GEOGRAPHIC MAPS ON A PERSONAL DIGITAL ASSISTANT (PDA) AND SERVER

摘要

One or more embodiments of the invention provide for an interactive geographic information system on a personal digital assistant (PDA) (102). The system enables the viewing and interaction with geographic information on a PDA (102). Such information is available while the PDA (102) is connected to a network (118) (i.e., online) and while disconnected (i.e., offline). Embodiments provide the PDA (102) with an application (130) that provides the functionality commonly available in a standard client (104) comprised of a complete computer system. For example, embodiments provide raster maps for multiple zoom levels, with each zoom level comprising multiple tiles allowing for "virtual roaming" across a map. One or more embodiments also provide raster zooms (by scaling existing raster tiles), selectable vector geometry (for interacting and highlighting with user objects), geo-referencing information for map navigation, meta-data in the form of layer definitions (visibility, display attributes, etc.), links to object attributes in databases, links to object reports generated by corporate web servers, uploadable, sharable redlining data (created from scribbles on the field), offline access on a PDA (102), and a compact PDA (102) database, and parallel processing of map data for use on a PDA (102). Thus, one or more embodiments of the invention provide interactive maps and business objects that can be viewed and queried on a PDA (102), both in an online and offline mode.