Preface

The Oracle Spatial User's Guide and Reference provides user and reference information for the Spatial product, and extensions to Oracle8i Enterprise Edition.

Spatial requires Oracle8i Enterprise Edition. Oracle8i and Oracle8i Enterprise Edition have the same basic features. However, several advanced features, such as extended data types, are available only with the Enterprise Edition, and some of these features are optional. For example, to use Oracle8i table partitioning, you must have the Enterprise Edition and the Partitioning Option.

For information about the differences between Oracle8i and Oracle8i Enterprise Edition and the features and options that are available to you, see Getting to Know Oracle8i.

Audience

This guide is intended for anyone who needs to store spatial data in an Oracle database.

Organization

This guide is divided into two parts. Part I deals with the object-relational storage model, and Part II describes the relational storage model. The following table lists the elements in this guide:

Chapter 1	Introduces spatial data concepts.
Part I	The following chapters describe the object-relational spatial model:
Chapter 2	Explains the object-relational schema.
Chapter 3	Explains loading and indexing spatial data.
Chapter 4	Explains methods for querying a spatial database.
Chapter 5	Provides the syntax and semantics for the indexing functions.
Chapter 6	Provides the syntax and semantics for operators used with the spatial object data type.
Chapter 7	Provides the syntax and semantics for the geometric functions and procedures.
Chapter 8	Provides the syntax and semantics for the linear referencing system (LRS) functions.
Chapter 9	Provides the syntax and semantics for the migration functions.
Chapter 10	Provides the syntax and semantics for the migration functions.
Chapter 11	Provides the syntax and semantics for the tuning functions and procedures.
Part II	The following chapters describe the relational spatial model:
Chapter 12	Explains the relational schema.
Chapter 13	Explains spatial data loading.
Chapter 14	Explains methods for querying a spatial database.
Chapter 15	Provides the syntax and semantics for the administrative functions and procedures.
Chapter 16	Provides the syntax and semantics for the tuning functions and procedures.
Chapter 17	Provides the syntax and semantics for the geometric functions and procedures.
Chapter 18	Provides the syntax and semantics for the window functions and procedures.
Appendix A	Describes sample SQL scripts and tuning tips.
Appendix B	Describes installation, compatibility, and migration issues.
Appendix C	Describes the Spatial Generic Geocoding Interface.
Appendix D	Provides conceptual and usage information for using coordinate systems (spatial reference systems) with Oracle Spatial.
Appendix E	Provides conceptual and usage information for using the Oracle Spatial linear referencing system (LRS).
Glossary	Provides definitions of terms used in this guide.

Changes for Release 8.1.7

The following changes have been made to this guide for release 8.1.7:

• Information about support for coordinate systems (spatial reference systems) and the linear referencing system (LRS) has been added. This information previously appeared in separate documents available through the Oracle Technology Network (OTN).

• Information about spatial R-tree indexes has been added. This information previously appeared in a separate document available through the Oracle Technology Network.

• The behavior of the SDO_GEOM.VALIDATE_LAYER procedure (documented in Chapter 7) has changed. Rows are written to the result table only for invalid geometries, and no row is written if a geometry is valid. In the previous release, a row was written to the result table for each geometry, and for valid geometries the row contained the primary key value and the string TRUE. This change is designed to minimize the size of the result table when the layer contains many geometries.

• The SDO_POLY_xxx functions, which were deprecated at release 8.1.6, have been removed from this guide. You should use instead the corresponding "generic" (not restricted to polygons) SDO_xxx functions documented in Chapter 7: SDO_DIFFERENCE, SDO_INTERSECTION, SDO_UNION, and SDO_XOR.

• Minor corrections and clarifications have been made where necessary.

  Note: The relational model (documented in Part II) will not be included in future releases of this guide, but will instead be provided in a separate document to be announced. You are encouraged to use only the object-relational model (documented in Part I) for Oracle Spatial applications.

Features Released Separately

The following features or capabilities are of interest to spatial application developers, but are not part of Oracle Spatial. Software and documentation for the following are available through the Oracle Technology Network.

• GeoImage

• Workspace Management (long transactions)

To access the Oracle Technology Network, go to

http://technet.oracle.com

Related Documents

For more information, see the following documents:

• Oracle interMedia Locator User's Guide and Reference

• Getting to Know Oracle8i

• Oracle8i Administrator's Guide

• Oracle8i Application Developer's Guide - Fundamentals

• Oracle8i Error Messages - Spatial messages are in the range of 13000 to 13499; however, for release 8.1.7 coordinate systems messages are in Section D.7 and linear referencing system (LRS) messages are in Section E.6 of this guide.

• Oracle8i Concepts

• Oracle8i Performance Guide and Reference

• Oracle8i Utilities

For additional information about Oracle Spatial, including white papers and other collateral, visit the official Spatial Web site at

http://www.oracle.com/database/options/spatial/

If that Web address has changed since the publication of this guide, visit the Oracle home page at

http://www.oracle.com/

and search for Spatial.

Conventions

In examples, an implied carriage return occurs at the end of each line, unless otherwise noted. You must press the Return key at the end of a line of input.

The following conventions are used in this guide:

Convention	Meaning
. . .	Vertical ellipsis points in an example mean that information not directly related to the example has been omitted.
. . .	Horizontal ellipsis points in statements or commands mean that parts of the statement or command not directly related to the example have been omitted
boldface text	Boldface text indicates a term defined in the text, the glossary, or in both locations.
< >	Angle brackets enclose user-supplied names.
[ ]	Brackets enclose optional clauses from which you can choose one or none.
%	The percent sign represents the system prompt on a UNIX system.