Spatial Database Tips and Tricks

Mapping APIs are great for data display and capture, but how do you build applications that allow query and geoprocessing of spatial data without becoming a Java or C++ programming guru? How about using the power of SQL, the standard database query language, and the spatial extensions provided by SQL Server, Oracle Spatial and PostGIS.

The OpenGIS Consortium has standardized the spatial types and functions that are required in a “spatial database”, and there are now several free and proprietary implementations of the standard. As a result, skills in spatial data processing you learn on one database can be easily transferred to other databases. Traditional “GIS web services” have required special purpose GIS server software like ArcGIS Server, but quality results can also be obtained with three tools familiar to any web developer: Javascript user interface components, PHP scripting glue and a SQL relational database.