This paper introduces the function, structure and technical characteristics of visual technology system for mining graphics information aiming at the backward situation of graphics information management of mining enterprise at present. With reliable work and convenient use, this technology realizes the visual and intelligent management of mining graphics information to assure effectively high efficient operation of mining enterprise.
The application of computer graphics information technology to mining (AITM) in China is later than to other industries, so there is a certain gap between the whole development level of mining and other trades(such as machinery, maths). In the past few years, AITM has achieved some research results, which has improved the level of mining graphics information management to some degree. However, most of coal mine enterprises still manage their business by drawings, so the level of integration between graphics data, other data and visualization is low, which is inconvenient to use[1–2]. At present, graphics (such as excavating graphics, geologic relief map) and other information data (such as attribute data) of mining industry in China are classificatory saved and separately managed by most of coal mines. Graphics is solely unchanged, and data are inanimately changeless, graphics and data are separately managed by two respective systems. In this way of wasteful resource, inconvenient management and low functioning efficiency would be brought on. The disunity of graphics and data makes them unable to be shared on the internet/intranet. In the past, the incompatibility of these two was commonly considered, but with the coming of society information and the development of computer technique, the mergering trend of graphics and data is inevitable. The application environments of Visual Information System of Mining (VISM) are based on desktop-map software-MapInfo Professional, secondary development tools MapBasic and the standard, well-universal performance and strong-functional database programming language VB6.0[3–4]. The system, which adopted modern database technique, graphics information-processing technique and multi-media technique, surely be widely used in production of coal mine.
By above model, the process of visualization can be recognized as the process of data from simulation stage to visual information—graphics. The flow of visualization of mining graphics information includes the following several stages: firstly original data from simulation stage are standardized to form usable application data; secondly the above gained data are mapped into geometrical data by modeling module; then the above geometrical data are changed into graphics (or image) data; finally graphics is spatially analyzed and displayed.
All data in the system are dealt with in the following two organizing ways: graphics data and attribute data related to graphics. According to different attribute of graphics object and by unit of graph piece, graphics data are input by layer.
From Figure 2, system data gained from all kinds of means are changed into homologous graphics data and attribute data by corresponding disposal methods, which constitutes the information source of VISM.
