Pairwise Line Labeling of Geographic Boundaries: An Efficient and Practical Algorithm

We present an algorithm that labels linear features with two matched toponyms describing the left and the right side of a line, respectively. Such a pairwise line labeling strategy is commonly used in manually produced maps to differentiate administrative or other geographic divisions. Our approach solves two basic tasks of the automated map labeling problem, namely candidate-position generation and position evaluation for a given scale. The quality of the name placement is evaluated by comparison to a set of established cartographic principles and guidelines for linear features. We give some results of our experiments based on real datasets. The implementation of our algorithm shows that it is simple and robust, and the resulting sample maps demonstrate its practical efficiency.

[1]  Glaydston Mattos Ribeiro,et al.  A Clustering Search metaheuristic for the Point-Feature Cartographic Label Placement Problem , 2014, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[2]  Joe Marks,et al.  A General Cartographic Labeling Algorithm , 1996 .

[3]  Harry G. Mairson,et al.  Reporting and Counting Intersections Between Two Sets of Line Segments , 1988 .

[4]  Mathieu Barrault,et al.  An Automated System for Linear Feature Name Placement which Complies with Cartographic Quality Criteria , 2008 .

[5]  Alexander Wolff,et al.  Point labeling with sliding labels , 1999, Comput. Geom..

[6]  Maxim A. Rylov,et al.  A Comprehensive Multi-criteria Model for High Cartographic Quality Point-Feature Label Placement , 2014, Cartogr. Int. J. Geogr. Inf. Geovisualization.

[7]  Marc J. van Kreveld,et al.  Practical Extensions of Point Labeling in the Slider Model* , 2002, GeoInformatica.

[8]  Naomi S. Altman,et al.  Points of Significance: Simple linear regression , 2015, Nature Methods.

[9]  François Chirié.  Automated Name Placement With High Cartographic Quality: City Street Maps , 2000 .

[10]  Chee-Keng Yap,et al.  Dynamic Map Labeling , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics.

[11]  Joe Marks,et al.  The Computational Complexity of Cartographic Label Placement , 1991 .

[12]  Luisa M. Regueras,et al.  Web Map Tile Services for Spatial Data Infrastructures: Management and Optimization , 2012 .

[13]  Clifford H. Wood.  A Descriptive and Illustrated Guide for Type Placement on Small Scale Maps , 2000 .

[14]  Stephen A. Hirsch,et al.  An Algorithm for Automatic Name Placement Around Point Data , 1982 .

[15]  Ioannis G. Tollis,et al.  A Unified Approach to Automatic Label Placement , 2003, Int. J. Comput. Geom. Appl..

[16]  Roger L. Wainwright,et al.  Placing Text Labels an Maps and Diagrams using Genetic Algorithms with Masking , 1997, INFORMS J. Comput..

[17]  Stefan Steiniger,et al.  The 2012 free and open source GIS software map - A guide to facilitate research, development, and adoption , 2013, Comput. Environ. Urban Syst..

[18]  Frank Wagner,et al.  A packing problem with applications to lettering of maps , 1991, SCG '91.

[19]  Cynthia A. Brewer,et al.  Automation and the Map Label Placement Problem: A Comparison of Two GIS Implementations of Label Placement , 2008 .

[20]  Thomas Ottmann,et al.  Algorithms for Reporting and Counting Geometric Intersections , 1979, IEEE Transactions on Computers.

[21]  F. Ramm,et al.  OpenStreetMap: Using and Enhancing the Free Map of the World , 2010 .

[22]  Alexander Wolff,et al.  A simple and efficient algorithm for high-quality line labeling , 2001 .

[23]  Kevin Mote.  Erratum: Fast point-feature label placement for dynamic visualizations. , 2008 .

[24]  Luiz Antonio Nogueira Lorena,et al.  Tabu Search Heuristic for Point-Feature Cartographic Label Placement , 2002, GeoInformatica.

[25]  Alexander Wolff,et al.  Towards an evaluation of quality for names placement methods , 2002, Int. J. Geogr. Inf. Sci..

[26]  Lars Harrie,et al.  A Real-time Method of Placing Text and Icon Labels Simultaneously , 2006 .

[27]  Pinhas Yoeli,et al.  The Logic of Automated Map Lettering , 1972 .

[28]  Patrick Weber,et al.  OpenStreetMap: User-Generated Street Maps , 2008, IEEE Pervasive Computing.

[29]  J. Roessel.  An Algorithm for Locating Candidate Labeling Boxes Within a Polygon , 1989 .

[30]  M. Barrault.  A methodology for placement and evaluation of area map labels , 2001 .

[31]  Joe Marks,et al.  An empirical study of algorithms for point-feature label placement , 1995, TOGS.