METHOD FOR COLLABORATIVE DISPLAY OF GEOGRAPHIC DATA

• US 20090241029A1
• Filed: 03/21/2008
• Published: 09/24/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/21/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Trimble Navigation Limited (Trimble Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Trimble Navigation Limited (Trimble Inc.)
• Inventors: Kistler, Peter Cornelius
• Granted Patent: US 8,782,564 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/733
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/26 Visual data mining; Browsing structured data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention recite a method for collaborative display of geographic data. In one embodiment, a configuration file is created which defines how geographic data collected by a geographic data collection device is to be displayed by an office application. The configuration file is used to create a geographic data file in which collected geographic data is formatted to visually convey information about a geographic feature. The office application then accesses the geographic data file and automatically displays the geographic feature in a manner which is consistent with the configuration file.

Claims

1. A method for collaborative display of geographic data, said method comprising:

creating a configuration file which defines how geographic data collected by a geographic data collection device is to be displayed by an office application;

using said configuration file to create a geographic data file in which collected geographic data is formatted to visually convey information about a geographic feature; and

said office application accessing said geographic data file and automatically displaying said geographic feature in a manner consistent with said configuration file.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said creating said geographic data file further comprises:

creating said geographic data file which is compliant with the Feature XML-based Languages (FXL) format.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said creating said configuration file further comprises:

receiving an indication of a desired visual display property which is associated with said geographic feature.

4. The method as recited in claim 3 further comprising:

appending metadata to a description of said geographic feature within said geographic data file which corresponds to said desired visual display property.

5. The method as recited in claim 4 further comprising:

said office application using said metadata to display said geographic feature based upon said desired visual display property.

6. Instructions on a computer-usable medium wherein the instructions when executed cause a computer system to perform a method for collaborative display of geographic data, said method comprising:

generating a configuration interface;

using said configuration interface to select at least one geographic feature;

using said configuration interface to select at least one desired visual display property which is associated with said geographic feature;

storing said geographic feature and said at least one desired visual display property in a configuration file accessible by a geographic data collection device.

7. The computer-usable medium of claim 6 further comprising:

using said configuration file to cause said geographic data collection device to create a geographic data file which is compliant with the Feature XML-based Languages (FXL) format.

8. The computer-usable medium of claim 6 wherein said creating said configuration file further comprises:

using said configuration file to cause said geographic data collection device to append metadata to said geographic feature within said geographic data file which corresponds to said desired visual display property.

9. The computer-usable medium of claim 8 wherein said method further comprises:

said office application using said metadata to display said geographic feature based upon said desired visual display property.

10. The computer-usable medium of claim 9 wherein said method further comprises:

automatically displaying said geographic feature wherein said at least one desired visual display property is used to determine how said geographic feature is displayed

11. A geographic data collector comprising:

a geographic position determining component;

a feature library comprising at least one geographic feature;

a geographic data collection application for creating a geographic data file in which collected geographic data is formatted to permit an office application to visually convey an attribute of said geographic feature.

12. The geographic data collector of claim 11 wherein said geographic data collection application further comprises:

a configuration file which describes how said geographic feature is to be visually displayed by said office application.

13. The geographic data collector of claim 12 wherein said geographic data file is compliant with the Feature XML-based Languages (FXL) format.

14. The geographic data collector of claim 12 wherein said configuration file is further for causing said geographic data collection application to create a geographic data file which is formatted such that said office application visually displays said attribute automatically.

15. The geographic data collector of claim 12 wherein said configuration file is further for causing said geographic data collection application to append metadata to said geographic feature based upon a desired visual display property.

16. A geographic data display system comprising:

a bus;

a memory communicatively coupled with said bus; and

a processor communicatively coupled with said bus, said processor for executing a method for collaborative display of geographic data, said method comprising;

generating a configuration interface;

using said configuration interface to select a geographic feature;

using said configuration interface to select at least one desired visual display property which is associated with said geographic feature;

storing said geographic feature and said at least one desired visual display property in a configuration file accessible by a geographic data collection device.

17. The geographic data display system of claim 16 wherein said method further comprises:

accessing data corresponding with said geographic feature from a geographic data file generated by said geographic data collection device; and

automatically displaying said geographic feature wherein said at least one desired visual display property is used to determine how said geographic feature is displayed.

18. The geographic data display system of claim 17 wherein said geographic data file is compliant with the Feature XML-based Languages (FXL) format.

19. The geographic data display system of claim 16 wherein said configuration file is further for causing said geographic data collection device to append metadata which describes said desired visual display property to a description of said geographic feature.

20. A system for collaborative display of geographic data, said system comprising:

a geographic data collector comprising a geographic data collection application for creating a geographic data file in which collected geographic data is formatted to permit an office application to visually convey a geographic feature; and

an office application for generating a configuration file for said geographic data collector wherein said geographic feature is associated with a corresponding visual display property.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein said office application further comprises:

a configuration interface generator to select said geographic feature and to select said desired visual display property which is associated with said geographic feature.

22. The system of claim 21 wherein said office application interface generator is further for associating said visual display property with an attribute corresponding to said geographic feature.

23. The system of claim 20 wherein said configuration file is further for causing said geographic data collection application to append metadata which describes said desired visual display property to said geographic feature and which stores said geographic feature and said metadata in a geographic data file.

24. The system of claim 22 wherein said geographic data file is compliant with the Feature XML-based Languages (FXL) format.

25. The system of claim 22 wherein said office application is further for accessing said metadata and automatically displaying said geographic feature based upon said desired visual display property.