JPH06309378A - Map retrieving device and system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain the retrieval of a map corresponding to a desired place name in parallel to the confirmation of the display area of the map by providing a postal code area retrieving means, lower-rank division area retrieving means, and lower-rank area selecting means. CONSTITUTION:When a postal code is inputted from an inputting device 101, a postal code area retrieving function part 111 retrieves a postal code area table 106 based on the postal code, and extracts the coordinate information on a map and identification code of the pertinent area. A lower-rank division area retrieving function part 112 retrieves a lower-rank area table 107 based on the identification code extracted by the function part 111, and the place names, coordinate information on the map, and identification codes of the entire lower-rank division areas belonging to the area indicated by the identification code. A lower-rank division area selecting function part 113 displays the place names of the plural lower-rank division areas extracted by the function part 112, and selects one of them according to an instruction from the device 101. Thus, after the postal code is inputted, the display of the map can be simultaneously confirmed at a step in the middle of the retrieval of the map.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a map retrieval device for retrieving a map database based on information identifying a region such as a place name and displaying a map of the region, which is a combination of a place name and a postal code. And a quick and interactive map search method and device by a map display corresponding to hierarchical place name input.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a first conventional technique relating to a map search device, there is a map search method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-101273, for example.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram of an apparatus according to the first prior art. Main components are an input device 201 such as a keyboard and a mouse, a storage device 202 that stores a map database 205 and the like, a display device 203 such as a CRT and a liquid crystal panel, and a computer that controls these devices and performs a map search process. The control device 204. In addition to the map database 205, the storage device 202 also stores a place name table 206 that stores the correspondence between place names and place name codes.
And an area table 207 storing coordinate information indicating an area on the map corresponding to the place name code. Here, when the information designating the place name and the instruction to execute the map search are input from the input device 201, the control device 204 searches the place name table 205 and extracts the corresponding place name code.
Then, the control unit 204 searches the area table 207 based on the place name code, and extracts the coordinate information of the corresponding area on the map. Finally, the map database is searched based on the coordinate information, and the map of the corresponding area is displayed on the display device 2
03 is displayed.

In the first prior art, after the search information for searching the map, here the place name, is determined, the search processing of the area table 206 and the map database 205 is executed. For example, when searching for a map corresponding to a place name of "A prefecture B city C town D chome", the prefecture name "A" of the place name is searched.
The map database 205 is searched after all the items from to “D” are confirmed.

Further, as a second conventional technique similar to the present invention, there is a kanji address input device disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 64-6496. The second conventional technique is not a map search device, but it reduces the amount of information to be input by using a postal code and a place name together as information for specifying the place name.
FIG. 2B is a table configuration diagram that is a feature of the second conventional technique. Item 208 is a postal code, item 209 is a place name at the municipality level, item 210 is the number of place names at the village level belonging to the area at the city level, and item 211 is information such as a place name at the town level. Shows a pointer to a table for storing the. Here, when the zip code is input, the above-mentioned table is searched, and the place name up to the city / ward county level can be determined. Subsequently, for place names lower than the city / ward county level, one or more place names at the town / village level belonging to the area indicated by the place name at the city / county level are displayed and confirmed by selecting one. You can Further, in the second conventional technique, when the hierarchy of the place names is two or more, the place name candidates are selected in order from the place names of the upper layers, and the place name can be determined.

By applying the second conventional technique to the first conventional technique, the place name corresponding to the map area to be searched can be input by inputting the zip code and instructing the selection of the lower place name candidates. It is possible.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, the search and display of the map cannot be realized until the whole place name is confirmed. For example, if part of the place name you want to search is unknown or has not been entered, you need to perform a wide range map search, check the map in the search results, and then enter the place name again. Met.

[0008] The problem to be solved by the present invention is to realize map display of a range corresponding to a place name determined stepwise at a stage where a postal code is input and a place where a lower place name is confirmed by a candidate selection operation. It is to be.

By the realization of this object, it becomes possible to search for a map corresponding to a desired place name in parallel with the confirmation of the display area of the map.

[0010]

As means for achieving the above object, the present invention provides the following inventions for a map search system and apparatus.

The map search device of the present invention includes a map database storage means for storing a map database, a place name information input means for inputting place name designation information to search a map from an input device, and the map based on the place name information. A map search device having a map search means for searching a database and a map display means for displaying the searched map on a display device stores a postal code and coordinate information indicating an area on the map corresponding to the postal code. Postal code area table storage means, a subdivision area table that stores the place names of one or more subdivision areas belonging to each area indicated by the postcode, and coordinate information indicating the area on the map corresponding to the geographic name Based on the storage means and the postal code, the postal code area table storage means is used to obtain coordinate information indicating a map area corresponding to the postal code. Using the postal code area search means to output and the subdivision area table storage means, the place names of one or a plurality of subdivision areas belonging to the designated area and the coordinate information indicating the area on the map corresponding to the place name are displayed. And a subdivision area search means for searching and a subdivision area selection means for displaying a place name of the plurality of subdivision areas on a display device and for inputting an instruction to select one of the subdivision areas from an input device. Characterize.

In the above invention of the map search device, the subdivision area table storage means stores, for each stored place name, a place name of one or a plurality of subdivision areas belonging to the place name and the place name. It is also preferable to store the coordinate information indicating the corresponding area on the map.

Further, the map search system of the present invention searches a map database based on map search information such as a place name,
In a map search method for displaying a map corresponding to the search information, a zip code, a zip code area table storing coordinate information indicating an area on the map corresponding to the zip code, and a zip code for each area indicated by the zip code. A subdivision area table storing the place names of one or a plurality of subdivision areas to which it belongs and coordinate information indicating the area on the map corresponding to the place names,
When the zip code is entered, the zip code area table is searched, a map of the area corresponding to the zip code is displayed, and the subdivision area table is searched, and the area belonging to the displayed area is displayed. One or more subdivisions are displayed, and when an instruction to select one of the displayed subdivisions is input, a map of the selected subdivision is displayed.

In the above map search method invention, it is preferable to hierarchically select a place name from a place name of a lower section to a place name of a lower section. It is preferable to determine the display magnification of the map based on the coordinate information of the area corresponding to the confirmed place name as the place name is hierarchically selected and confirmed in the lower order. When the place name corresponding to the postal code is stored in the postal code area table and the postal code is input,
It is preferable to display the place name corresponding to the postal code.
It is preferable that the map of the search result can be output as image data in another database or document file.

[0015]

In the invention of the map retrieval apparatus of the present invention, the postal code area table storage means stores a table showing the correspondence between the postal code and the coordinate information of the area on the map designated by the postal code. Depending on the postal code, the level to be specified, such as the town / village level or the city / ward county level, is different, so the administrative divisions of the regions stored in the table are not necessarily the same. Therefore, in some cases, by inputting the zip code, it becomes possible to specify a place name to an area lower than the municipality level. Further, the place name corresponding to the postal code can be stored in the table.

The subdivision area table storage means, for each area stored in the above-mentioned postcode area table storage means, the place names of one or a plurality of subdivision areas belonging to the area, and these subdivision areas. The coordinate information on the map corresponding to is stored. By hierarchically storing the subdivision areas corresponding to the administrative division levels, the coordinate information on the map can be stored for each administrative division level.

The postal code area search means retrieves the coordinates of the area on the map corresponding to the postal code by searching the table stored in the postal code area table storage means. When the place name is stored in the table, the place name can be retrieved at the time of search.

The subdivided area search means provides place names of one or a plurality of subdivided areas that cannot be identified by the postal code, and coordinate information indicating the area on the map to which the place name corresponds.
It is retrieved using the subdivision area table storage means. By operating this means after the zip code area searching means, it becomes possible to extract the place name corresponding to the input zip code up to the subdivision area.

The subdivision area selection means can display the place names of one or a plurality of subdivision areas retrieved by the above-mentioned subdivision area search means, and select one of the place names by inputting an instruction. . Based on the selection result by this means, by operating the above-mentioned division area search means, it is possible to determine the hierarchical input place name corresponding to the administrative division level.

Further, in the invention of the map search system of the present invention, the coordinate information on the map of the area designated by the postal code and the subdivision area is stored as a table, and the display is performed corresponding to the stage of determining the place name. It is possible to limit the area of the map to be used. Further, instead of limiting the range of the map to be displayed, it is possible to increase the display magnification of the map or search an individual map database corresponding to each administrative division level. By storing the place name corresponding to the postal code in the table, it is possible to display the corresponding place name when the postal code is input.

The operation of selecting one from a plurality of subdivided areas can be realized by a place name selection instruction or a position designation instruction on a displayed map.

The map searched using the present invention described above is
Not only can it be displayed, but it can also be captured as image data in other databases or document files.
In particular, in an address book creating system installed in a personal computer or the like, it is possible to easily create a neighborhood map and a sketch while inputting a zip code and a place name.

[0023]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a device configuration for realizing the present invention.

The main components are a keyboard for inputting map search conditions and operation instructions, an input device 101 such as a mouse, a storage device 102 for storing information necessary for map search such as a map database, a CRT for displaying search results, and a liquid crystal display. A display device 103 such as a panel and a control device 104 such as a computer and a CPU that controls these devices to execute map search processing. Here, the storage device 102 and the control device 104, which have different configurations from those of the related art, will be described in detail.

The storage device 102 stores the map database 10
5, a postal code area table 106 and a subdivision area table 107, and the latter two tables are constituent elements that do not exist in the prior art. FIG. 3A shows a configuration example of the postal code area table 106. In the table, an item 301 stores a postal code, an item 302 stores coordinate information on a map of an area indicated by the postal code, for example, vertex coordinates of a polygon, and an item 303 is uniquely determined by the postal code. Store the names of places up to the administrative division level
Reference numeral 4 stores the identification code of the area indicated by the postal code. In addition, FIG. 3B shows a subdivision area table 107.
The example of composition of is shown. The item 307 stores the place name of the subdivision area lower than the administrative division designated by the postal code, the item 306 stores the coordinate information on the map of the subdivision area, and the item 305 is the higher subdivision area. The identification code of the area corresponding to is stored, and the item 308 stores the identification code of the subdivision area itself. From these two tables, for example, the place name information of "Zip code 244, Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa" is stored as follows. The "zip code 244" and the place name "Yokohama City, Kanagawa" specified by the post code are stored in the postal code area table.
It is stored like 309 and 310. Here, the identification code of the area designated by the postal code is also stored as 311. In addition, the place name “Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku”, which is a subdivision area, is divided into two administrative division levels and stored in the subdivision area table. That is, with respect to the place name “Tozuka Ward”, the place name and the identification code of the upper divisional area are stored as 313 and 312. Further, the identification code of the place name “Totsuka Ward” is also stored like 314. Subsequently, for the place name "Yoshidacho", similarly, the identification code of the place name "Totsuka Ward" corresponding to the place name and the upper area,
It is stored like 316 and 315. When the place name of the subdivision area lower than the place name “Yoshidacho” is not stored, the area identification code 308 indicates a special value indicating that the subdivision area does not exist, for example, “999” is 31.
It is stored as 7. As described above, for each of the divided and stored areas, coordinate information indicating the area on the map is stored in the item 302 of the postal code area table and the item 306 of the subdivision area table. .

On the other hand, the control device 104 includes the input function unit 10
8, map search function unit 109, display function unit 110, postal code area search function unit 111, subdivision area search function unit 11
2 and the subdivision area selection function unit 113. Of these, the latter three functional units are components that are not available in the prior art. First, the postal code area search function unit 111
When the zip code is input from the input device 101, searches the zip code area table 106 based on the zip code,
The coordinate information and identification code on the map of the relevant area are taken out.
The subdivision area search function unit 112 searches the subdivision area table 107 based on the identification code retrieved by the postal code area search function unit 111, and the place names of all the subdivision areas belonging to the area indicated by the identification code. , The coordinate information on the map and the identification code are taken out. The subdivision area selection function unit 113 uses the subdivision area search function unit 112 described above.
The place names of the plurality of subdivided areas extracted by are displayed, and one of them is selected by an instruction from the input device.

Next, the processing flow of map search using the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

First, in step 401, the input of the postal code is accepted from the input device. In step 402, the postal code area table is searched based on the postal code, and the coordinate information on the map of the area and the identification code of the area are retrieved. In step 403, the map database is searched based on the coordinate information extracted in step 402, and the display data of the map of the corresponding area is extracted.
In step 404, a map is displayed on the display device based on the map display data extracted in step 403. In step 405, the subdivision area table is searched based on the identification code extracted in step 402, and the place names of all the subdivision areas belonging to the area currently searched and the coordinate information on the map are extracted. Here, if the subdivision area does not exist and the search is not performed, it is determined in step 406 and the map search processing is ended. In Step 407, the above Step 40
The place names of the plurality of subdivided areas extracted in 5 are displayed on the display device, and an instruction to select one of them is received from the input device. After that, the process from step 403 is repeated for the selected place name. Where step 4
When the map is displayed at 04, the display magnification can be calculated based on the coordinate information of the area to be displayed so that the displayed map has an appropriate display size. For example, the size of the circumscribing rectangle including the area can be obtained from the maximum and minimum coordinate values of the coordinate information of the area, and the maximum display magnification can be calculated by the ratio with the size of the map display area on the display screen. It is also possible to end the map search process halfway through a user's instruction. Also, step 4
In 02, it is also possible to display the place name corresponding to the input zip code. Further, in step 407, by designating one point on the displayed map,
It is also possible to select a subdivision area.

In step 407, the coordinate information on the map of the subdivision area can be used to emphasize the boundary line of the subdivision area by the thickness, line type, color, etc. on the displayed map. And different patterns in each area,
It is also possible to emphasize by filling with a color.

Finally, an operation example of the map search process using the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 shows an example of the appearance of the map search device and the transition of the operation screen. Basically, a map search process is performed using the screen 501 on the display device, the number button group 503 and the execution instruction button 504 on the keyboard 502. First, when a zip code is entered with the number button group 503, the result is displayed on the screen as 505. Here, if there is no correction, the execution instruction button 50
Enter 4 to start the search process. As a result, the place name 506 corresponding to the postal code, the map 508 also corresponding to the postal code, and the place name list 507 of the subdivision areas are displayed. Here, further, one of the place names of the subdivided areas shown in the place name list 507 can be selected with the number buttons 503, and the map search process can be continued. For example, when “1 Totsuka Ward” is selected, the confirmed place name 509, the enlarged map 510 of the selected subdivided area 512, and the list 511 of the place names corresponding to the subordinate areas are displayed. As described above, after the postal code is input, not only can the map search be performed by selecting the place name list a few times, but also the confirmation can be performed simultaneously on the map display in the middle of the search.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, by using a postal code in combination with place name designation information which is a condition for map search, a quick search can be performed with a smaller amount of information as compared with the conventional map search method. Can provide the environment. Also, by enabling the map display at the stage where the zip code is input and at each stage where the lower place name is confirmed by the selection operation, it is possible to visually check during the search, and even if the entire place name is not remembered. You can do a map search. In particular,
If you forget the place name such as the town and village character level, you can search the map of the area by visual confirmation if you know the name of the nearest station. In addition, by displaying the map during the search, it becomes possible to support the area designation method on the map by a pointing device such as a mouse or a pen.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a device configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional technique.

FIG. 3 is a table configuration diagram used in this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a processing flow chart of the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a map search operation according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 ... Input device, 102 ... Storage device, 103 ... Display device, 104 ... Control device, 105 ... Map database, 106 ... Postal code area table, 107 ... Subdivision area table, 108 ... Input function part, 109 ... Map search function Part, 110 ... Display function part, 111 ... Zip code area search function part, 112 ... Subdivision area search function part, 113 ... Subdivision area selection function part.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Tsukasa Hasegawa, 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Ltd. Inside the Microelectronics Device Development Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Yasuhiko Kasai, 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Address Stock Company Hitachi Microelectronics Device Development Laboratory (72) Inventor Tomoko Tsuchiya 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan Household Microelectronics Device Development Laboratory (72) Inventor Hazama Hajime Totsuka, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture 292 Yoshida-cho, Ward Stock Company Hitachi, Ltd. Microelectronics Device Development Laboratory

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An input device for inputting characters, numbers, etc., a storage device including a map database, a display device for displaying characters, numbers, maps, etc., and an input device for inputting information for searching a map. In a map search device having a control device having an input function for inputting, a map search function for searching the map database based on the information, and a display function for outputting the searched map to a display device, A zip code area table storing coordinate information indicating areas on the map corresponding to the zip code, place names of one or more subdivision areas belonging to each area indicated by the zip code, and a map corresponding to the place name The storage device is provided with a subdivision area table storing coordinate information indicating the above area, and the postal code area table is searched based on the postal code,
A postal code area search function that extracts coordinate information indicating an area on the map corresponding to the postal code, a place name of one or more subdivision areas belonging to the specified area, and an area on the map corresponding to the place name The subdivision area search function for searching the coordinate information indicating the subdivision area and the subdivision area selection function for displaying the place names of the subdivision areas on the display device and inputting the selection information of the subdivision area from the input device are controlled. A map search device characterized by being provided in the device. 2. With respect to each place name in the subdivision area table, further, place names of one or a plurality of subdivision areas belonging to the place name, and coordinate information indicating an area on a map corresponding to the place name, The map search device according to claim 1, wherein the map search device is stored in the subdivision area table. 3. A map search method for searching a map database based on map search information such as a place name and displaying a map corresponding to the search information, wherein a zip code and an area on the map corresponding to the zip code are displayed. The zip code area table storing the coordinate information shown, the place names of one or more subdivision areas belonging to each area indicated by the zip code, and the coordinate information showing the area on the map corresponding to the place name are stored. It is equipped with a subdivision area table, and when a postal code is entered, the postal code area table is searched, a map of the area corresponding to the postal code is displayed, the subdivision area table is searched, and the displayed subarea is displayed. Displays the place name of one or more subdivisions belonging to the area, and displays the map of the selected subdivision when the instruction to select one of the displayed subdivisions of the subdivision is entered. Map search system that was characterized by Rukoto. 4. When one of the place names of the plurality of subdivisions is selected and one or a plurality of place names belonging to the selected subdivision exist, the place name is displayed and one of the displayed place names is displayed. 4. The map search method according to claim 3, wherein when the instruction to select one is input, the selected subdivision map is displayed. 5. The map search method according to claim 3 or 4, wherein when a map of a searched area is displayed, the display magnification is determined using coordinate information of the area. . 6. The map search method according to claim 3, 4 or 5, wherein when a zip code is input, a place name corresponding to the zip code is displayed. 7. The map search method according to claim 3, 4, 5 or 6, wherein the map of the search result is output as image data in another database or a document file.