diff --git a/projects/samskivert/src/java/com/samskivert/swing/util/ProximityTracker.java b/projects/samskivert/src/java/com/samskivert/swing/util/ProximityTracker.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d4dea4b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/projects/samskivert/src/java/com/samskivert/swing/util/ProximityTracker.java
@@ -0,0 +1,293 @@
+//
+// $Id: ProximityTracker.java,v 1.1 2001/12/15 03:19:03 mdb Exp $
+//
+// samskivert library - useful routines for java programs
+// Copyright (C) 2001 Michael Bayne
+// 
+// This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+// under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published
+// by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+// Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+// License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+// Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
+
+package com.samskivert.swing.util;
+
+import com.samskivert.util.StringUtil;
+
+/**
+ * A mechanism for registering a set of objects with x and y screen
+ * coordinates and then efficiently determining which of those objects is
+ * closest to a given screen coordinate. Useful for highlighting the
+ * object closest to the mouse and that sort of thing. The data structure
+ * and algorithm for tracking and looking up the closest object are highly
+ * optimized so that one can track large numbers of objects and obtain the
+ * most proximous one with frequencies on par with the frequencies of
+ * mouse moved events.
+ */
+public class ProximityTracker
+{
+    /**
+     * Creates a proximity tracker with the default initial capacity.
+     */
+    public ProximityTracker ()
+    {
+        this(DEFAULT_INIT_CAPACITY);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a proximity tracker with the specified initial capacity.
+     */
+    public ProximityTracker (int initialCapacity)
+    {
+        _records = new Record[initialCapacity];
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Adds an object to the tracker.
+     */
+    public void addObject (int x, int y, Object object)
+    {
+        Record record = new Record(x, y, object);
+
+        // if this is the very first element, we have to insert it
+        // straight away because our binary search algorithm doesn't work
+        // on empty arrays
+        if (_size == 0) {
+            _records[_size++] = record;
+            return;
+        }
+
+        // figure out where to insert it
+        int ipoint = binarySearch(x);
+
+        // expand the records array if necessary
+        if (_size >= _records.length) {
+            int nsize = _size*2;
+            Record[] records = new Record[nsize];
+            System.arraycopy(_records, 0, records, 0, _size);
+            _records = records;
+        }
+
+        // shift everything down
+        if (ipoint < _size) {
+            System.arraycopy(_records, ipoint, _records, ipoint+1,
+                             _size-ipoint);
+        }
+
+        // insert the record
+        _records[ipoint] = record;
+        _size++;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Removes from the tracker the object that is referentially equal to
+     * (<code>o1 == object</code>) the specified object.
+     *
+     * @return true if an object was located and removed, false if not.
+     */
+    public boolean removeObject (Object object)
+    {
+        for (int i = 0; i < _size; i++) {
+            if (_records[i].object == object) {
+                // shift everything down
+                System.arraycopy(_records, i+1, _records, i, _size-(i+1));
+                // clear out the trailing reference
+                _records[--_size] = null;
+                return true;
+            }
+        }
+
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Removes from the tracker the object that is equal to
+     * (<code>o1.equals(object)</code>) the specified object.
+     *
+     * @return true if an object was located and removed, false if not.
+     */
+    public boolean removeObjectEquals (Object object)
+    {
+        for (int i = 0; i < _size; i++) {
+            if (_records[i].object.equals(object)) {
+                // shift everything down
+                System.arraycopy(_records, i+1, _records, i, _size-(i+1));
+                // clear out the trailing reference
+                _records[--_size] = null;
+                return true;
+            }
+        }
+
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the object nearest to the supplied coordinates. If
+     * <code>distance</code> is non-null and at least one element in
+     * length, the actual between the supplied coordinates and the object
+     * coordinates will be filled into the first element of the array.
+     *
+     * @return the object nearest the supplied coordinates or null if the
+     * tracker contains no objects.
+     */
+    public Object findClosestObject (int x, int y, int[] distance)
+    {
+        // make sure we're tracking at least one object
+        if (_size == 0) {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        // locate the object nearest the x coordinate
+        int sr = binarySearch(x), sl = sr-1;
+        int mindist = Integer.MAX_VALUE, minidx = -1;
+
+        // we search outward from the nearest x coordinate, looking for
+        // the nearest object and refining the bounds of our search each
+        // time we find a nearer object
+        for (boolean expanded = true; expanded;) {
+            expanded = false;
+
+            // look to the right
+            if (sr < _size) {
+                Record rec = _records[sr];
+                // we can stop searching in this direction when the
+                // distance in the x direction becomes larger than the
+                // known shortest distance
+                if (rec.x-x < mindist) {
+                    int dist = distance(rec.x, rec.y, x, y);
+                    if (dist < mindist) {
+                        minidx = sr;
+                        mindist = dist;
+                    }
+                    // move to the next element
+                    sr += 1;
+                    expanded = true;
+                }
+            }
+
+            // look to the left
+            if (sl >= 0) {
+                Record rec = _records[sl];
+                // we can stop searching in this direction when the
+                // distance in the x direction becomes larger than the
+                // known shortest distance
+                if (x-rec.x < mindist) {
+                    int dist = distance(rec.x, rec.y, x, y);
+                    if (dist < mindist) {
+                        minidx = sl;
+                        mindist = dist;
+                    }
+                    // move to the next element
+                    sl -= 1;
+                    expanded = true;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        // as we ensured above that there was at least one element in our
+        // array, we are required to have found some element as the
+        // closest element to the given point. if we didn't, we're hosed!
+        if (minidx == -1) {
+            throw new RuntimeException("Proximity algorithm failed!");
+        }
+
+        // communicate the minimum distance back to the caller
+        if (distance != null && distance.length > 0) {
+            distance[0] = mindist;
+        }
+
+        return _records[minidx].object;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Generates a string representation of this instance.
+     */
+    public String toString ()
+    {
+        return "[size=" + _size +
+            ", elems=" + StringUtil.toString(_records) + "]";
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Computes the geometric distance between the supplied two points.
+     */
+    public static int distance (int x1, int y1, int x2, int y2)
+    {
+        int dx = x1-x2, dy = y1-y2;
+        return (int)Math.sqrt(dx*dx+dy*dy);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the index of a record with the specified x coordinate, or a
+     * value representing the index where such a record would be inserted
+     * while preserving the sort order of the array. Doesn't work if the
+     * records array contains zero elements.
+     */
+    protected int binarySearch (int x)
+    {
+        // copied from java.util.Arrays which I wouldn't have to have done
+        // had the provided a means by which to binarySearch in a subset
+        // of an array. alas.
+	int low = 0;
+	int high = _size-1;
+
+	while (low <= high) {
+	    int mid = (low + high) >> 1;
+	    int cmp = (_records[mid].x - x);
+
+	    if (cmp < 0) {
+		low = mid + 1;
+	    } else if (cmp > 0) {
+		high = mid - 1;
+	    } else {
+		return mid; // key found
+            }
+	}
+
+	return low;  // key not found
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * This is used to track our object records.
+     */
+    protected static class Record
+    {
+        /** The x coordinate of the object. */
+        public int x;
+
+        /** The y coordinate of the object. */
+        public int y;
+
+        /** The object itself. */
+        public Object object;
+
+        public Record (int x, int y, Object object)
+        {
+            this.x = x;
+            this.y = y;
+            this.object = object;
+        }
+
+        public String toString ()
+        {
+            return "[x=" + x + ", y=" + y + "]"; // + ", object=" + object + "]";
+        }
+    }
+
+    /** The object records. */
+    protected Record[] _records;
+
+    /** The number of records being tracked. */
+    protected int _size;
+
+    /** Assume a non-trivial number of objects will be tracked. */
+    protected static final int DEFAULT_INIT_CAPACITY = 16;
+}
diff --git a/projects/samskivert/tests/src/java/com/samskivert/swing/util/ProximityTrackerTest.java b/projects/samskivert/tests/src/java/com/samskivert/swing/util/ProximityTrackerTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..95f9a559
--- /dev/null
+++ b/projects/samskivert/tests/src/java/com/samskivert/swing/util/ProximityTrackerTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+//
+// $Id: ProximityTrackerTest.java,v 1.1 2001/12/15 03:19:03 mdb Exp $
+//
+// samskivert library - useful routines for java programs
+// Copyright (C) 2001 Michael Bayne
+// 
+// This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+// under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published
+// by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+// Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+// License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+// Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
+
+package com.samskivert.swing.util;
+
+import java.awt.Point;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Random;
+
+import junit.framework.Test;
+import junit.framework.TestCase;
+
+import com.samskivert.Log;
+import com.samskivert.util.StringUtil;
+
+public class ProximityTrackerTest extends TestCase
+{
+    public ProximityTrackerTest ()
+    {
+        super(ProximityTrackerTest.class.getName());
+    }
+
+    public void runTest ()
+    {
+        Random rand = new Random();
+        ProximityTracker tracker = new ProximityTracker();
+        ArrayList points = new ArrayList();
+
+        // create 100 random points and add them to the tracker and our
+        // comparison list
+        for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
+            int x = rand.nextInt(MAX_X);
+            int y = rand.nextInt(MAX_Y);
+            Point p = new Point(x, y);
+            tracker.addObject(x, y, p);
+            points.add(p);
+        }
+
+        // now choose 100 new random points and confirm that the tracker
+        // reports the same closest point that our brute force check
+        // reports
+        for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
+            int x = rand.nextInt(MAX_X);
+            int y = rand.nextInt(MAX_Y);
+
+            // get the closest point via the tracker
+            Point tp = (Point)tracker.findClosestObject(x, y, null);
+
+            // get the closest point via brute force
+            Point cp = null;
+            int mindist = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
+            for (int p = 0; p < points.size(); p++) {
+                Point hp = (Point)points.get(p);
+                int dist = ProximityTracker.distance(hp.x, hp.y, x, y);
+                if (dist < mindist) {
+                    mindist = dist;
+                    cp = hp;
+                }
+            }
+
+            // the points might actually be different, but in that case,
+            // the distances should be equal
+            int tdist = ProximityTracker.distance(x, y, tp.x, tp.y);
+            int cdist = ProximityTracker.distance(x, y, cp.x, cp.y);
+
+            String tps = tp.x + "," + tp.y;
+            String cps = cp.x + "," + cp.y;
+            String ps = x + "," + y;
+            assert(ps + " => " + cps + " (" + cdist + ") ! " +
+                   tps + " (" + tdist + ")", tp.equals(cp) || (tdist == cdist));
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static Test suite ()
+    {
+        return new ProximityTrackerTest();
+    }
+
+    public static void main (String[] args)
+    {
+        ProximityTrackerTest test = new ProximityTrackerTest();
+        test.runTest();
+    }
+
+    protected static final int MAX_X = 1000;
+    protected static final int MAX_Y = 1000;
+}