Patent 7124199 was granted and assigned to Autodesk on October, 2006 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture determine a path on a network. A Global search is commenced for one or more Global paths on the network. Thereafter, when a turn restriction on a first node on the network exists, a hidden node that is not reachable from the first node due to the turn restriction is detected. A Local search commences from the hidden node in a reverse direction creating a Local search path. When the Local search can connect to the Global search, the Local search path is converted to a new Global path, and added as an alternative to the Global search.