This document introduces the main concepts used in the Wayfinding Planner (WFP) application.

To keep your data safe and portable, a complete WFP project—including the model and all design metadata—is stored in a single .wfp file.

Model overview

At the heart of the WFP is the model, which represents the physical space and the signage within it. The model is built from several layers:

Levels – horizontal planes at specific elevations. A building floor is a typical level.
Path networks – graphs that describe how visitors move through a level. They consist of path points joined by path segments.
Sign – a set of one or more sign face that are the surfaces that display messages. A sign is attached to a path point and belongs to a sign type, which in turn falls under a sign category.
Messages – instructions or labels shown on sign faces. Messages may be generated automatically from the model or entered manually.

The model, together with project settings such as view positions and display preferences, makes up a Wayfinding Planner Project.

Levels

A level represents a two‑dimensional plane at a fixed height above ground. The ground floor of a building is one example. Each level contains its own path network and optional background drawing.

Level view

Below is an example of a level showing the path network, with its path points and path segments, several sign faces, and a floor plan used as a background:

Figure 1 – Level view example.

Level properties

A level has the following properties:

Level code – a short identifier, such as L1. This code is used to generate unique sign face IDs.
Description – a free‑text description (e.g. “Ground floor” or “First floor”).
Elevation – the vertical position of the level relative to ground; it may be positive, negative or zero. Only one level may exist at a given elevation.
Drawing – an optional background image, typically a floor plan or layout. Drawings can be imported from raster (.png, .jpeg, .webp) or vector (.svg) formats. After import, they must be calibrated to set scale. Calibration is a quick (15–20 seconds) manual process and does not require high precision. An accuracy of ±0.5 metre is usually enough to estimate walking distances.
Path network – the network of path points and path segments that people can use to move around the level.

Path points and segments

A path network comprises path points, which are 2‑D points within the level, and path segments, which are straight lines connecting two path points.

A path point has the following properties:

id – a unique number used to reference the point in e.g., routes. Is shown as part of a Path Point label like P02 where P stands from Point and 02 is the point's unique number 2.
position on the level

Path points fall into three functional types:

Type	Symbol	Purpose	Sign allowed?
Target point		Represents a destination (endpoint) such as a room or attraction. Each target point has a name.	Yes – an identification sign.
Decision point		A junction where visitors must choose a direction.	Yes – either a direction or navigation sign.
Supportive point		Helps shape the path network but is not a decision or target.	No – no signs are attached.

Path segments link path points and have a single property: length.

Sign categories

Sign category defines the functional purpose of a sign and determines which types of messages its faces can show. Three categories of signs are defined: Direction, Navigation, and Identification.

Feature	Direction sign	Navigation sign	Identification sign
Typical message	Shows names of target points reachable in each direction from the decision point.	Shows a directory of all target points on the level.	Shows the name of the target point the sign is attached to.
Symbol
Compatible path point	Decision point	Decision point	Target point
Attachment example
Default code prefix	`D`	`N`	`I`

Sign types

Within each category, user defines sign types to represent actual sign designs. A sign type specifies:

Sign type code – a unique identifier combining the category prefix and a sequence number (e.g. D2 for the second type in the Direction category).
Sign Faces – a set of sign faces that together with their relative positions and rotation angles define a Sign design. A sign type may have one or more sign faces. There are pre-defined sets like single-sided and double-sided designs, as well as users can define their own custom designs.
Description – a short description shown in the user interface and reports.
Fixing – how the sign is mounted (e.g. door‑mounted, flag‑mounted, overhead).
Connectivity – any power or data connections the sign requires.
Dimensions – width × height × depth in millimetres (always in mm, irrespectively of the units used in the model).
Drawing reference – a technical drawing reference needed to produce the sign face.
Outline specification – optional multi‑line text describing the sign face outline.

Any changes made to property of a Sign Type automatically propagate to all signs of that type.

Signs

A Sign is an instance of a Sign Type, inheriting all its properties, including the set of sign faces.

In the model, the Sign:

Is attached to a specific Path Point
Has a position on the Level and a rotation angle, measured counter‑clockwise from the positive (X)-axis (see Figure 3)

Every Sign receives a unique identifier formed from the sign type code, level code, and a sequential number. For example, sign ID D2-L0.01 denotes the Direction sifn (the D prefix) of type D2 on level L0 with instance number 01. The unique ID is set upon sign creation and can be regenerated by using special Re-enumerate Sign IDs command.

Sign Faces

A Sign Face is a sign's surface that displays Messages to guide visitors. Every sign may have one or more sign faces, as defined by the sign type. A Sign Face has a directional sensitivity that defines directions for which automatic messages can be generated: Forward, Left, Right, Backward. That sensitivity is defined in the sign type. Note that additional diagonal directions (UpLeft, UpRight, DownLeft, DownRight) currently only support manually defined messages.

Sign Face is identified by a unique identifier combining the Sign ID and customizable sign face's label, usually a Latin letter (e.g., D2-L0.01A). Note that on a single-sided sign its only face's label is not shown.

Sign representation in the Level view

In the Level view, signs are represented with symbols that indicate their position, orientation and sign faces:

Figure 2 – Sign symbol legend and sign configuration examples.

Direction zones

The 360° field of view of a directional sign face is divided into four quadrants—forward, left, right, and backward—measured from the sign’s rotation angle.

The forward quadrant covers a 90° sector centred on the sign’s line of sight, extending 45° to either side of the rotation angle.Left, right, and backward quadrants each cover the remaining 90° sectors.

A route is assigned to a quadrant based on the angle between the sign’s line of sight and the direction of the first path segment:

Figure 3 – Sign face rotation angle and walking directions.

Messages

Messages are the pieces of text (and, where applicable, their direction) displayed on sign faces.

Each message has the following properties:

Text – the content of the message
Direction – applies only to direction sign faces
Selection flag – controls whether the message is shown or hidden
Creation mode – either automatic or manual

Automatic and Manual Messages

Messages can be created in two ways:

Automatic messages – generated by the application, either instantly (default) or on request.
Manual messages – defined and maintained by the user.

Automatic and manual messages can coexist on the same sign face; for example, you might automatically list common destinations while adding a manually crafted note for a special case.

Message Display

A message can be displayed or hidden by setting or clearing its selection flag, regardless of its type.

Message Generation

The content of the messages generated for a sign face is determined by:

The sign type (and therefore its category and directional sensitivity)
The layout of the path network
The rotation of the sign face

Direction sign

For a direction sign attached to a decision point, WFP generates messages using the following algorithm:

Each sign's face is virtually repositioned to the decision point for calculation purposes.
For each direction that the sign face is sensitive to, all reachable target points are identified. A route is considered reachable if its first path segment falls within the corresponding direction zone of the sign face.
For each target point, if multiple routes exist, they are compared and only the shortest route is kept for message generation.
If the sign face already has messages, any user-defined properties (such as selection flags or manual messages), when possible, are preserved and applied to the newly generated messages.
Steps 1–4 repeat for all sign faces within the same sign.

Identification signs

For an identification sign, WFP generates messages as follows:

The sign is always attached to a target point.
The name of that target point is automatically used as the message.

Navigation signs

For a navigation sign attached to a decison point, WFP generates messages as follows:

The names of all target points belonging to the same level are collected.
These names are displayed as the directory on the navigation sign.

Next steps

Installation and Activation to learn how to install and activate the application,
User interface to learn how to use the interface,
Getting Started for a practical guide to quickly get up to speed.

Core Concepts