Geografiske informasjonssystemer
(GIS)
SGO1910 & SGO4930
Vår 2004
Foreleser: Karen O’Brien (karen.obrien@cicero.uio.no)
Seminarleder: Gunnar Berglund (gunnarbe@student.sv.uio.no)
Geographic Databases
A GIS can answer the question:
What is where?
 WHAT:
Characteristics of attributes
or features.
 WHERE: In geographic space.
A GIS links attribute and
spatial data

Attribute Data


Flat File
Relations

Map Data




Point File
Line File
Area File
Topology
Flat File Database
Attribute
Attribute
Attribute
Record
Value
Value
Value
Record
Value
Value
Value
Record
Value
Value
Value
13
11
2
12
10
7
POLYGON “A” 5
9
4
2
1
6
3
8
1
1xy
2xy
3xy
4xy
5xy
6xy
7xy
8xy
9xy
10 x y
11 x y
12 x y
13 x y
Points File
Arc/node map data structure with files
File of Arcs by Polygon
A: 1,2, Area, Attributes
1 1,2,3,4,5,6,7
2 1,8,9,10,11,12,13,7
Arcs File
Figure 3.4 Arc/Node Map Data Structure with Files.
What is a Data Model?
A logical construct for the storage and
retrieval of information.
 Attribute data models are needed for the
DBMS.
 The origin of DBMS data models is in
computer science.

Definitions



Database – an integrated set of data on a
particular subject
Geographic (=spatial) database - database
containing geographic data of a particular
subject for a particular area
Database Management System (DBMS) –
software to create, maintain and access databases
A DBMS contains:






Data definition language
Data dictionary
Data-entry module
Data update module
Report generator
Query language
Advantages of Databases



Avoids redundancy and duplication
Reduces data maintenance costs
Applications are separated from the data




Applications persist over time
Support multiple concurrent applications
Better data sharing
Security and standards can be defined and enforced
Disadvantages of Databases




Expense
Complexity
Performance – especially complex data types
Integration with other systems can be
difficult
Characteristics of DBMS (1)

Data model support for multiple data types



e.g MS Access supports Text, Memo, Number,
Date/Time, Currency, AutoNumber, Yes/No, OLE
Object, Hyperlink, Lookup Wizard
Load data from files, databases and other
applications
Index for rapid retrieval
Characteristics of DBMS (2)


Query language – SQL
Security – controlled access to data



Multi-level groups
Controlled update using a transaction manager
Backup and recovery
Role of DBMS
System
Task
Geographic
Information
System
•
•
•
•
•
Data load
Editing
Visualization
Mapping
Analysis
Database
Management
System
•
•
•
•
Storage
Indexing
Security
Query
Data
Retrieval




The ability of the DBMS or GIS to get back on
demand data that were previously stored.
Geographic search is the secret to GIS data retrieval.
Many forms of data organization are incapable of
geographic search.
GIS systems have embedded DBMSs, or link to a
commercial DBMS.
Types of DBMS Model





Hierarchical
Network
Relational - RDBMS
Object-oriented - OODBMS
Object-relational - ORDBMS
Historically, databases were
structured hierarchically in files...
Norge
Oppland
Bærum
Akershus
Asker
Hordaland
Ski
Relational DBMS


Data stored as tuples (tup-el), conceptualized as
tables
Table – data about a class of objects
Two-dimensional list (array)
 Rows = objects
 Columns = object states (properties, attributes)

Relation Rules





Only one value in each cell (intersection of row
and column)
All values in a column are about the same
subject
Each row is unique
No significance in column sequence
No significance in row sequence
Table
Column = property
Table =
Object Class
Row = object
Object
Classes with
Geometry
called
Feature
Classes
Relational Join



Fundamental query operation
Table joins use common keys (column values)
Table (attribute) join concept has been extended to
geographic case
Relational Data Bases
Patient Record
Key Check-in
42
2/1/96
78
2/3/96
Purchase Record
Item
Date
Skate Board 2/1/96
Baseball Bat 2/1/96
Accident Report
Date
Injury
2/1/96 Broken Leg
2/2/96 Concussion
2/2/96 Cut on Ear
Price
49.95
17.99
Name
John Smith
Sylvia Jones
Robert Doe
File
Check Out
Room No.
2/4/96
N763
2/4/96
N712
Customer
John Smith
James Brown
Key
42
654
123
File
Key
42
978
File
Location
75 Elm Street
12 State Street
2323 Broad Street
Most DBMS are now relational
databases.

Based on multiple flat files for records, with
dissimilar attribute structures, connected by a
common key attribute.
Retrieval Operations



Searches by attribute: find and browse.
Data reorganization: select, renumber, and sort.
Compute allows the creation of new attributes
based on calculated values.
Spatial Retrieval Operations




Attribute queries are not very useful for geographic
search.
In a map database the records are features.
The spatial equivalent of a find is locate, the GIS
highlights the result.
Spatial equivalents of the DBMS queries result in
locating sets of features or building new GIS layers.
The Retrieval User Interface



GIS query is usually by command line, batch, or macro.
Most GIS packages use the GUI of the computer’s
operating system to support both a menu-type query
interface and a macro or programming language.
SQL is a standard interface to relational databases and
is supported by many GISs.
SQL




Structured (Standard) Query Language – (pronounced
SEQUEL)
Developed by IBM in 1970s
Now de facto and de jure standard for accessing relational
databases
Three types of usage



Stand alone queries
High level programming
Embedded in other applications
Types of SQL Statements

Data Definition Language (DDL)



Data Manipulation Language (DML)



Create, alter and delete data
CREATE TABLE, CREATE INDEX
Retrieve and manipulate data
SELECT, UPDATE, DELETE, INSERT
Data Control Languages (DCL)


Control security of data
GRANT, CREATE USER, DROP USER
Spatial Relations



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
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Equals – same geometries
Disjoint – geometries share common point
Intersects – geometries intersect
Touches – geometries intersect at common boundary
Crosses – geometries overlap
Within– geometry within
Contains – geometry completely contains
Overlaps – geometries of same dimension overlap
Relate – intersection between interior, boundary or exterior
Spatial Methods


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Distance – shortest distance
Buffer – geometric buffer
ConvexHull – smallest convex polygon geometry
Intersection – points common to two geometries
Union – all points in geometries
Difference – points different between two geometries
SymDifference – points in either, but not both of input
geometries
Spatial Search


Buffering is a spatial retrieval around points,
lines, or areas based on distance.
Overlay is a spatial retrieval operation that is
equivalent to an attribute join.
Identify
Recode
OR
Data
overlay
Overlay
Types of overlay operations




And
Or
Max
Min
Buffer (raster)
+1
Buffer (vector)
Complex Retrieval: Map Algebra

Combinations of spatial and attribute queries
can build some complex and powerful GIS
operations, such as weighting.
Summary



Database – an integrated set of data on a
particular subject
Databases offer many advantages over files
Relational databases dominate
Part II: Working with
Attributes in ArcGIS
Issues to discuss


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how attribute data is stored in a table of rows
and columns
how attribute data is associated with features
tabular field types supported in ArcGIS
types of table relationships
how tables can be related to each other
how to join tables based on a common field
Review

A geographic database contains both spatial and
tabular data. The spatial data contains feature
shape and location information, while the
tabular data contains the attributes for the
features. Often, feature attributes are contained
in multiple tables.
Anatomy of a Table


Each table in a database has the same basic format: an
array of rows and columns. Rows are also called
records, and columns are also called fields.
Some tables, like a feature class's default feature
attribute table, have a preset number of columns. For
instance, a polygon coverage's feature attribute table has
four standard columns: Area, Perimeter, Coverage#,
and Coverage-ID, while a line shapefile's feature
attribute table has only one default column, named
Shape. Other tables are completely user-defined.


The table has three user-added columns: Name, Country, and
Population. ArcMap automatically adds a third column (FID) for
display purposes. The name of this column may be different
depending on the type of data source. For example, it is called
FID for a coverage or shapefile, OBJECTID for a geodatabase
feature class, and Order_ID for a grid.
Because some databases and some operations do not support
fields with blanks in their names, you should avoid creating fields
that contain them. In addition, every column in a table should
have a unique name but columns in the same table can have a
variety of formats. NOTE: Norwegian “æ å ø” can also create
problems, as can decimal formats (10,1 versus 10.1).
Tabular data field types


Tables are capable of storing date, number, and text
values, but most tabular formats have several different
field types to store this information.
Choosing the best field type for the values to be stored
is an important consideration. Also, the available field
types can vary between tabular formats. In general, you
can store numbers, text, and dates. Specifically
supported formats in ArcCatalog™ include short
integer, long integer, float, double, text, date, object-id,
and blob.
Information stored in tables is organized by fields and field types. When defining a
table's fields, be aware that each database has its own rules defining what names and
characters are permitted.
ArcGIS Tabular Formats


ArcGIS supports the use of multiple formats for storing and
managing tabular data. Each of ArcGIS software's primary
spatial formats has its own native format. Coverages use INFOformatted tables; shapefiles store their attributes in dBASE (.dbf)
format; geodatabases rely on the format of their supporting
RDBMS (Oracle, for example).
Deciding on the proper format in which to store attribute
information is an important part of database design and can
affect the efficiency with which you are able to access feature
attributes. To facilitate sharing data that's in different formats,
ArcCatalog and ArcToolbox contain tools to convert between
the various tabular formats. In addition, some formats, such as
the coverage, can link to independent tables regardless of their
format.
Tabular information can be stored in a variety of formats. In this case, feature
information is stored in the coverage feature attribute table, data about the owners is
stored in dBASE format, and tax information is stored in a relational database
format.
Associating Tables

Because features often have many attributes, most
database design guidelines promote organizing your
database into multiple tables—each focused on a
specific topic—instead of one large table containing all
the necessary fields. This scheme is more efficient
because it eliminates duplicate information in the
database–you store the information only once in one
table. Tables can be "connected" so that when you need
information that isn't in the current table, you can
access it from a table associated with it.

Two tables can be connected if there is a similar
field in each table containing common values.
Each table must have at least one field
containing unique values for each record; in
database terminology, this field is called the
primary key. Even if there are duplicate values in
all the other fields, the primary key ensures that
each row will be unique.

Row uniqueness is important when connecting two
tables because you want to make sure the correct rows
are matched together. As a general rule, you connect
tables from a primary key field in one table to the
common field (called the foreign key) in the other table.
In the next graphic, the ZONE_CODE field exists in
both tables, contains common values in each, and has
unique values in each row in the attribute table on the
right. The tables can be connected based on this field.
In each table above, ZONE_CODE contains the same values—codes for
zoning types. The attribute table on the right also contains the
descriptions for each code; this information is not stored in the feature
attribute table, but it is information that users will want to access often.
The tables will be connected so that the zoning descriptions can be easily
accessed.
Table Relationships

In ArcMap, you can connect two tables using
either a join or a relate. In order to know which
method to use, you need to know how individual
records in each table relate to one another. You
need to know if one or more than one record in
the first table is associated with one or more
than one record in the second table. There are
four possible relationship types (also called
cardinality): one-to-one, one-to-many, many-toone, and many-to-many.
Cardinality


A property of a relationship between objects in a
database, describing how many objects of type A are
associated with how many objects of type B.
Relationships can have one-to-one, one-to-many, manyto-one, and many-to-many cardinalities.
For example, one parcel can have one owner (one-toone), one parcel can have many owners (one-to-many),
many parcels can have one owner (many-to-one), or
many parcels can have many different owners (manyto-many).
Connecting tables with joins


You can connect two tables together in ArcMap using a
join. Join works with shapefiles, coverages, and
geodatabase feature classes. Once the tables are
connected, you can query, symbolize, and analyze your
data based on the joined values.
Table joins are designed for one-to-one or many-to-one
relationships. For other cardinalities you should use a
relate instead of a join. If you join two tables that have
one-to-many or many-to-many cardinality, you will omit
all records after the first match for each primary key
value.


When joining two tables, the names of the common fields need
not be identical but the fields must be the same type (e.g., text,
date, float, etc.). The ArcMap Join Data dialog is where you
specify which tables you want to join and which fields contain
the values that will match.
Joined tables are not permanently connected. The fields from
one table are appended to the other table. You can tell from
which table a field originates because its source table name
displays in its field name. You can remove a table join whenever
you want. Table joins are “virtual”; that is, the two tables still
exist as separate entities.
Connecting tables with relates


Another way that you can connect tables in ArcMap is
by creating a relate. Like joining tables, relating tables
defines a relationship between two tables and is also
based upon a common field. Unlike joining tables, a
relate doesn't append the fields of one table to the
other. Instead, you access data in the related table by
selecting records in one table and accessing the related
records in the other table.
You relate tables instead of joining them when there is
a one-to-many or many-to-many relationship between
the tables.
The Attributes of parcels table and the Owners table have a one-to-many
relationship (a parcel may have more than one owner). The two tables
are related based on the Parcel_no field. Selecting vacant parcels in the
attribute table selects the records with matching parcel numbers in the
related table.

In ArcMap, you create a relate in the Relate dialog by
choosing the tables you want to relate and the fields in
each that the relate will be based on. To access data in a
related table, open one of the tables and select the
records for which you want to display related records.
Click Options, point to Related Tables, and click the
name of the relate you want to access. The related table
will display with the related records selected. It doesn’t
matter which table you open, because in ArcMap table
relates are bi-directional.

If your data is involved in both joins and relates,
the order in which the joins and relates are
created is significant. If you have a table for
which you have created a relate and you join
another table to it, the relate will be removed. If
you perform a relate on a joined table, the relate
is removed when the join is removed. As a
general rule of thumb, it is best to create your
joins, then add your relates.
Join

Suppose you have a parcels feature attribute
table and another attribute table that contains
the names of parcel owners. The graphic below
shows a one-to-one relationship. Each parcel has
only one owner, so each record in the feature
attribute table will relate to one record in the
owners attribute table. For this type of
relationship, you would use a table join.

The graphics below show both a one-to-many and a many-toone relationship. On the left, one parcel can have many owners;
therefore, the relationship is one-to-many. On the right, many
parcels can have one owner, resulting in a many-to-one
relationship. For a one-to-many relationship, you should create a
table relate; for a many-to-one relationship, you should create a
table join.

You can also have relationships where many
features relate to many records in the other
attribute table. In this situation, many parcels
could have many owners. This is the most
complex relationship and can be difficult to
manage. For this type of relationship, you
should associate the two tables using a table
relate.
Other items to discuss

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sort, calculate, and freeze data in a table
create summary statistics
edit feature attributes using the Attributes dialog
use the Field Calculator to update attribute
values
create a graph
create a report

There are a number of ways you can display
attribute data. You can change the way data is
displayed in a table, and you can take data out of
the table and display it as statistics or in a graph
or report.
Access and edit attribute data in ArcMap.

When you want to edit feature attributes, you start an
editing session. When you're in an editing session, you
can view the attributes of selected features by clicking
the Attributes button to bring up the Attributes dialog.
The Attributes dialog has two parts: a tree view on the
left that lists each selected feature, and a pane on the
right that shows the attribute values for the feature
currently selected in the tree view.

If you select features from more than one layer,
each layer that contains selected features will be
listed in the tree view. You can access individual
selected features by expanding their layer

If you select features
from more than one
layer, each layer that
contains selected features
will be listed in the tree
view. You can access
individual selected
features by expanding
their layer

You can edit the attribute
values for a single feature
by clicking next to the
field name and typing in
the new value.

If you want to change values
for all the selected features at
once, you can click the layer
name and type the new value
next to the field you want to
update. In the graphic below,
the OWNER values for all
the selected homes are being
changed to "Alvi
Contracting."
Table manipulation

You can manipulate tables to
change how data is viewed.
Right-clicking any field
brings up a context menu
with many choices. You can
sort the record values in a
selected field either in
ascending or descending
order. You can sort both
numeric and character fields.

You can calculate the
values of selected
records using the Field
Calculator. In the Field
Calculator, you can
update all the values or a
selected set of values in a
field at one time.
Using the Field Calculator


In ArcMap, you can edit feature attributes by creating
simple calculations or logical expressions in the Field
Calculator. The Field Calculator works on selected
features or on all features in a layer if there are none
selected.
To access the Field Calculator, first start an editing
session, then open the desired layer's attribute table by
right-clicking the layer name in the Table of Contents.
Choose Open Attribute Table and when the table
displays, right-click the field you want to update.
Choose Calculate Values to display the Field Calculator.

To create an expression in
the Field Calculator, you
combine fields, functions,
and operators. As you click
on fields and functions, they
appear in the expression box.
You can also type directly
into the box. The expression
below will update the
VALUE field with the results
of multiplying each feature's
area by 1.5.
Freeze or unfreeze a column

Freezing a column locks a column
as the left-most column in the table
view. You can then use the
horizontal scroll bar to see the
other columns in the table. When
you scroll, the frozen column
remains in place while all other
columns move. A frozen column is
easily identified because it has a
thick black line separating it from
the other columns in the table.
Calculating statistics

After selecting features on the map
or selecting records in a table, you
may want to calculate simple
summary statistics for the data.
(Cchoose the Statistics option from
ArcMap's Selection menu)

After you select the layer and field
in the feature attribute table for
which you want statistics
calculated, a list of summary
statistics, as well as a frequency
distribution chart, display in the
Selection Statistics window.
Graphs in ArcGIS

Values for ArcGIS graphs
come directly from feature
attribute tables. You can
represent your data and
analysis results using many
styles of graphs, including
both two- and threedimensional graphs. Some
graphs are better than others
at presenting certain kinds of
information. You should
carefully consider the
information you want to
present before choosing a
graph style.

Once you've created a graph, you can add it to a
map in ArcMap's Layout View. When placed on
the layout, a graph becomes a graphic element
that you can size and position as desired. Once
you've placed a graph on a layout, however, it
becomes static and changes to the graph's
source table will not be reflected in the graph.
Reports


A report presents tabular information about map
features (from a feature attribute table) formatted in an
attractive manner. You can choose which fields from
your table you want to display and how you want to
display them. Once you've created a report, you can
place it on your map layout with your geographic data
or save it as a file for distribution.
A report includes a title, page numbers and the current
date, summary statistics, images, borders, and, of
course, the data from the feature attribute table.


Displaying your data in a report allows you to organize your data.
You can sort records based on the values in one or more fields—
given a list of cities, you could sort them by total population, for
example. You can also group records and calculate summary
statistics. For example, you could group cities by their country. It
would then be easy to see which city has the largest population in
a given country. You can also calculate summary statistics—sum,
average, count, standard deviation, minimum, and maximum
values.
You can export reports to different file types, including Adobe's
Portable Document Format (PDF), Rich Text Format (RTF), or
plain text (TXT).