Priority-Based Chart Label Placement System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional automatic data label placement in charts often results in overlapping and crowding, degrading legibility due to simplistic and rigid placement rules that do not adequately address priority-based selection or avoidance of conflicts.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a priority-based automatic placement system that assigns priorities to data labels based on vertex attributes and resolves overlap conflicts within a sliding window using predefined rules, allowing for optimal placement and selection of labels to avoid overlap while maintaining legibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If conventional automatic data label placement rules are used, then automation is achieved, but label overlapping and crowding occur degrading legibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by assigning different priorities to different data labels based on their attributes (e.g., magnitude, significance). Instead of treating all labels uniformly, the system evaluates each label's importance individually and uses this priority information to resolve overlapping conflicts, ensuring that more important labels are displayed while maintaining automation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of label placement from rigid fixed-position rules to priority-based flexible positioning. By introducing priority as a new parameter and using it to resolve conflicts within sliding windows, the system adapts label positions dynamically to avoid overlapping while maintaining automation.
2Ease of manufacture
If simple rigid rules are used for label placement, then ease of implementation is achieved, but label crowding and overlapping occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the label placement process into manageable steps: determining priorities for each label, using sliding windows to identify conflict zones, and resolving overlaps based on priority. This segmentation makes the complex task of avoiding label crowding more manageable and implementable while increasing the number of visible, non-overlapping labels.
3Device complexity
If all vertices are treated equally in label placement, then simplicity is maintained, but priority-based selection and conflict avoidance are not achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements local quality by evaluating each vertex and its corresponding label individually to determine priority levels. This allows the system to distinguish between important and less important data points, enabling priority-based selection while keeping the overall algorithm relatively simple through the use of sliding windows for conflict resolution.
Data Source
AI summary
Priority based automatic placement of labels on charts is provided. Display of data labels on a chart in a legible manner such that the data labels do not overlap and are placed in areas that may be more relevant to a user. In some examples, data associated with the chart may be prioritized for labeling (for example, prioritizing maximum, minimum, high rate of change, etc.), data labels may be disabled or hidden for low priority data points, overlapping of data labels may be avoided, and labeling may be automatically adjusted based on scaling and/or rescaling of the chart (for example, higher number of labels for bigger chart display).