JPH04101273A - Map retrieving method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To always display a map having the minimum displaying extent but always including a required address area by retrieving an area table for the address area and, after deciding an area including the coordinate information of the obtained address area as the displaying area of a map, displaying the map after retrieving a map data base for the map on the basis of the decided area. CONSTITUTION:In an area retrieving process, an address code is fetched from a work memory 2-7 and, after the address area is obtained by retrieving an area table 2-4 by using the address code as a key, the area information of the area is stored in the memory 2-7. Then, in a displaying area deciding process, the area information is fetched from the memory 2-7 and a rectangular area including the area indicated by the area information is decided. In a map displaying process, the map information stored in the memory 2-7 is read out and displayed on a displaying section 2-2. Therefore, the map retrieving time can be reduced, since a map including a whole address area can be displayed and a map having the minimum displaying area can be retrieved and, as a result, a map which is enlarged to the utmost, but includes a whole address area, can be always displayed.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a map search method in which, by specifying an address, a map including the entire area of the address is quickly searched for and displayed on a display screen. .

[Prior Art] Search systems of this type have been proposed in the past, such as the ``Telephone Number-Map Data Processing System J'' described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 10383/1983, and the ``Telephone Number-Map Data Processing System J'' on the market. Examples include ``Tokyo Town Page Map'' (NTT Information Start Co., Ltd.) and ``i'ZMAPJ'' (Zenrin Co., Ltd.).

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of these conventional map search systems.

In Fig. 3, 3-1 is an input section for specifying an address using a keyboard or mouse, etc., 3-2 is a CRT;
3-6 is a storage unit for storing various data; 3-3 is an address table to be searched;
-4 is a map database that stores detailed map data, 3-5 is an address and map correspondence table that lists the name of the map corresponding to the address, and 3-7 is a temporary storage of search results, etc. 3-8 is a control unit consisting of a personal computer, a workstation, etc. for controlling each of these units and executing a search processing program.

First, the user inputs conditions for specifying an address through the input unit 3-1, and inputs an instruction to display a map of that address. Thereby, the control unit 3-8 searches the address table 3-3 in the storage unit 3-6 based on the input search condition and obtains the address code of the address. In the above-mentioned F telephone number-map data processing system, the map database 34 is composed of image data corresponding to addresses. Therefore, the control section 3-8 searches the map data location 3-4 using the address code obtained from the address table 3-3 as an index, and displays the search results on the display section 32.

In addition, the aforementioned ``Townbage Map'' and lrZMAI
In J, the map data heir 3-4 is divided into meshes and managed, and identified by mesh numbers. Therefore, the control unit 3-8 obtains the corresponding mesh number from the address/map correspondence table 3-5 that manages the relationship between address codes and mesh numbers, searches the map database 3-4 using the mesh number, and searches the map database 3-4 for the mesh number. Search results display section 3-2
It was displayed on . When the displayed mesh map is a part of the address and does not include the entire address, the user inputs an instruction to scroll up, down, left, and right from the input unit 3-1 to change the displayed mesh.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In this way, in the conventional telephone number-map data processing system, it is necessary to set up a map database for address correspondence, resulting in an enormous amount of data that must be stored.Also, the map database is composed of image data. Therefore, there were problems such as difficulty in enlarging/reducing the map and difficulty in continuously displaying the boundaries of each map.

In addition, the conventional f Town Page Map” and “ZMAP!
The above-mentioned problem of ``telephone number-map data processing system'' was solved by managing the map database divided into meshes and expressing it in vector data. Unfortunately, since the mesh is displayed by associating the address with the mesh number, there is a problem in that depending on the address, the map of the entire address may not be displayed. On the other hand, if you specify an address in a small area, there is a problem that the address will be displayed small in the mesh. In order to display the entire specified address or to display the desired address in a larger display area, the user must look at the displayed map and adjust it by enlarging/reducing it. there were.

The purpose of the present invention is to solve these conventional problems, and to always include the entire address regardless of the area size of the address.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a map search method that can display a map with a minimum display range.

[Means for Solving the Problems 1] To achieve the above object, the map search method of the present invention includes an area table including an item of area coordinate information indicating an address code and an area of the address on a map.

When instructed to search an address table using an address as a search condition, the address table is searched, one or more address solutions obtained as a result of the search are displayed, and then one of the displayed address solutions is displayed.
is selected and instructed to display the map, the area of the address is searched from the area table based on the address code of the selected address solution, and the area containing the area coordinate information of the obtained address is mapped. The feature is that after determining the display area, a map is searched from a map database using the area as a condition, and the map is displayed.

[Operation] In the present invention, when an instruction to search for an address is issued, the address table is searched, the obtained solution is displayed, and then the displayed solution is selected. , when an instruction to display a map is issued, the area of the address is searched based on the address code of the selected address solution, and the area containing the area coordinate information of the obtained address is set as the display area of the map. After determining, a map is searched using the area obtained as a condition, and the map obtained as a result is displayed.

In this way, in order to manage the area of an address, an area table consisting of items such as address code and area coordinate information is provided, and when determining the display area of the map for a specified address, the area table is searched. As a result, the minimum area including the obtained area is determined as the map display area, so it is possible to display a map in which the target address is visually easy to understand.

[Example] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an operational flowchart of a map search method showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a search processing system that implements the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the hardware differs from the conventional system in that an area table 2-4 for managing address area information is added to the components of the conventional system. The input section 2-1, the display section 2-2, and the work memory 2-7 are the same as conventional components.

Here, the area information of the address is area coordinate information expressed by a polygon figure (polygon figure) of the administrative boundary of the address, or a rectangular figure including the polygon figure.

In addition, the map data heir 2-5 in FIG. 2 is managed by being divided into meshes, and is composed of a mesh number consisting of a two-dimensional mesh address for identifying the mesh, graphic information of the mesh, character information, etc. There is.

Next, the operation of the map search system of the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

First, when the user inputs conditions for specifying an address such as an address name and an address code from the human resource department 2-, the condition input process (step +01) is executed, and the input address search conditions are stored in the work memory 2-7. Stored. Next, in the address search process (step 102), the address search condition is retrieved from the work memory 2-7, and the address table 2-3 is searched to find an address solution that matches the address search condition in the work memory 2-7. Store in. Next, the address search process (
In step 103), items such as the address and address code of the address solution stored in the work memory 2-7 are displayed on the display section 2-2. Here, the address solution refers to the displayed content. This address solution is not limited to just one; for example, if you search address table 2-3 for the address Midori-machi, "Midori-machi, Musashino City", "Midori-machi, r○○ City", "Midori-machi, ΔΔ-gun", etc. will be displayed. be done.

Next, the user selects one of the displayed address solutions from the input section 2-1 and inputs an instruction to display a map, thereby performing the map display instruction process (step +
04). In this process (step 104), the address code of the selected address solution is extracted from the work memory 2-7 and stored as an address code in the work memory 2-7.

Next, in the area search process (step 105), the address code is retrieved from the work memory 2-7, and the area of the address (polygon figure, etc.) is obtained by searching the area table 2-4 using the address code as a key. After that, the area information of the address is stored in the work memory 2-7.

Next, in the display area determination process (step 106), area information is retrieved from the work memory 2-7, and a rectangular area including the area indicated by the area information is determined.

For example, the two-dimensional coordinates of each point of a polygon figure forming area information (the set of the minimum value of the xll mark and the minimum value of the y coordinate of Let the set of maximum values of be the coordinates of the upper right point.

Furthermore, the area information consisting of the obtained lower left point coordinates and upper right point coordinates is expanded to match the aspect ratio of the display size of the map displayed on the display unit 2-2, and the area information is created as new area information. is stored in the work memory 2-7. In addition, since the display position of the specified address is displayed near the center of the display area, it is also possible to create new area information by taking uniform margins on the top, bottom, left, and right of the area information. It is.

In this way, the minimum area that includes the entire area of the target address, or the area obtained by adding a certain margin to the minimum area, is set in the area information of the work memory 2-7.

Next, in the map search process (step 1o7), the determined area information is retrieved from the work memory 2-7, the map database 2-5 is searched within the range of the area information, and the graphic information and text of the obtained map are retrieved. 7 character information in work memory 2
-7. At this time, the map database 2-5 is managed using a mesh number consisting of a two-dimensional mesh address, and a mesh having a display area and a shared area indicated by the area information is searched using the mesh number as a key.

Finally, in the map display process (step 108), the map information stored in the work memory 2-7 is read out and displayed on the display section 2-2.

In this way, in this embodiment, since a region table is provided to manage the address region, when determining the display region of the map, the display region is determined to include the address region obtained from the region table. Therefore, regardless of the size of the specified address, a map that includes the entire address can always be displayed.

Furthermore, since a map with a minimum display area that includes the entire address is searched, the map search time is made more efficient.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to always display a map that includes the entire address, regardless of the size of the specified address, and to search for a map that has the minimum display area, and to search for a map that includes the entire address. Since you can display the most enlarged map within the range,
Map search time can be made more efficient.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an operational flowchart of a map search method showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a map search system of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a conventional map search system. 2-1.3-1: Input section, 2-2.3-2: Display section,
2-3 Address table, 2-5.3-4: Map database, 2-4: Area table, 27.3-7: Work memory, 2-8.3-8: Control unit. Figure ζ Functional block configuration example diagram of the present invention.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Search the address table containing the address name of the address and the address code corresponding to the address name, retrieve the address information, use the address information as a key to search the map database for the above address, and search. The map search method for displaying a resulting map includes an area table including the address code and area coordinate information items indicating the area of the address on the map, and searches the address table using the address as a search condition. When prompted, after searching the address table and displaying one or more address solutions obtained as a result of the search, when one of the displayed address solutions is selected and instructed to display a map; Searching the area of the address from the area table based on the address code of the selected address solution,
A map search method characterized in that after determining an area including area coordinate information of the obtained address as a display area of the map, searching for a map from the map database using the area as a condition and displaying the map. .