This example shows how applications can benefit from dynamic reordering of Shapefiles. Dynamic reordering is the sorting of shapes within a Shapefile, based on the expected display area.

During the dynamic reordering of the original Shapefile, shapes in the display area are moved in front of shapes that are not. This results in the display area shapes being downloaded first, making the download appear faster and smoother. This is demonstrated by how the bottom area is filled.

Both the top and the bottom Applets download the same Shapefile, and the entire Shapefile. However, since the Shapefile has been reordered to download the display area first, the bottom Applet appears to load faster. The rest of the loading takes place in the background where it is not seen.

Optionally, the bottom Applet could stop downloading shapes in the background once the display area is filled. This would eliminate the overhead of downloading shapes outside the display area, which may never be displayed.