Method for searching for a given point in regions defined by attribute ranges, then sorted by lower and upper range values and dimension

摘要

Regions, such as those determined by attributes in a spread sheet, are defined by ranges of attribute values. Regions are distinct if they differ in their number of ranges (dimension) or because a pair of corresponding ranges fail to overlap. A region is located for a given point by: (1) sorting the regions by lower range value and dimension to form list A, then by upper range and dimension to form list B, (2) paring lists A and B to sublists of the dimension of the point, and (3) searching the shorter of the pared lists.