Book Image

Applying and Extending Oracle Spatial

Book Image

Applying and Extending Oracle Spatial

Overview of this book

Spatial applications should be developed in the same way that users develop other database applications: by starting with an integrated data model in which the SDO_GEOMETRY objects are just another attribute describing entities and by using as many of the database features as possible for managing the data. If a task can be done using a database feature like replication, then it should be done using the standard replication technology instead of inventing a new procedure for replicating spatial data. Sometimes solving a business problem using a PL/SQL function can be more powerful, accessible, and easier to use than trying to use external software. Because Oracle Spatial's offerings are standards compliant, this book shows you how Oracle Spatial technology can be used to build cross-vendor database solutions. Applying and Extending Oracle Spatial shows you the clever things that can be done not just with Oracle Spatial on its own, but in combination with other database technologies. This is a great resource book that will convince you to purchase other Oracle technology books on non-spatial specialist technologies because you will finally see that "spatial is not special: it is a small, fun, and clever part of a much larger whole".
Table of Contents (20 chapters)
Applying and Extending Oracle Spatial
Credits
About the Authors
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Table Comparing Simple Feature Access/SQL and SQL/MM–Spatial
Index

Understanding materialized views


A view in the database presents a logical view of a table that is different from the actual physical structure of the table. We have used different views in our sample schema to make subsets of rows from the CITY_FURNITURE table look like tables. A view can also be defined on the result set of a query between two or more tables, for example, we can define a view to look at all the LAND_PARCELS that are affected by the maintenance work done to a sidewalk. For this, we define the view land_parcel_sidewalk as follows:

Create View land_parcel_sidewalk As
Select a.fid lp_fid, b.fid sw_fid
From land_parcels a, sidewalks b
Where sdo_anyinteract(a.geom, b.geom) = 'TRUE';

-- lets find the land_parcels affected by a sidewalk
Select * From land_parcel_sidewalk
Where sw_fid = 6882;

When the query is executed to find a land_parcel corresponding to the sidewalk with sw_fid=6882, a spatial query is executed using the two base tables involved in the view definition. Sometimes...