地图数据库与地图数据处理.docVIP

1Spatial Concepts Oracle Spatial is an integrated set of functions and procedures that enables spatial data to be stored, accessed, and analyzed quickly and efficiently in an Oracle8i?database. Spatial data represents the essential location characteristics of real or conceptual objects as those objects relate to the real or conceptual space in which they exist. 1.1 What Is Oracle Spatial? Oracle Spatial, often referred to as Spatial, provides a SQL schema and functions that facilitate the storage, retrieval, update, and query of collections of spatial features in an Oracle8i?database. Spatial consists of the following components: A schema (MDSYS) that prescribes the storage, syntax, and semantics of supported geometric data types A spatial indexing mechanism A set of operators and functions for performing area-of-interest queries and spatial join queries Administrative utilities The spatial attribute of a spatial feature is the geometric representation of its shape in some coordinate space. This is referred to as its?geometry. 1.2 Object-Relational and Relational Models Spatial supports two mechanisms, or models, for representing geometries: The?object-relational?model uses a table with a single column of type MDSYS.SDO_GEOMETRY and a single row per geometry instance. The?relational?model uses a table with a predefined set of columns of type NUMBER and one or more rows for each geometry instance. These models roughly correspond to two alternatives described in the OpenGIS ODBC/SQL specification for geospatial features. The object-relational model corresponds to a SQL with Geometry Types implementation of spatial feature tables, and the relational model corresponds to an implementation of spatial feature tables using numeric SQL types for geometry storage. Implementation-specific details are described in Part I?Object-Relational Model?and Part IIRelational Model?of this guide. 1.2.1 Benefits of the Object-Relational Model The following are some of the benefits of us