GeoSQL: A Sketch-Based Query Language for Geographical Data

Drawing is a simple, common, and expressive way to represent concepts and relationships for geographical databases. However, the possibility to revise the sketch and multiple interpretations of different shapes and their relationships in the sketch makes very difficult to determine the correct interpretation of the user goals. This paper starts from the assumption that the sketched picture is given by an array of pixels and the primitive shapes are represented by black pixels on a white background. It treats ambiguities and their solutions choosing the most correct interpretation for the shapes of the sketch and for their relationships. The correct interpretation is obtained considering both the sketch and temporal information on the sketch evolution.