Abstract
The generation of better label placement configurations in maps is a problem that comes up in automated cartographic production. The objective of a good label placement is to display the geographic position of the features with their corresponding label in a clear and harmonious fashion, following accepted cartographic conventions. In this work, we have approached this problem from a combinatorial optimization point of view, and our research consisted of the evaluation of the tabu search (TS) heuristic applied to cartographic label placement. When compared, in real and random test cases, with techniques such as simulated annealing and genetic algorithm (GA), TS has proven to be an efficient choice, with the best performance in quality. We concluded that TS is a recommended method to solve cartographic label placement problem of point features, due to its simplicity, practicality, efficiency and good performance along with its ability to generate quality solutions in acceptable computational time.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
G. Câmara, R.C.M. Souza, U.M. Freitas, and J.C.P. Garrido. “Spring integrating remote sensing and GIS with object-oriented data modelling,” Computers and Graphics, Vol. 15:395–403, 1996.
J. Christensen, J. Marks, and S. Shieber. “Placing text labels on maps and diagrams,” Graphics Gems IV, Academic Press: Cambridge, MA, 1994.
J. Christensen, J. Marks, and S. Shieber. “An empirical study of algorithms for point-feature label placement,” ACM Transactions on Graphics, Vol. 14:203–232, 1995.
F. Glover. “Tabu search—part i,” ORSA Journal on Computing, Vol. 1:190–206, 1989a.
F. Glover. “Tabu search—part ii,” ORSA Journal on Computing, Vol. 2:4–32, 1989b.
F. Glover. “Tabu search—a tutorial,” Interfaces, Vol. 2:74–94, 1990.
F. Glover and M. Laguna. “Tabu search,” Modern Heuristic Techniques for Combinatorial Problems, McGraw-Hill: New York, 1995.
F. Glover and M. Laguna. Tabu Search. Kluwer Publishers: Boston, 1997.
S.A. Hirsch. “An algorithm for automatic name placement around point data,” American Cartographer, Vol. 9:5–17, 1982.
D.E. Knuth. The Stanford GraphBase, a Platform for Combinatorial Computing. Addison-Wesley: New York, 1993.
M. Laguna. “A guide to implementing tabu search,” Investigación Operativa, Vol. 4:5–25, 1994.
J. Marks and S. Shieber. The computational complexity of cartographic label placement. Technical report, Center for Research in Computing Technology: Harvard University, 1993.
E. Shawn, J. Christensen, J. Marks, and S. Shieber. “A general cartographic labeling algorithm,” Cartographica, Vol. 33:111–999, 1997.
O.V. Verner, R.L. Wainwright, and D.A. Schoenefeld. “Placing text labels on maps and diagrams using genetic algorithms with masking,” INFORMS Journal on Computing, Vol. 9:266–275, 1997.
M. Yamamoto. Tabu search application for point features cartographic label placement problem. Master's thesis, Applied computing—Brazilian Institute of Space Research (INPE), Sāo José dos Campos, SP, Brazil, 1998 (in Portuguese).
S. Zoraster. “Integer programming applied to the map label placement problem,” Cartographica, Vol. 23:16–27, 1986.
S. Zoraster. “The solution of large 0–1 integer programming problems encountered in automated cartography,” Operations Research, Vol. 38:752–759, 1990.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yamamoto, M., Camara, G. & Lorena, L.A.N. Tabu Search Heuristic for Point-Feature Cartographic Label Placement. GeoInformatica 6, 77–90 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013720231747
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013720231747