Abstract
This paper extends research by the authors together with Alexander Wolff on point label placement using a model where labels can be placed at any position that touches the point (the slider model). Such models have been shown to perform better than methods that allow only a fixed number of positions per label. The novelties in this paper include respecting other map features that must be avoided by the labels, and incorporating labels with different height. The result is an efficient and simple O((n+m)log(n+m)) time algorithm with a performance guarantee for label placement in the slider model. Here n is the number of points to be labeled and m is the combinatorial complexity of the map features that must be avoided. Due to its efficiency, the algorithm can be used in interactive and on-line mapping.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
G. Alinhac. Cartographie Théorique et Technique, chapter IV. Institut Géographique National, Paris, 1962.
Jon Christensen, Joe Marks, and Stuart Shieber. “An empirical study of algorithms for point-feature label placement,” ACM Transactions on Graphics, Vol. 14(3):203-232, 1995.
T.H. Cormen, C.E. Leiserson, and R.L. Rivest. Introduction to Algorithms. MIT Press: Cambridge, MA, 1990.
M. de Berg, M. van Kreveld, M. Overmars, and O. Schwarzkopf. Computational Geometry: Algorithms and Applications. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, second edition, 2000.
S. Doddi, M.V. Marathe, A. Mirzaian, B.M.E. Moret, and B. Zhu. “Map labeling and its generalizations,” in Proceedings of the 8th ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA'97), pp. 148-157, 1997.
M. Forman and F. Wagner. “A packing problem with applications to lettering of maps,” in Proc. 7th Annu. ACM Sympos. Comput. Geom. (SoCG '91), pp. 281-288, 1991.
H. Freeman. “Computer name placement,” in D.J. Maguire, M.F. Goodchild, and D.W. Rhind (Eds.), Geographical Information Systems: Principles and Applications, pp. 445-456. Longman: London, 1991.
S.A. Hirsch. “An algorithm for automatic name placement around point data,” The American Cartographer, Vol. 9(1):5-17, 1982.
E. Imhof. “Positioning names on maps,” The American Cartographer, Vol. 2(2):128-144, 1975.
M. van Kreveld, T. Strijk, and A. Wolff. “Point labeling with sliding labels,” Computational Geometry: Theory and Applications, Vol. 13:21-47, 1999.
F. Wagner and A. Wolff. “A practical map labeling algorithm,” Computational Geometry: Theory and Applications, Vol. 7:387-404, 1997.
A. Wolff and T. Strijk. “A map labeling bibliography,” http://www.math-inf.uni-greifswald.de/map-labeling/bibliography/, 1996.
P. Yoeli. “The logic of automated map lettering,” The Cartographic Journal, Vol. 9:99-108, 1972.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Strijk, T., van Kreveld, M. Practical Extensions of Point Labeling in the Slider Model*. GeoInformatica 6, 181–197 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015202410664
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015202410664