[...]... out-of-the-box approach to spatial information and the Oracle Spatial approach that integrates spatial data with other data in an Oracle database We elaborate on this comparison and highlight the benefits of using Oracle Spatial Using Spatial Information in Various Industries Let’s now consider a simple business application example The database for this application contains data about available products (a Products... aspects of spatial information management: representation and storage using appropriate types, and analysis functionality for stored spatial data We then discuss the systems that enable spatial information management, such as GIS, and their evolution We finally look at the benefits of spatial information management using Oracle Spatial • Chapter 2: Overview of Oracle Spatial: The Oracle Spatial technology... value to organizations Oracle Spatial has grown to be one of the most established solutions for providing spatial intelligence to databases Besides the extensive installed base of Oracle databases, Oracle Spatial manages spatial data just like any other data type, making it in principle easy for experienced database developers and architects to extend their scope into spatial information management Using... or installation guide for details The complete documentation for Oracle Database and Oracle Application Server is available online on the Oracle Technology Network website at www .oracle. com/technology/documentation The Oracle 11g manuals relevant to this book are as follows: • Oracle Spatial User’s Guide and Reference • Oracle Application Server, MapViewer User’s Guide • Oracle Spatial Topology and... the potential of Oracle Spatial and how to use it at an advanced level We do not want to just familiarize you with Oracle Spatial; we want you to become an expert in Oracle Spatial What Does This Book Cover? This book covers spatial information management in the Oracle database In particular: • It introduces the main concepts of spatial information management and how they relate to database concepts... some cases was solved by manually extracting information from one system and loading it into another to perform the necessary spatial analysis Oracle Spatial has an important role in changing this situation Once the spatial data is stored in an Oracle database, it can be processed, retrieved, and related to all the other data stored in the database: spatial information, or location, is just another attribute... need for coordinating multiple data sources because of an application’s dependence on special data structures and using different languages to query the data Relevant features of Oracle Spatial are the ability to access spatial data through SQL statements, just like any other database content, and support for industry standards for spatial information (SQL and Open Geospatial4) Above all, Oracle Spatial. .. this chapter, we focus on spatial indexes and spatial operators Spatial indexes ensure effective response times for queries that perform proximity analysis The chapter introduces the concepts of spatial indexes and their creation We then describe different spatial operators that Oracle Spatial supports for performing spatial analysis for indexed tables We give an overview of their syntax and semantics... you’ll find our book an invaluable guide for creating robust spatially enhanced applications that perform well Copyrights and Disclaimer Oracle is a registered trademark, and Oracle9 i, 10g, 11g, Oracle iAS (Application Server), and Oracle Spatial are trademarks of Oracle Corporation All other company and product names mentioned in the book are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of... functionality of Oracle Spatial, you need to obtain a separate product license for the Spatial option Chapter 2 includes detailed information on how to set up Oracle Spatial for this book xxxi xxxii ■SETTING UP MapViewer serves to create mapping applications You can deploy MapViewer either within a full Oracle Application Server environment or as a stand-alone installation of the Oracle Application . Godfrind, and Euro Beinat Pro Oracle Spatial for Oracle Database 11 g 8997ch00FM.qxt 9/28/07 9:52 AM Page i Pro Oracle Spatial for Oracle Database 11 g Copyright. enthusiasm for spatial information and geographical information systems started at Oracle when he discovered the spatial extensions of the Oracle database