What to call a "Group of Points"?

[Son of a Beach]

What's a good word for a group of points? Either in a geometric, GPS or GIS sense?

I want a word that could describe a set of unordered points or a set of ordered points or a set of line segments (defined by points) or a set of polygons (defined by points). If producing a map in GIS I would call it a layer, but I need a term that is not specific to making a map and has meaning to people unfamiliar with GIS.

(Yes, I need a word to use in 'Maps n Trax').

If I can't think of anything else it would just have to be 'Point Group' but there's gotta be something better than that.

[bernieq]

Hmmmm, clutch ? cluster ? clump ? (I seem to be stuck on the cl options)

[frenchy_84]

for that amount of points i would probably use cluster. you could also use point cloud, that term generally refers to the thousands of points that are captured by a laser scanner

[michael_p]

Isn't that weird, I was thinking cluster as well.

[geoskid]

What's a good word for a group of points?
If producing a map in GIS I would call it a layer, but I need a term that is not specific to making a map and has meaning to people unfamiliar with GIS.

An argument? an arrangement? A Nixus?
Err... carry on.

[geoskid]

yeah, disregard last post, just being silly (no guarantee this one is any different )

What about cosmological terms for stars?

[Giddy_up]

"Colligo" is Latin for, to gather together, assemble, collect.

[Son of a Beach]

Some decent ideas there. Nothing that tickles my fancy more than 'Point Group' though.

I think I like "Colligo" best so far, but it needs to be something more familiar to most people.

Keep 'em coming.

It's difficult to come up with something that's fairly specific, but still covers the various cases.

I do use the word 'Gazetteer' elsewhere in the app and it is in the ballpark, but not quite right either. And these days I think many people are probably not familiar with the term.

hmmm... I should look it up in the thesaurus. Well that wasn't helpful. My thesaurus doesn't have it at all. Time for a new thesaurus!

heheh... just looked up an online thesaurus and clicked through a few words. I like "bevy"!

Probably the most practical so far though is 'Point Set' or 'Batch'. Not much different to 'Point Group'. Would be nice to find something that didn't include the word 'Point' but still implied a set of points.

[Avatar]

The word locus (plural loci) is Latin for "place". It can mean, in mathematics, the set of points satisfying a particular condition, often forming a curve.

[Giddy_up]

Taking "Colligo" one step further and get "Colligation"

A Colligation of points????

I do like some of the others mentioned as well, the quail reference is a ripper.

[Avatar]

As for collective nouns, how about a "pin-cushion" of points or an 'echidna" of points?

[stepbystep]

Use the peakbaggers lingo. A 'bag' of points

[doogs]

What's a good word for a group of points?

I like a 'party' and I also like a 'bevy'

[tibboh]

'Constellation' of points

[north-north-west]

You use fingers to point with, so how about a 'handful'?

[taswegian]

What about Feature Group?
That could include the points and line(s) you mention.
I have a GIS program that the owners claimed was to take over all other like programs.
They called routines by some unique not used before name that were in some instances ridiculous and meant extra unnecessary learning.
Not aware of your application, but needs to be simply understood IMO.

[Son of a Beach]

I did think about "Feature Group", as it would be meaningful to GIS users and not hard to understand to non-GIS users. I may end up going with "Feature Set", I think. Not sure why I like that better. Maybe it sounds like the features really belong together in a set more than in a group. Or maybe I'm just weird.

[icefest]

How about point series or point set?

Feature set sounds more like a collection of waypoints. (Or is that what you're assuming aiming for?)

[Son of a Beach]

Not a series, because a series can sometimes be considered to imply order. In some cases the points will be ordered (e.g., to form a line or a set of lines), but in other cases they will just be an arbitrary set of points. So yet, a "Point Set" is also a good suggestion.

However, I'm starting to prefer "Feature" to "Point" because although features are technically made up of points (in this case), people may want to think of them simply as lines, polygons, tracks, routes, etc and not as a series of points.

Yes, one type of feature is "waypoint". I want to cover the following types of features:

Tracks, routes, waypoints, lines, polygons, points (other than waypoints)... possibly others?

[Mark F]

I would be quite happy with most of the suggestions but I think there needs to be a differentiation between a group of points that have a common theme or purpose and a group the don't. Themes may be a particular type of geographic feature, potential camp sites, water points etc. while an non-themed group would just be a collection of random points people have identified for some unknown reason but I am not sure why you would bother with the latter.

Perhaps describe them as a "thematic group" or just a "theme" which would allow both points and polygons to be included.