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.

Intended Audience

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

Structure

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 book:

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 the tuning functions and procedures.
Chapter 7	Provides the syntax and semantics for the geometric functions and procedures.
Chapter 8	Provides the syntax and semantics for the migration functions.
Chapter 9	Provides the syntax and semantics for operators used with the spatial object data type.
Part II	The following chapters describe the relational spatial model:
Chapter 10	Explains the relational schema.
Chapter 11	Explains spatial data loading.
Chapter 12	Explains methods for querying a spatial database.
Chapter 13	Provides the syntax and semantics for the administrative functions and procedures.
Chapter 14	Provides the syntax and semantics for the tuning functions and procedures.
Chapter 15	Provides the syntax and semantics for the geometric functions and procedures.
Chapter 16	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.
Glossary	Provides definitions of terms used in this guide.

New Features for Release 8.1.6

Oracle Spatial includes the following enhancements for release 8.1.6:

• Improved metadata management through system-level views and metadata tables.

• New types (geometry and element) allow for better representation of the geometries in the database. These types also enable better management of spatial geometries in a client-side application.

• More features in the Validate Geometry function (SDO_GEOM.VALIDATE_GEOMETRY). These new features can help validate complex geometries and provide better feedback on invalid geometries.

• Improved performance for all spatial functions, especially for SDO_GEOM.WITHIN_DISTANCE and SDO_GEOM.SDO_BUFFER operations.

• Performance of all index creation operations is improved.

• Enhancement of Boolean operations to operate at the geometry level rather than at the polygon level.

(This is not an exhaustive list of new and changed features for release 8.1.6.)

Because of changes in release 8.1.6, spatial indexes created with previous releases of Spatial must be re-created, and the xxx_SDO_GEOM_METADATA views must be updated. For information about compatibility and migration, see Appendix B, especially Section B.5 on migrating from release 8.1.5 to 8.1.6.

Features Released Separately

The following features or capabilities are being released separately from release 8.1.6, and will be available through the Oracle Technology Network (http://technet.oracle.com/):

• Linear Referencing System (LRS)

• R-tree indexes

• GeoImage

• Coordinate Systems

• Version Management (long transactions)

These features are not documented in this manual. Instead, each is documented in a separate manual or other publication, which will be available through the Oracle Technology Network when the associated software is available.

Related Documents

For more information, see the following manuals:

• Oracle8i 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

• Oracle8i Concepts

• Oracle8i Designing and Tuning for Performance

• Oracle8i Utilities

For additional information about Oracle Spatial, including white papers and other collateral, visit the official Spatial Web site: http://www.oracle.com/database/options/spatial/

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