.

For example, as shown in FIG. 9, in the map layer,
The state setting flag of the layer display 903 is selected by a “●” mark. This means that the user has specified to selectively display the map data of the layer specified by the user among the map data of the hierarchical structure belonging to the lower layer of the map layer. When the state setting flag of the layer display 903 is set to “●” by a mouse click operation and the “OK” button 904 is turned on by a mouse click operation, as shown in FIG. The name of the lower hierarchy such as a house is displayed. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, when the display flag 102 of the target building, the house, and the layer of the prefectural boundary is selected and set to “●” by a mouse click operation, a map including the target building, the house, and the layer of the prefectural boundary is obtained. Is displayed.

Note that the screen 91 in FIG. 9 and the reception state screen 30 in FIG. 3 can be shared. Further, the respective processing programs of the search control processing 13, the data synthesis processing 14, and the map information display processing 15 constituting the map display program 11 are stored in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM so as to be executable by a computer such as a general-purpose personal computer. By providing the information in the form described above, the above-described map data search / transfer processing can be performed by a computer such as a general-purpose personal computer. Note that, instead of a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, the program can be loaded and executed on a computer via a communication medium such as the Internet.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, the time until a desired map is displayed can be reduced, and the network load can be reduced. As a result, the work time and the actual work such as equipment management and customer management that transfer large volume map data over the network
There is an effect that obstacles such as communication costs are eliminated, and it becomes possible to promote the spread of these to actual work.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a map information processing system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a hierarchical structure constituting map data.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for inputting a reception state of map data and a search key of map data requested to be added;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a map display table.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen for specifying an area of map data to be searched;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of a search control process in the user computer.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a synthesis example of a map display table and a processing procedure of data synthesis processing.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of map data display processing.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display designation screen for each layer of map data.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a lower layer display designation screen.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. User computer, 2. Server computer, 3.
... Map database, 11 ... Map display program, 12
... WWW browser, 13 ... search control processing, 14 ... data synthesis processing, 15 ... map information display processing, 16 ... map display table, 21 ... CGI program, 30 ... map data reception state screen, 160 ... map information management unit, 170: Map data section.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G09G 5/36 510 G06F 15/62 335

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A map data transfer request for transmitting a map data transfer request to a server computer via a network, transferring the map data specified by the transmission request via the network, and displaying the map data on a computer used by a user. In the display method, an area designation screen and a reception status screen of a map component of the area are prepared on a display device screen of the computer used by the user, and in a new map search process, the area input using the area designation screen is provided. The designated data and the map component designation data of the area entered using the reception status screen are transmitted to the server computer as a new search request, and the map element data of the corresponding area is acquired from the server computer. A map display table is generated from the acquired map component data, and the map display generation table is generated. The map is displayed on the display device screen based on the data of the above, and in the additional search processing, the additional map component designation data input using the reception state screen is transmitted to the server computer as an additional search request, Acquiring corresponding map component data from a computer, adding the acquired map component data to the map display table, and displaying a map on a display device screen based on the updated map display generation table data. Characteristic map data transfer / display method. 2. A map data transfer request for transmitting a map data transfer request to a server computer via a network, transferring the map data specified by the transmission request via the network, and displaying the map data on a computer used by a user. In the display system, the server computer is required from a map database storing map data constituting a unit area as a set of map component data classified in a hierarchical structure according to components such as roads and houses, and a computer used by a user. Search processing means for retrieving the map component data of the set area from the map database and transferring the map component data to a computer used by the user who made the request, the computer used by the user comprising: Displays the map component reception status screen and displays a new map search In the transmitted to the server computer and the map components specifying data input the area using the received status screen and input area specified data using the area designation screen as a new search request,
Obtain map component data of the corresponding area from the server computer, generate a map display table from the obtained map component data, display a map on the display device screen based on the data of the map display generation table, and add In the search processing, the additional map component designation data input using the reception status screen is transmitted to the server computer as an additional search request, the corresponding map component data is obtained from the server computer, and the obtained map component data is obtained. Processing means for adding map component data to the map display table and displaying a map on a display device screen based on the updated data of the map display generation table. 3. A processing program for transmitting a map data transfer request to a server computer via a network, transferring the map data specified by the transmission request via the network, and displaying the map data on a computer used by a user. Display a region designation screen and a reception status screen of a map component of the region on a display device screen of a computer used by the user,
In the new map search processing, the area designation data input using the area specification screen and the map component specification data of the area input using the reception state screen are transmitted to the server computer as a new search request. Then, map component data of the corresponding area is obtained from the server computer, a map display table is generated from the obtained map component data, and a map is displayed on a display device screen based on the data of the map display generation table. In the additional search process, the additional map component designation data input using the reception status screen is transmitted to the server computer as an additional search request, and the corresponding map component data is obtained from the server computer. , Adding the acquired map component data to the map display table, and updating the map table. A computer-readable map data transfer / display program that includes a process of displaying a map on a display device screen based on data of a display generation table.