ESRI shapefile support

[nlneilson]

Originally Posted by ToddWebb

just a problem in need of a solution, maybe one I will develop.

Check to see how others have optimized code.
A solution you can use may have been done by others or the concept to cut the data fed in to be displayed.

Just remember there is no need to paint the same pixel multiple times.

[tag]

The way to deal with large amounts of data is to divide and conquer. The easiest way to do that in WW is to organize your shapes by layer and set the layer min/max active altitude to show the shapes only when they're discernible or when the user elects to see them (selects the layer as visible).

Another way to do it is to sort them spatially and combine that with the above.

WW is already avoiding rendering shapes that aren't visible.

The key principle is that you can't put everything on the screen at once, so you have to be selective about what you put on the screen. And if the data volume is especially huge, you can't even have everything in memory at once, so you have to be selective about what's in memory.

Another technique is to create levels of detail, typically a texture, and display that until the user's view point is close to the actual shapes.