Representation of Many-Sided Polygons and Polygonal Lines for Rapid Processing A representation for polygons and polygonal lines is described which allows sets of consecutive sides to be collectively examined. The set of sides are arranged in a binary tree hierarchy by inclusion. A fast algorithm for testing the inclusion of a poin t in a many-sided polygon is given. The speed of the algorithm is discussed for both ideal and practical examples. It is shown that the poin ts of intersection of two polygonal lines can be located by what is essentially a binary tree search. The algorithm and a practical example are discussed. The representation overcomes many of the disadvantages associated with the various fixed-grid methods for representing curves and regions CACM March, 1977 Burton W. boundary line representation, cartography, computer graphics computer-searchable structures, contour representation, geographic information processing, graphic data retrieval, in tersection of curves, line-drawing processing, poin ts in polygons, regional boundary representation, spatial information 3.14 3.23 3.30 3.79 8.2 CA770305 JB December 30, 1977 12:44 AM 1630 4 2987 1804 4 2987 1804 4 2987 2547 4 2987 2987 4 2987 2987 4 2987 2987 4 2987 2987 4 2987 2987 4 2987 2987 4 2987 2987 4 2987 3165 4 2987 1326 5 2987 1630 5 2987 2125 5 2987 2547 5 2987 2633 5 2987 2987 5 2987 2987 5 2987 2987 5 2987 421 5 2987 524 5 2987 3165 5 2987 1326 6 2987 2987 6 2987