PostGIS 1.5.3 Manual

Abstract

PostGIS is an extension to the PostgreSQL object-relational database system which allows GIS (Geographic Information Systems) objects to be stored in the database. PostGIS includes support for GiST-based R-Tree spatial indexes, and functions for analysis and processing of GIS objects.

This is the manual for version 1.5.3


Table of Contents

1. Introduction
1.1. Project Steering Committee
1.2. Contributors Past and Present
1.3. More Information
2. Installation
2.1. Short Version
2.2. Requirements
2.3. Getting the Source
2.4. Installation
2.4.1. Configuration
2.4.2. Building
2.4.3. Testing
2.4.4. Installation
2.5. Create a spatially-enabled database
2.6. Create a spatially-enabled database from a template
2.7. Upgrading
2.7.1. Soft upgrade
2.7.2. Hard upgrade
2.8. Common Problems
2.9. JDBC
2.10. Loader/Dumper
3. Frequently Asked Questions
4. Using PostGIS: Data Management and Queries
4.1. GIS Objects
4.1.1. OpenGIS WKB and WKT
4.1.2. PostGIS EWKB, EWKT and Canonical Forms
4.1.3. SQL-MM Part 3
4.2. PostGIS Geography Type
4.2.1. Geography Basics
4.2.2. When to use Geography Data type over Geometry data type
4.2.3. Geography Advanced FAQ
4.3. Using OpenGIS Standards
4.3.1. The SPATIAL_REF_SYS Table and Spatial Reference Systems
4.3.2. The GEOMETRY_COLUMNS Table
4.3.3. Creating a Spatial Table
4.3.4. Manually Registering Geometry Columns in geometry_columns
4.3.5. Ensuring OpenGIS compliancy of geometries
4.3.6. Dimensionally Extended 9 Intersection Model (DE-9IM)
4.4. Loading GIS Data
4.4.1. Using SQL
4.4.2. Using the Loader
4.5. Retrieving GIS Data
4.5.1. Using SQL
4.5.2. Using the Dumper
4.6. Building Indexes
4.6.1. GiST Indexes
4.6.2. Using Indexes
4.7. Complex Queries
4.7.1. Taking Advantage of Indexes
4.7.2. Examples of Spatial SQL
5. Using PostGIS: Building Applications
5.1. Using MapServer
5.1.1. Basic Usage
5.1.2. Frequently Asked Questions
5.1.3. Advanced Usage
5.1.4. Examples
5.2. Java Clients (JDBC)
5.3. C Clients (libpq)
5.3.1. Text Cursors
5.3.2. Binary Cursors
6. Performance tips
6.1. Small tables of large geometries
6.1.1. Problem description
6.1.2. Workarounds
6.2. CLUSTERing on geometry indices
6.3. Avoiding dimension conversion
6.4. Tuning your configuration
6.4.1. Startup
6.4.2. Runtime
7. PostGIS Reference
7.1. PostgreSQL PostGIS Types
7.2. Management Functions
7.3. Geometry Constructors
7.4. Geometry Accessors
7.5. Geometry Editors
7.6. Geometry Outputs
7.7. Operators
7.8. Spatial Relationships and Measurements
7.9. Geometry Processing Functions
7.10. Linear Referencing
7.11. Long Transactions Support
7.12. Miscellaneous Functions
7.13. Exceptional Functions
8. PostGIS Special Functions Index
8.1. PostGIS Aggregate Functions
8.2. PostGIS SQL-MM Compliant Functions
8.3. PostGIS Geography Support Functions
8.4. PostGIS Geometry Dump Functions
8.5. PostGIS Box Functions
8.6. PostGIS Functions that support 3D
8.7. PostGIS Curved Geometry Support Functions
8.8. PostGIS Function Support Matrix
8.9. New PostGIS Functions
8.9.1. PostGIS Functions new, behavior changed, or enhanced in 1.5
8.9.2. PostGIS Functions new, behavior changed, or enhanced in 1.4
8.9.3. PostGIS Functions new in 1.3
9. Reporting Problems
9.1. Reporting Software Bugs
9.2. Reporting Documentation Issues
A. Appendix
A.1. Release 1.5.3
A.2. Release 1.5.2
A.3. Release 1.5.1
A.4. Release 1.5.0
A.5. Release 1.4.0
A.6. Release 1.3.6
A.7. Release 1.3.5
A.8. Release 1.3.4
A.9. Release 1.3.3
A.10. Release 1.3.2
A.11. Release 1.3.1
A.12. Release 1.3.0
A.13. Release 1.2.1
A.14. Release 1.2.0
A.15. Release 1.1.6
A.16. Release 1.1.5
A.17. Release 1.1.4
A.18. Release 1.1.3
A.19. Release 1.1.2
A.20. Release 1.1.1
A.21. Release 1.1.0
A.22. Release 1.0.6
A.23. Release 1.0.5
A.24. Release 1.0.4
A.25. Release 1.0.3
A.26. Release 1.0.2
A.27. Release 1.0.1
A.28. Release 1.0.0
A.29. Release 1.0.0RC6
A.30. Release 1.0.0RC5
A.31. Release 1.0.0RC4
A.32. Release 1.0.0RC3
A.33. Release 1.0.0RC2
A.34. Release 1.0.0RC1

Chapter 1. Introduction

PostGIS is developed by Refractions Research Inc, as a spatial database technology research project. Refractions is a GIS and database consulting company in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, specializing in data integration and custom software development. We plan on supporting and developing PostGIS to support a range of important GIS functionality, including full OpenGIS support, advanced topological constructs (coverages, surfaces, networks), desktop user interface tools for viewing and editing GIS data, and web-based access tools.

1.1. Project Steering Committee

The PostGIS Project Steering Committee (PSC) coordinates the general direction, release cycles, documentation, and outreach efforts for the PostGIS project. In addition the PSC provides general user support, accepts and approves patches from the general PostGIS community and votes on miscellaneous issues involving PostGIS such as developer commit access, new PSC members or significant API changes.

Mark Cave-Ayland

Coordinates bug fixing and maintenance effort, alignment of PostGIS with PostgreSQL releases, spatial index selectivity and binding, windows production builds, integration of new GEOS functionality, and new function enhancements.

Paul Ramsey

Co-founder of PostGIS project. General bug fixing, geography support, GEOS functionality integration and alignment with GEOS releases.

Kevin Neufeld

Documentation, Hudson automated build, advanced user support on PostGIS newsgroup, and postgis maintenance function enhancements.

Regina Obe

Documentation, general user support on PostGIS newsgroup, windows production and experimental builds, and smoke testing new functionality or major code changes.

1.2. Contributors Past and Present

Sandro Santilli

Bug fixes and maintenance and integration of new GEOS functionality. WKT Raster support.

Dave Blasby

The original developer/Co-founder of PostGIS. Dave wrote the server side objects, index bindings, and many of the server side analytical functions.

Jeff Lounsbury

Original development of the Shape file loader/dumper. Current PostGIS Project Owner representative.

Mark Leslie

Ongoing maintenance and development of core functions. Enhanced curve support.

Olivier Courtin

Input output XML (KML,GML)/GeoJSON functions and bug fixes.

Pierre Racine

WKT Raster overall architecture and programming support

Mateusz Loskot

WKT Raster support

Chris Hodgson

General development

Nicklas Avén

Distance function enhancements and additions, Windows testing, and general user support

Jorge Arevalo

WKT Raster development

Stephen Frost

Tiger geocoder development

Other contributors

In alphabetical order: Alex Bodnaru, Alex Mayrhofer, Barbara Phillipot, Ben Jubb, Bernhard Reiter, Bruce Rindahl, Bruno Wolff III, Carl Anderson, Charlie Savage, Dane Springmeyer, David Skea, David Techer, Eduin Carrillo, IIDA Tetsushi, George Silva, Geographic Data BC, Gerald Fenoy, Gino Lucrezi, Greg Stark, Guillaume Lelarge, Klaus Foerster, Kris Jurka, Mark Sondheim, Markus Schaber, Maxime Guillaud, Maxime van Noppen, Michael Fuhr, Nikita Shulga, Norman Vine, Ralph Mason, Steffen Macke, Vincent Picavet

Important Support Libraries

The GEOS geometry operations library, and the algorithmic work of Martin Davis in making it all work, ongoing maintenance and support of Mateusz Loskot, Paul Ramsey and others.

The Proj4 cartographic projection library, and the work of Gerald Evenden and Frank Warmerdam in creating and maintaining it.

1.3. More Information

Chapter 2. Installation

This chapter details the steps required to install PostGIS.

2.1. Short Version

tar xvfz postgis-1.5.3.tar.gz
cd postgis-1.5.3
./configure
make
make install
#BEGIN OPTIONAL -- this is already part of the tar
# only really need this if installing from SVN
cd doc/
make comments-install
#END OPTIONAL
createdb yourdatabase
createlang plpgsql yourdatabase
psql -d yourdatabase -f postgis.sql
psql -d yourdatabase -f postgis_comments.sql
psql -d yourdatabase -f spatial_ref_sys.sql
[Note]

NOTE: The postgis.sql and spatial_ref_sys.sql will be installed in the /share/contrib/postgis-1.5 of your PostGIS install. If you didn't install the OPTIONAL comments section, you will need to manually copy the postgis_comments.sql file from the doc folder of your source install to your /share/contrib/postgis-1.5 folder.

The rest of this chapter goes into detail each of the above installation steps.

2.2. Requirements

PostGIS has the following requirements for building and usage:

Required

  • PostgreSQL 8.3 or higher. A complete installation of PostgreSQL (including server headers) is required. PostgreSQL is available from http://www.postgresql.org .

    For a full PostgreSQL / PostGIS support matrix and PostGIS/GEOS support matrix refer to http://trac.osgeo.org/postgis/wiki/UsersWikiPostgreSQLPostGIS

  • GNU C compiler (gcc). Some other ANSI C compilers can be used to compile PostGIS, but we find far fewer problems when compiling with gcc.

  • GNU Make (gmake or make). For many systems, GNU make is the default version of make. Check the version by invoking make -v. Other versions of make may not process the PostGIS Makefile properly.

  • Proj4 reprojection library, version 4.6.0 or greater. The Proj4 library is used to provide coordinate reprojection support within PostGIS. Proj4 is available for download from http://trac.osgeo.org/proj/ .

  • GEOS geometry library, version 3.1.1 or greater, but GEOS 3.2 is recommended. Without GEOS 3.2, you will be missing some major enhancements with handling of topological exceptions and improvements to ST_Buffer that allow beveling and mitre and much faster buffering. The GEOS library is used to provide geometry tests (ST_Touches(), ST_Contains(), ST_Intersects()) and operations (ST_Buffer(), ST_Union(),ST_Intersection() ST_Difference()) within PostGIS. GEOS is available for download from http://trac.osgeo.org/geos/ .

  • LibXML2, version 2.5.x or higher. LibXML2 is currently used in some imports functions (ST_GeomFromGML and ST_GeomFromKML). LibXML2 is available for download from http://xmlsoft.org/downloads.html.

Optional

2.3. Getting the Source

Retrieve the PostGIS source archive from the downloads website http://www.postgis.org/download/postgis-1.5.3.tar.gz

wget http://www.postgis.org/download/postgis-1.5.3.tar.gz
tar -xvzf postgis-1.5.3.tar.gz

This will create a directory called postgis-1.5.3 in the current working directory.

Alternatively, checkout the source from the svn repository http://svn.osgeo.org/postgis/trunk/ .

svn checkout http://svn.osgeo.org/postgis/trunk/ postgis-1.5.3

Change into the newly created postgis-1.5.3 directory to continue the installation.

2.4. Installation

[Note]

Many OS systems now include pre-built packages for PostgreSQL/PostGIS. In many cases compilation is only necessary if you want the most bleeding edge versions or you are a package maintainer.

The PostGIS module is an extension to the PostgreSQL backend server. As such, PostGIS 1.5.3 requires full PostgreSQL server headers access in order to compile. It can be built against PostgreSQL versions 8.3 or higher. Earlier versions of PostgreSQL are not supported.

Refer to the PostgreSQL installation guides if you haven't already installed PostgreSQL. http://www.postgresql.org .

[Note]

For GEOS functionality, when you install PostgresSQL you may need to explicitly link PostgreSQL against the standard C++ library:

LDFLAGS=-lstdc++ ./configure [YOUR OPTIONS HERE]

This is a workaround for bogus C++ exceptions interaction with older development tools. If you experience weird problems (backend unexpectedly closed or similar things) try this trick. This will require recompiling your PostgreSQL from scratch, of course.

The following steps outline the configuration and compilation of the PostGIS source. They are written for Linux users and will not work on Windows or Mac.

2.4.1. Configuration

As with most linux installations, the first step is to generate the Makefile that will be used to build the source code. This is done by running the shell script

./configure

With no additional parameters, this command will attempt to automatically locate the required components and libraries needed to build the PostGIS source code on your system. Although this is the most common usage of ./configure, the script accepts several parameters for those who have the required libraries and programs in non-standard locations.

The following list shows only the most commonly used parameters. For a complete list, use the --help or --help=short parameters.

--prefix=PREFIX

This is the location the PostGIS libraries and SQL scripts will be installed to. By default, this location is the same as the detected PostgreSQL installation.

[Caution]

This paramater is currently broken, as the package will only install into the PostgreSQL installation directory. Visit http://trac.osgeo.org/postgis/ticket/160 to track this bug.

--with-pgconfig=FILE

PostgreSQL provides a utility called pg_config to enable extensions like PostGIS to locate the PostgreSQL installation directory. Use this parameter (--with-pgconfig=/path/to/pg_config) to manually specify a particular PostgreSQL installation that PostGIS will build against.

--with-geosconfig=FILE

GEOS, a required geometry library, provides a utility called geos-config to enable software installations to locate the GEOS installation directory. Use this parameter (--with-geosconfig=/path/to/geos-config) to manually specify a particular GEOS installation that PostGIS will build against.

--with-projdir=DIR

Proj4 is a reprojection library required by PostGIS. Use this parameter (--with-projdir=/path/to/projdir) to manually specify a particular Proj4 installation directory that PostGIS will build against.

--with-gui

Compile the data import GUI (requires GTK+2.0). This will create shp2pgsql-gui graphical interface to shp2pgsql.

[Note]

If you obtained PostGIS from the SVN repository , the first step is really to run the script

./autogen.sh

This script will generate the configure script that in turn is used to customize the intallation of PostGIS.

If you instead obtained PostGIS as a tarball, running ./autogen.sh is not necessary as configure has already been generated.

2.4.2. Building

Once the Makefile has been generated, building PostGIS is as simple as running

make

The last line of the output should be "PostGIS was built successfully. Ready to install."

As of PostGIS v1.4.0, all the functions have comments generated from the documentation. If you wish to install these comments into your spatial databases later, run the command which requires docbook. The postgis_comments.sql is also packaged in the tar.gz distribution in the doc folder so no need to make comments if installing from the tar ball.

make comments

2.4.3. Testing

If you wish to test the PostGIS build, run

make check

The above command will run through various checks and regression tests using the generated library against an actual PostgreSQL database.

[Note]

If you configured PostGIS using non-standard PostgreSQL, GEOS, or Proj4 locations, you may need to add their library locations to the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable.

[Caution]

Currently, the make check relies on the PATH and PGPORT environment variables when performing the checks - it does not use the PostgreSQL version that may have been specified using the configuration paramter --with-pgconfig. So make sure to modify your PATH to match the detected PostgreSQL installation during configuration or be prepared to deal with the impending headaches. Visit http://trac.osgeo.org/postgis/ticket/186 to track this bug.

If successful, the output of the test should be similiar to the following:

     CUnit - A Unit testing framework for C - Version 2.1-0
	 http://cunit.sourceforge.net/


Suite: PostGIS Computational Geometry Suite
  Test: test_lw_segment_side() ... passed
  Test: test_lw_segment_intersects() ... passed
  Test: test_lwline_crossing_short_lines() ... passed
  Test: test_lwline_crossing_long_lines() ... passed
  Test: test_lwpoint_set_ordinate() ... passed
  Test: test_lwpoint_get_ordinate() ... passed
  Test: test_lwpoint_interpolate() ... passed
  Test: test_lwline_clip() ... passed
  Test: test_lwline_clip_big() ... passed
  Test: test_lwmline_clip() ... passed
  Test: test_geohash_point() ... passed
  Test: test_geohash_precision() ... passed
  Test: test_geohash() ... passed
Suite: PostGIS Measures Suite
  Test: test_mindistance2d_recursive_tolerance() ... passed

--Run Summary: Type      Total     Ran  Passed  Failed
			   suites        2       2     n/a       0
			   tests        14      14      14       0
			   asserts      84      84      84       0


Creating spatial db postgis_reg
TMPDIR is /tmp/pgis_reg_15328

 PostgreSQL 8.3.7 on i686-pc-linux-gnu, compiled by GCC gcc (GCC) 4.1.2 20080704 (Red Hat 4.1.2-44)
 Postgis 1.4.0SVN - 2009-05-25 20:21:55
   GEOS: 3.1.0-CAPI-1.5.0
   PROJ: Rel. 4.6.1, 21 August 2008

Running tests

 loader/Point.............. ok
 loader/PointM.............. ok
 loader/PointZ.............. ok
 loader/MultiPoint.............. ok
 loader/MultiPointM.............. ok
 loader/MultiPointZ.............. ok
 loader/Arc.............. ok
 loader/ArcM.............. ok
 loader/ArcZ.......... ok
 loader/Polygon.............. ok
 loader/PolygonM.............. ok
 loader/PolygonZ.............. ok
 regress. ok
 regress_index. ok
 regress_index_nulls. ok
 lwgeom_regress. ok
 regress_lrs. ok
 removepoint. ok
 setpoint. ok
 simplify. ok
 snaptogrid. ok
 affine. ok
 wkt. ok
 measures. ok
 long_xact. ok
 ctors. ok
 sql-mm-serialize. ok
 sql-mm-circularstring. ok
 sql-mm-compoundcurve. ok
 sql-mm-curvepoly. ok
 sql-mm-general. ok
 sql-mm-multicurve. ok
 sql-mm-multisurface. ok
 geojson. ok
 gml. ok
 svg. ok
 kml. ok
 regress_ogc. ok
 regress_bdpoly. ok
 regress_proj. ok
 regress_ogc_cover. ok
 regress_ogc_prep. ok

Run tests: 42
Failed: 0

2.4.4. Installation

To install PostGIS, type

make install

This will copy the PostGIS installation files into their appropriate subdirectory specified by the --prefix configuration parameter. In particular:

  • The loader and dumper binaries are installed in [prefix]/bin.

  • The SQL files, such as postgis.sql, are installed in [prefix]/share/contrib.

  • The PostGIS libraries are installed in [prefix]/lib.

If you previously ran the make comments command to generate the postgis_comments.sql file, install the sql file by running

make comments-install

[Note]

postgis_comments.sql was separated from the typical build and installation targets since with it comes the extra dependency of xsltproc.

2.5. Create a spatially-enabled database

The first step in creating a PostGIS database is to create a simple PostgreSQL database.

createdb [yourdatabase]

Many of the PostGIS functions are written in the PL/pgSQL procedural language. As such, the next step to create a PostGIS database is to enable the PL/pgSQL language in your new database. This is accomplish by the command

createlang plpgsql [yourdatabase]

Now load the PostGIS object and function definitions into your database by loading the postgis.sql definitions file (located in [prefix]/share/contrib as specified during the configuration step).

psql -d [yourdatabase] -f postgis.sql

For a complete set of EPSG coordinate system definition identifiers, you can also load the spatial_ref_sys.sql definitions file and populate the spatial_ref_sys table. This will permit you to perform ST_Transform() operations on geometries.

psql -d [yourdatabase] -f spatial_ref_sys.sql

If you wish to add comments to the PostGIS functions, the final step is to load the postgis_comments.sql into your spatial database. The comments can be viewed by simply typing \dd [function_name] from a psql terminal window.

psql -d [yourdatabase] -f postgis_comments.sql

2.6. Create a spatially-enabled database from a template

Some packaged distributions of PostGIS (in particular the Win32 installers for PostGIS >= 1.1.5) load the PostGIS functions into a template database called template_postgis. If the template_postgis database exists in your PostgreSQL installation then it is possible for users and/or applications to create spatially-enabled databases using a single command. Note that in both cases, the database user must have been granted the privilege to create new databases.

From the shell:

# createdb -T template_postgis my_spatial_db

From SQL:

postgres=# CREATE DATABASE my_spatial_db TEMPLATE=template_postgis

2.7. Upgrading

Upgrading existing spatial databases can be tricky as it requires replacement or introduction of new PostGIS object definitions.

Unfortunately not all definitions can be easily replaced in a live database, so sometimes your best bet is a dump/reload process.

PostGIS provides a SOFT UPGRADE procedure for minor or bugfix releases, and an HARD UPGRADE procedure for major releases.

Before attempting to upgrade postgis, it is always worth to backup your data. If you use the -Fc flag to pg_dump you will always be able to restore the dump with an HARD UPGRADE.

2.7.1. Soft upgrade

After compiling you should find several postgis_upgrade*.sql files. Install the one for your version of PostGIS. For example postgis_upgrade_13_to_15.sql should be used if you are upgrading from postgis 1.3 to 1.5.

$ psql -f postgis_upgrade_13_to_15.sql -d your_spatial_database

If a soft upgrade is not possible the script will abort and you will be warned about HARD UPGRADE being required, so do not hesitate to try a soft upgrade first.

[Note]

If you can't find the postgis_upgrade*.sql files you are probably using a version prior to 1.1 and must generate that file by yourself. This is done with the following command:

$ utils/postgis_proc_upgrade.pl postgis.sql > postgis_upgrade.sql

2.7.2. Hard upgrade

By HARD UPGRADE we intend full dump/reload of postgis-enabled databases. You need an HARD UPGRADE when postgis objects' internal storage changes or when SOFT UPGRADE is not possible. The Release Notes appendix reports for each version whether you need a dump/reload (HARD UPGRADE) to upgrade.

PostGIS provides an utility script to restore a dump produced with the pg_dump -Fc command. It is experimental so redirecting its output to a file will help in case of problems. The procedure is as follow:

Create a "custom-format" dump of the database you want to upgrade (let's call it "olddb")

$ pg_dump -Fc olddb > olddb.dump

Restore the dump contextually upgrading postgis into a new database. The new database doesn't have to exist. postgis_restore accepts createdb parameters after the dump file name, and that can for instance be used if you are using a non-default character encoding for your database. Let's call it "newdb", with UNICODE as the character encoding:

$ sh utils/postgis_restore.pl postgis.sql newdb olddb.dump -E=UNICODE > restore.log

Check that all restored dump objects really had to be restored from dump and do not conflict with the ones defined in postgis.sql

$ grep ^KEEPING restore.log | less

If upgrading from PostgreSQL < 8.0 to >= 8.0 you might want to drop the attrelid, varattnum and stats columns in the geometry_columns table, which are no-more needed. Keeping them won't hurt. DROPPING THEM WHEN REALLY NEEDED WILL DO HURT !

$ psql newdb -c "ALTER TABLE geometry_columns DROP attrelid"
$ psql newdb -c "ALTER TABLE geometry_columns DROP varattnum"
$ psql newdb -c "ALTER TABLE geometry_columns DROP stats"

spatial_ref_sys table is restore from the dump, to ensure your custom additions are kept, but the distributed one might contain modification so you should backup your entries, drop the table and source the new one. If you did make additions we assume you know how to backup them before upgrading the table. Replace of it with the new one is done like this:

$ psql newdb
newdb=> truncate spatial_ref_sys;
TRUNCATE
newdb=> \i spatial_ref_sys.sql

2.8. Common Problems

There are several things to check when your installation or upgrade doesn't go as you expected.

  1. Check that you you have installed PostgreSQL 8.1 or newer, and that you are compiling against the same version of the PostgreSQL source as the version of PostgreSQL that is running. Mix-ups can occur when your (Linux) distribution has already installed PostgreSQL, or you have otherwise installed PostgreSQL before and forgotten about it. PostGIS will only work with PostgreSQL 8.1 or newer, and strange, unexpected error messages will result if you use an older version. To check the version of PostgreSQL which is running, connect to the database using psql and run this query:

    SELECT version();

    If you are running an RPM based distribution, you can check for the existence of pre-installed packages using the rpm command as follows: rpm -qa | grep postgresql

Also check that configure has correctly detected the location and version of PostgreSQL, the Proj4 library and the GEOS library.

  1. The output from configure is used to generate the postgis_config.h file. Check that the POSTGIS_PGSQL_VERSION, POSTGIS_PROJ_VERSION and POSTGIS_GEOS_VERSION variables have been set correctly.

2.9. JDBC

The JDBC extensions provide Java objects corresponding to the internal PostGIS types. These objects can be used to write Java clients which query the PostGIS database and draw or do calculations on the GIS data in PostGIS.

  1. Enter the java/jdbc sub-directory of the PostGIS distribution.

  2. Run the ant command. Copy the postgis.jar file to wherever you keep your java libraries.

The JDBC extensions require a PostgreSQL JDBC driver to be present in the current CLASSPATH during the build process. If the PostgreSQL JDBC driver is located elsewhere, you may pass the location of the JDBC driver JAR separately using the -D parameter like this:

# ant -Dclasspath=/path/to/postgresql-jdbc.jar

PostgreSQL JDBC drivers can be downloaded from http://jdbc.postgresql.org .

2.10. Loader/Dumper

The data loader and dumper are built and installed automatically as part of the PostGIS build. To build and install them manually:

# cd postgis-1.5.3/loader
# make
# make install

The loader is called shp2pgsql and converts ESRI Shape files into SQL suitable for loading in PostGIS/PostgreSQL. The dumper is called pgsql2shp and converts PostGIS tables (or queries) into ESRI Shape files. For more verbose documentation, see the online help, and the manual pages.

Chapter 3. Frequently Asked Questions

3.1. I'm running PostgreSQL 9.0 and I can no longer read/view geometries in OpenJump, Safe FME, and some other tools?
3.2. I tried to use PgAdmin to view my geometry column and it is blank, what gives?
3.3. What kind of geometric objects can I store?
3.4. I'm all confused. Which data store should I use geometry or geography?
3.5. I have more intense questions about geography, such as how big of a geographic region can I stuff in a geography column and still get reasonable answers. Are there limitations such as poles, everything in the field must fit in a hemisphere (like SQL Server 2008 has), speed etc?
3.6. How do I insert a GIS object into the database?
3.7. How do I construct a spatial query?
3.8. How do I speed up spatial queries on large tables?
3.9. Why aren't PostgreSQL R-Tree indexes supported?
3.10. Why should I use the AddGeometryColumn() function and all the other OpenGIS stuff?
3.11. What is the best way to find all objects within a radius of another object?
3.12. How do I perform a coordinate reprojection as part of a query?
3.13. I did an ST_AsEWKT and ST_AsText on my rather large geometry and it returned blank field. What gives?
3.14. When I do an ST_Intersects, it says my two geometries don't intersect when I KNOW THEY DO. What gives?

3.1.

I'm running PostgreSQL 9.0 and I can no longer read/view geometries in OpenJump, Safe FME, and some other tools?

In PostgreSQL 9.0+, the default encoding for bytea data has been changed to hex and older JDBC drivers still assume escape format. This has affected some applications such as Java applications using older JDBC drivers or .NET applications that use the older npgsql driver that expect the old behavior of ST_AsBinary. There are two approaches to getting this to work again.

You can upgrade your JDBC driver to the latest PostgreSQL 9.0 version which you can get from http://jdbc.postgresql.org/download.html

If you are running a .NET app, you can use Npgsql 2.0.11 or higher which you can download from http://pgfoundry.org/frs/?group_id=1000140 and as described on Francisco Figueiredo's NpgSQL 2.0.11 released blog entry

If upgrading your PostgreSQL driver is not an option, then you can set the default back to the old behavior with the following change:

ALTER DATABASE mypostgisdb SET bytea_output='escape';

3.2.

I tried to use PgAdmin to view my geometry column and it is blank, what gives?

PgAdmin doesn't show anything for large geometries. The best ways to verify you do have day in your geometry columns are?

-- this should return no records if all your geom fields are filled in        
SELECT somefield FROM mytable WHERE geom IS NULL;
-- To tell just how large your geometry is do a query of the form
--which will tell you the most number of points you have in any of your geometry columns
SELECT MAX(ST_NPoints(geom)) FROM sometable;

3.3.

What kind of geometric objects can I store?

You can store point, line, polygon, multipoint, multiline, multipolygon, and geometrycollections. These are specified in the Open GIS Well Known Text Format (with XYZ,XYM,XYZM extensions). There are two data types currently supported. The standard OGC geometry data type which uses a planar coordinate system for measurement and the geography data type which uses a geodetic coordinate system. Only WGS 84 long lat (SRID:4326) is supported by the geography data type.

3.4.

I'm all confused. Which data store should I use geometry or geography?

Short Answer: geography is a new data type that supports long range distances measurements, but most computations on it are currently slower than they are on geometry. If you use geography -- you don't need to learn much about planar coordinate systems. Geography is generally best if all you care about is measuring distances and lengths and you have data from all over the world. Geometry data type is an older data type that has many more functions supporting it, enjoys greater support from third party tools, and operations on it are generally faster -- sometimes as much as 10 fold faster for larger geometries. Geometry is best if you are pretty comfortable with spatial reference systems or you are dealing with localized data where all your data fits in a single spatial reference system (SRID), or you need to do a lot of spatial processing. Note: It is fairly easy to do one-off conversions between the two types to gain the benefits of each. Refer to Section 8.8, “PostGIS Function Support Matrix” to see what is currently supported and what is not.

Long Answer: Refer to our more lengthy discussion in the Section 4.2.2, “When to use Geography Data type over Geometry data type” and function type matrix.

3.5.

I have more intense questions about geography, such as how big of a geographic region can I stuff in a geography column and still get reasonable answers. Are there limitations such as poles, everything in the field must fit in a hemisphere (like SQL Server 2008 has), speed etc?

Your questions are too deep and complex to be adequately answered in this section. Please refer to our Section 4.2.3, “Geography Advanced FAQ” .

3.6.

How do I insert a GIS object into the database?

First, you need to create a table with a column of type "geometry" or "geography" to hold your GIS data. Storing geography type data is a little different than storing geometry. Refer to Section 4.2.1, “Geography Basics” for details on storing geography.

For geometry: Connect to your database with psql and try the following SQL:

CREATE TABLE gtest ( ID int4, NAME varchar(20) );
SELECT AddGeometryColumn('', 'gtest','geom',-1,'LINESTRING',2);

If the geometry column addition fails, you probably have not loaded the PostGIS functions and objects into this database. See the Section 2.4, “Installation”.

Then, you can insert a geometry into the table using a SQL insert statement. The GIS object itself is formatted using the OpenGIS Consortium "well-known text" format:

INSERT INTO gtest (ID, NAME, GEOM) 
VALUES (
  1, 
  'First Geometry', 
  ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(2 3,4 5,6 5,7 8)', -1)
);

For more information about other GIS objects, see the object reference.

To view your GIS data in the table:

SELECT id, name, ST_AsText(geom) AS geom FROM gtest;

The return value should look something like this:

 id | name           | geom
----+----------------+-----------------------------
  1 | First Geometry | LINESTRING(2 3,4 5,6 5,7 8) 
(1 row)

3.7.

How do I construct a spatial query?

The same way you construct any other database query, as an SQL combination of return values, functions, and boolean tests.

For spatial queries, there are two issues that are important to keep in mind while constructing your query: is there a spatial index you can make use of; and, are you doing expensive calculations on a large number of geometries.

In general, you will want to use the "intersects operator" (&&) which tests whether the bounding boxes of features intersect. The reason the && operator is useful is because if a spatial index is available to speed up the test, the && operator will make use of this. This can make queries much much faster.

You will also make use of spatial functions, such as Distance(), ST_Intersects(), ST_Contains() and ST_Within(), among others, to narrow down the results of your search. Most spatial queries include both an indexed test and a spatial function test. The index test serves to limit the number of return tuples to only tuples that might meet the condition of interest. The spatial functions are then use to test the condition exactly.

SELECT id, the_geom 
FROM thetable 
WHERE 
  ST_Contains(the_geom,'POLYGON((0 0, 0 10, 10 10, 10 0, 0 0))');

3.8.

How do I speed up spatial queries on large tables?

Fast queries on large tables is the raison d'etre of spatial databases (along with transaction support) so having a good index is important.

To build a spatial index on a table with a geometry column, use the "CREATE INDEX" function as follows:

CREATE INDEX [indexname] ON [tablename] USING GIST ( [geometrycolumn] );

The "USING GIST" option tells the server to use a GiST (Generalized Search Tree) index.

[Note]

GiST indexes are assumed to be lossy. Lossy indexes uses a proxy object (in the spatial case, a bounding box) for building the index.

You should also ensure that the PostgreSQL query planner has enough information about your index to make rational decisions about when to use it. To do this, you have to "gather statistics" on your geometry tables.

For PostgreSQL 8.0.x and greater, just run the VACUUM ANALYZE command.

For PostgreSQL 7.4.x and below, run the SELECT UPDATE_GEOMETRY_STATS() command.

3.9.

Why aren't PostgreSQL R-Tree indexes supported?

Early versions of PostGIS used the PostgreSQL R-Tree indexes. However, PostgreSQL R-Trees have been completely discarded since version 0.6, and spatial indexing is provided with an R-Tree-over-GiST scheme.

Our tests have shown search speed for native R-Tree and GiST to be comparable. Native PostgreSQL R-Trees have two limitations which make them undesirable for use with GIS features (note that these limitations are due to the current PostgreSQL native R-Tree implementation, not the R-Tree concept in general):

  • R-Tree indexes in PostgreSQL cannot handle features which are larger than 8K in size. GiST indexes can, using the "lossy" trick of substituting the bounding box for the feature itself.

  • R-Tree indexes in PostgreSQL are not "null safe", so building an index on a geometry column which contains null geometries will fail.

3.10.

Why should I use the AddGeometryColumn() function and all the other OpenGIS stuff?

If you do not want to use the OpenGIS support functions, you do not have to. Simply create tables as in older versions, defining your geometry columns in the CREATE statement. All your geometries will have SRIDs of -1, and the OpenGIS meta-data tables will not be filled in properly. However, this will cause most applications based on PostGIS to fail, and it is generally suggested that you do use AddGeometryColumn() to create geometry tables.

MapServer is one application which makes use of the geometry_columns meta-data. Specifically, MapServer can use the SRID of the geometry column to do on-the-fly reprojection of features into the correct map projection.

3.11.

What is the best way to find all objects within a radius of another object?

To use the database most efficiently, it is best to do radius queries which combine the radius test with a bounding box test: the bounding box test uses the spatial index, giving fast access to a subset of data which the radius test is then applied to.

The ST_DWithin(geometry, geometry, distance) function is a handy way of performing an indexed distance search. It works by creating a search rectangle large enough to enclose the distance radius, then performing an exact distance search on the indexed subset of results.

For example, to find all objects with 100 meters of POINT(1000 1000) the following query would work well:

SELECT * FROM geotable 
WHERE ST_DWithin(geocolumn, 'POINT(1000 1000)', 100.0);

3.12.

How do I perform a coordinate reprojection as part of a query?

To perform a reprojection, both the source and destination coordinate systems must be defined in the SPATIAL_REF_SYS table, and the geometries being reprojected must already have an SRID set on them. Once that is done, a reprojection is as simple as referring to the desired destination SRID. The below projects a geometry to NAD 83 long lat. The below will only work if the srid of the_geom is not -1 (not undefined spatial ref)

SELECT ST_Transform(the_geom,4269) FROM geotable;

3.13.

I did an ST_AsEWKT and ST_AsText on my rather large geometry and it returned blank field. What gives?

You are probably using PgAdmin or some other tool that doesn't output large text. If your geometry is big enough, it will appear blank in these tools. Use PSQL if you really need to see it or output it in WKT.

				--To check number of geometries are really blank
				SELECT count(gid) FROM geotable WHERE the_geom IS NULL;

3.14.

When I do an ST_Intersects, it says my two geometries don't intersect when I KNOW THEY DO. What gives?

This generally happens in two common cases. Your geometry is invalid -- check ST_IsValid or you are assuming they intersect because ST_AsText truncates the numbers and you have lots of decimals after it is not showing you.

Chapter 4. Using PostGIS: Data Management and Queries

4.1. GIS Objects

The GIS objects supported by PostGIS are a superset of the "Simple Features" defined by the OpenGIS Consortium (OGC). As of version 0.9, PostGIS supports all the objects and functions specified in the OGC "Simple Features for SQL" specification.

PostGIS extends the standard with support for 3DZ,3DM and 4D coordinates.

4.1.1. OpenGIS WKB and WKT

The OpenGIS specification defines two standard ways of expressing spatial objects: the Well-Known Text (WKT) form and the Well-Known Binary (WKB) form. Both WKT and WKB include information about the type of the object and the coordinates which form the object.

Examples of the text representations (WKT) of the spatial objects of the features are as follows:

  • POINT(0 0)

  • LINESTRING(0 0,1 1,1 2)

  • POLYGON((0 0,4 0,4 4,0 4,0 0),(1 1, 2 1, 2 2, 1 2,1 1))

  • MULTIPOINT(0 0,1 2)

  • MULTILINESTRING((0 0,1 1,1 2),(2 3,3 2,5 4))

  • MULTIPOLYGON(((0 0,4 0,4 4,0 4,0 0),(1 1,2 1,2 2,1 2,1 1)), ((-1 -1,-1 -2,-2 -2,-2 -1,-1 -1)))

  • GEOMETRYCOLLECTION(POINT(2 3),LINESTRING(2 3,3 4))

The OpenGIS specification also requires that the internal storage format of spatial objects include a spatial referencing system identifier (SRID). The SRID is required when creating spatial objects for insertion into the database.

Input/Output of these formats are available using the following interfaces:

bytea WKB = ST_AsBinary(geometry);
text WKT = ST_AsText(geometry);
geometry = ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea WKB, SRID);
geometry = ST_GeometryFromText(text WKT, SRID);

For example, a valid insert statement to create and insert an OGC spatial object would be:

INSERT INTO geotable ( the_geom, the_name )
  VALUES ( ST_GeomFromText('POINT(-126.4 45.32)', 312), 'A Place');

4.1.2. PostGIS EWKB, EWKT and Canonical Forms

OGC formats only support 2d geometries, and the associated SRID is *never* embedded in the input/output representations.

PostGIS extended formats are currently superset of OGC one (every valid WKB/WKT is a valid EWKB/EWKT) but this might vary in the future, specifically if OGC comes out with a new format conflicting with our extensions. Thus you SHOULD NOT rely on this feature!

PostGIS EWKB/EWKT add 3dm,3dz,4d coordinates support and embedded SRID information.

Examples of the text representations (EWKT) of the extended spatial objects of the features are as follows:

  • POINT(0 0 0) -- XYZ

  • SRID=32632;POINT(0 0) -- XY with SRID

  • POINTM(0 0 0) -- XYM

  • POINT(0 0 0 0) -- XYZM

  • SRID=4326;MULTIPOINTM(0 0 0,1 2 1) -- XYM with SRID

  • MULTILINESTRING((0 0 0,1 1 0,1 2 1),(2 3 1,3 2 1,5 4 1))

  • POLYGON((0 0 0,4 0 0,4 4 0,0 4 0,0 0 0),(1 1 0,2 1 0,2 2 0,1 2 0,1 1 0))

  • MULTIPOLYGON(((0 0 0,4 0 0,4 4 0,0 4 0,0 0 0),(1 1 0,2 1 0,2 2 0,1 2 0,1 1 0)),((-1 -1 0,-1 -2 0,-2 -2 0,-2 -1 0,-1 -1 0)))

  • GEOMETRYCOLLECTIONM(POINTM(2 3 9), LINESTRINGM(2 3 4, 3 4 5))

Input/Output of these formats are available using the following interfaces:

bytea EWKB = ST_AsEWKB(geometry);
text EWKT = ST_AsEWKT(geometry);
geometry = ST_GeomFromEWKB(bytea EWKB);
geometry = ST_GeomFromEWKT(text EWKT);

For example, a valid insert statement to create and insert a PostGIS spatial object would be:

INSERT INTO geotable ( the_geom, the_name )
  VALUES ( ST_GeomFromEWKT('SRID=312;POINTM(-126.4 45.32 15)'), 'A Place' )

The "canonical forms" of a PostgreSQL type are the representations you get with a simple query (without any function call) and the one which is guaranteed to be accepted with a simple insert, update or copy. For the postgis 'geometry' type these are:

- Output
  - binary: EWKB
	ascii: HEXEWKB (EWKB in hex form)
- Input
  - binary: EWKB
	ascii: HEXEWKB|EWKT 

For example this statement reads EWKT and returns HEXEWKB in the process of canonical ascii input/output:

=# SELECT 'SRID=4;POINT(0 0)'::geometry;

geometry
----------------------------------------------------
01010000200400000000000000000000000000000000000000
(1 row)

4.1.3. SQL-MM Part 3

The SQL Multimedia Applications Spatial specification extends the simple features for SQL spec by defining a number of circularly interpolated curves.

The SQL-MM definitions include 3dm, 3dz and 4d coordinates, but do not allow the embedding of SRID information.

The well-known text extensions are not yet fully supported. Examples of some simple curved geometries are shown below:

  • CIRCULARSTRING(0 0, 1 1, 1 0)

    CIRCULARSTRING(0 0, 4 0, 4 4, 0 4, 0 0)

    The CIRCULARSTRING is the basic curve type, similar to a LINESTRING in the linear world. A single segment required three points, the start and end points (first and third) and any other point on the arc. The exception to this is for a closed circle, where the start and end points are the same. In this case the second point MUST be the center of the arc, ie the opposite side of the circle. To chain arcs together, the last point of the previous arc becomes the first point of the next arc, just like in LINESTRING. This means that a valid circular string must have an odd number of points greated than 1.

  • COMPOUNDCURVE(CIRCULARSTRING(0 0, 1 1, 1 0),(1 0, 0 1))

    A compound curve is a single, continuous curve that has both curved (circular) segments and linear segments. That means that in addition to having well-formed components, the end point of every component (except the last) must be coincident with the start point of the following component.

  • CURVEPOLYGON(CIRCULARSTRING(0 0, 4 0, 4 4, 0 4, 0 0),(1 1, 3 3, 3 1, 1 1))

    Example compound curve in a curve polygon: CURVEPOLYGON(COMPOUNDCURVE(CIRCULARSTRING(0 0,2 0, 2 1, 2 3, 4 3),(4 3, 4 5, 1 4, 0 0)), CIRCULARSTRING(1.7 1, 1.4 0.4, 1.6 0.4, 1.6 0.5, 1.7 1) )

    A CURVEPOLYGON is just like a polygon, with an outer ring and zero or more inner rings. The difference is that a ring can take the form of a circular string, linear string or compound string.

    As of PostGIS 1.4 PostGIS supports compound curves in a curve polygon.

  • MULTICURVE((0 0, 5 5),CIRCULARSTRING(4 0, 4 4, 8 4))

    The MULTICURVE is a collection of curves, which can include linear strings, circular strings or compound strings.

  • MULTISURFACE(CURVEPOLYGON(CIRCULARSTRING(0 0, 4 0, 4 4, 0 4, 0 0),(1 1, 3 3, 3 1, 1 1)),((10 10, 14 12, 11 10, 10 10),(11 11, 11.5 11, 11 11.5, 11 11)))

    This is a collection of surfaces, which can be (linear) polygons or curve polygons.

[Note]

PostGIS prior to 1.4 does not support compound curves in a curve polygon, but PostGIS 1.4 and above do support the use of Compound Curves in a Curve Polygon.

[Note]

All floating point comparisons within the SQL-MM implementation are performed to a specified tolerance, currently 1E-8.

4.2. PostGIS Geography Type

The geography type provides native support for spatial features represented on "geographic" coordinates (sometimes called "geodetic" coordinates, or "lat/lon", or "lon/lat"). Geographic coordinates are spherical coordinates expressed in angular units (degrees).

The basis for the PostGIS geometry type is a plane. The shortest path between two points on the plane is a straight line. That means calculations on geometries (areas, distances, lengths, intersections, etc) can be calculated using cartesian mathematics and straight line vectors.

The basis for the PostGIS geographic type is a sphere. The shortest path between two points on the sphere is a great circle arc. That means that calculations on geographies (areas, distances, lengths, intersections, etc) must be calculated on the sphere, using more complicated mathematics. For more accurate measurements, the calculations must take the actual spheroidal shape of the world into account, and the mathematics becomes very complicated indeed.

Because the underlying mathematics is much more complicated, there are fewer functions defined for the geography type than for the geometry type. Over time, as new algorithms are added, the capabilities of the geography type will expand.

One restriction is that it only supports WGS 84 long lat (SRID:4326). It uses a new data type called geography. I None of the GEOS functions support this new type. As a workaround one can convert back and forth between geometry and geography types.

The new geography type uses the PostgreSQL 8.3+ typmod definition format so that a table with a geography field can be added in a single step. All the standard OGC formats except for curves are supported.

4.2.1. Geography Basics

The geography type only supports the simplest of simple features. Standard geometry type data will autocast to geography if it is of SRID 4326. You can also use the EWKT and EWKB conventions to insert data.

  • POINT: Creating a table with 2d point geometry:

    CREATE TABLE testgeog(gid serial PRIMARY KEY, the_geog geography(POINT,4326) );

    Creating a table with z coordinate point

    CREATE TABLE testgeog(gid serial PRIMARY KEY, the_geog geography(POINTZ,4326) );
  • LINESTRING

  • POLYGON

  • MULTIPOINT

  • MULTILINESTRING

  • MULTIPOLYGON

  • GEOMETRYCOLLECTION

The new geography fields don't get registered in the geometry_columns. They get registered in a new view called geography_columns which is a view against the system catalogs so is always automatically kept up to date without need for an AddGeom... like function.

Now, check the "geography_columns" view and see that your table is listed.

You can create a new table with a GEOGRAPHY column using the CREATE TABLE syntax. Unlike GEOMETRY, there is no need to run a separate AddGeometryColumns() process to register the column in metadata.

CREATE TABLE global_points ( 
    id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
    name VARCHAR(64),
    location GEOGRAPHY(POINT,4326)
  );

Note that the location column has type GEOGRAPHY and that geography type supports two optional modifier: a type modifier that restricts the kind of shapes and dimensions allowed in the column; an SRID modifier that restricts the coordinate reference identifier to a particular number.

Allowable values for the type modifier are: POINT, LINESTRING, POLYGON, MULTIPOINT, MULTILINESTRING, MULTIPOLYGON. The modifier also supports dimensionality restrictions through suffixes: Z, M and ZM. So, for example a modifier of 'LINESTRINGM' would only allow line strings with three dimensions in, and would treat the third dimension as a measure. Similarly, 'POINTZM' would expect four dimensional data.

The SRID modifier is currently of limited use: only 4326 (WGS84) is allowed as a value. If you do not specify an SRID, the a value 0 (undefined spheroid) will be used, and all calculations will proceed using WGS84 anyways.

In the future, alternate SRIDs will allow calculations on spheroids other than WGS84.

Once you have created your table, you can see it in the GEOGRAPHY_COLUMNS table:

-- See the contents of the metadata view
SELECT * FROM geography_columns;

You can insert data into the table the same as you would if it was using a GEOMETRY column:

-- Add some data into the test table
INSERT INTO global_points (name, location) VALUES ('Town', ST_GeographyFromText('SRID=4326;POINT(-110 30)') );
INSERT INTO global_points (name, location) VALUES ('Forest', ST_GeographyFromText('SRID=4326;POINT(-109 29)') );
INSERT INTO global_points (name, location) VALUES ('London', ST_GeographyFromText('SRID=4326;POINT(0 49)') );

Creating an index works the same as GEOMETRY. PostGIS will note that the column type is GEOGRAPHY and create an appropriate sphere-based index instead of the usual planar index used for GEOMETRY.

-- Index the test table with a spherical index
  CREATE INDEX global_points_gix ON global_points USING GIST ( location );

Query and measurement functions use units of meters. So distance parameters should be expressed in meters, and return values should be expected in meters (or square meters for areas).

-- Show a distance query and note, London is outside the 1000km tolerance
  SELECT name FROM global_points WHERE ST_DWithin(location, ST_GeographyFromText('SRID=4326;POINT(-110 29)'), 1000000);

You can see the power of GEOGRAPHY in action by calculating the how close a plane flying from Seattle to London (LINESTRING(-122.33 47.606, 0.0 51.5)) comes to Reykjavik (POINT(-21.96 64.15)).

-- Distance calculation using GEOGRAPHY (122.2km)
  SELECT ST_Distance('LINESTRING(-122.33 47.606, 0.0 51.5)'::geography, 'POINT(-21.96 64.15)':: geography);

-- Distance calculation using GEOMETRY (13.3 "degrees")
  SELECT ST_Distance('LINESTRING(-122.33 47.606, 0.0 51.5)'::geometry, 'POINT(-21.96 64.15)':: geometry);

The GEOGRAPHY type calculates the true shortest distance over the sphere between Reykjavik and the great circle flight path between Seattle and London.

Great Circle mapper The GEOMETRY type calculates a meaningless cartesian distance between Reykjavik and the straight line path from Seattle to London plotted on a flat map of the world. The nominal units of the result might be called "degrees", but the result doesn't correspond to any true angular difference between the points, so even calling them "degrees" is inaccurate.

4.2.2. When to use Geography Data type over Geometry data type

The new GEOGRAPHY type allows you to store data in longitude/latitude coordinates, but at a cost: there are fewer functions defined on GEOGRAPHY than there are on GEOMETRY; those functions that are defined take more CPU time to execute.

The type you choose should be conditioned on the expected working area of the application you are building. Will your data span the globe or a large continental area, or is it local to a state, county or municipality?

  • If your data is contained in a small area, you might find that choosing an appropriate projection and using GEOMETRY is the best solution, in terms of performance and functionality available.
  • If your data is global or covers a continental region, you may find that GEOGRAPHY allows you to build a system without having to worry about projection details. You store your data in longitude/latitude, and use the functions that have been defined on GEOGRAPHY.
  • If you don't understand projections, and you don't want to learn about them, and you're prepared to accept the limitations in functionality available in GEOGRAPHY, then it might be easier for you to use GEOGRAPHY than GEOMETRY. Simply load your data up as longitude/latitude and go from there.

Refer to Section 8.8, “PostGIS Function Support Matrix” for compare between what is supported for Geography vs. Geometry. For a brief listing and description of Geography functions, refer to Section 8.3, “PostGIS Geography Support Functions”

4.2.3. Geography Advanced FAQ

4.2.3.1. Do you calculate on the sphere or the spheroid?
4.2.3.2. What about the date-line and the poles?
4.2.3.3. What is the longest arc you can process?
4.2.3.4. Why is it so slow to calculate the area of Europe / Russia / insert big geographic region here ?

4.2.3.1.

Do you calculate on the sphere or the spheroid?

By default, all distance and area calculations are done on the spheroid. You should find that the results of calculations in local areas match up will with local planar results in good local projections. Over larger areas, the spheroidal calculations will be more accurate than any calculation done on a projected plane.

All the geography functions have the option of using a sphere calculation, by setting a final boolean parameter to 'FALSE'. This will somewhat speed up calculations, particularly for cases where the geometries are very simple.

4.2.3.2.

What about the date-line and the poles?

All the calculations have no conception of date-line or poles, the coordinates are spherical (longitude/latitude) so a shape that crosses the dateline is, from a calculation point of view, no different from any other shape.

4.2.3.3.

What is the longest arc you can process?

We use great circle arcs as the "interpolation line" between two points. That means any two points are actually joined up two ways, depending on which direction you travel along the great circle. All our code assumes that the points are joined by the *shorter* of the two paths along the great circle. As a consequence, shapes that have arcs of more than 180 degrees will not be correctly modelled.

4.2.3.4.

Why is it so slow to calculate the area of Europe / Russia / insert big geographic region here ?

Because the polygon is so darned huge! Big areas are bad for two reasons: their bounds are huge, so the index tends to pull the feature no matter what query you run; the number of vertices is huge, and tests (distance, containment) have to traverse the vertex list at least once and sometimes N times (with N being the number of vertices in the other candidate feature).

As with GEOMETRY, we recommend that when you have very large polygons, but are doing queries in small areas, you "denormalize" your geometric data into smaller chunks so that the index can effectively subquery parts of the object and so queries don't have to pull out the whole object every time. Just because you *can* store all of Europe in one polygon doesn't mean you *should*.

4.3. Using OpenGIS Standards

The OpenGIS "Simple Features Specification for SQL" defines standard GIS object types, the functions required to manipulate them, and a set of meta-data tables. In order to ensure that meta-data remain consistent, operations such as creating and removing a spatial column are carried out through special procedures defined by OpenGIS.

There are two OpenGIS meta-data tables: SPATIAL_REF_SYS and GEOMETRY_COLUMNS. The SPATIAL_REF_SYS table holds the numeric IDs and textual descriptions of coordinate systems used in the spatial database.

4.3.1. The SPATIAL_REF_SYS Table and Spatial Reference Systems

The spatial_ref_sys table is a PostGIS included and OGC compliant database table that lists over 3000 known spatial reference systems and details needed to transform/reproject between them.

Although the PostGIS spatial_ref_sys table contains over 3000 of the more commonly used spatial reference system definitions that can be handled by the proj library, it does not contain all known to man and you can even define your own custom projection if you are familiar with proj4 constructs. Keep in mind that most spatial reference systems are regional and have no meaning when used outside of the bounds they were intended for.

An excellent resource for finding spatial reference systems not defined in the core set is http://spatialreference.org/

Some of the more commonly used spatial reference systems are: 4326 - WGS 84 Long Lat, 4269 - NAD 83 Long Lat, 3395 - WGS 84 World Mercator, 2163 - US National Atlas Equal Area, Spatial reference systems for each NAD 83, WGS 84 UTM zone - UTM zones are one of the most ideal for measurement, but only cover 6-degree regions.

Various US state plane spatial reference systems (meter or feet based) - usually one or 2 exists per US state. Most of the meter ones are in the core set, but many of the feet based ones or ESRI created ones you will need to pull from spatialreference.org.

For details on determining which UTM zone to use for your area of interest, check out the utmzone PostGIS plpgsql helper function.

The SPATIAL_REF_SYS table definition is as follows:

CREATE TABLE spatial_ref_sys (
  srid       INTEGER NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
  auth_name  VARCHAR(256),
  auth_srid  INTEGER,
  srtext     VARCHAR(2048),
  proj4text  VARCHAR(2048)
)

The SPATIAL_REF_SYS columns are as follows:

SRID

An integer value that uniquely identifies the Spatial Referencing System (SRS) within the database.

AUTH_NAME

The name of the standard or standards body that is being cited for this reference system. For example, "EPSG" would be a valid AUTH_NAME.

AUTH_SRID

The ID of the Spatial Reference System as defined by the Authority cited in the AUTH_NAME. In the case of EPSG, this is where the EPSG projection code would go.

SRTEXT

The Well-Known Text representation of the Spatial Reference System. An example of a WKT SRS representation is:

PROJCS["NAD83 / UTM Zone 10N",
  GEOGCS["NAD83",
	DATUM["North_American_Datum_1983",
	  SPHEROID["GRS 1980",6378137,298.257222101]
	],
	PRIMEM["Greenwich",0],
	UNIT["degree",0.0174532925199433]
  ],
  PROJECTION["Transverse_Mercator"],
  PARAMETER["latitude_of_origin",0],
  PARAMETER["central_meridian",-123],
  PARAMETER["scale_factor",0.9996],
  PARAMETER["false_easting",500000],
  PARAMETER["false_northing",0],
  UNIT["metre",1]
]

For a listing of EPSG projection codes and their corresponding WKT representations, see http://www.opengeospatial.org/. For a discussion of WKT in general, see the OpenGIS "Coordinate Transformation Services Implementation Specification" at http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards. For information on the European Petroleum Survey Group (EPSG) and their database of spatial reference systems, see http://www.epsg.org.

PROJ4TEXT

PostGIS uses the Proj4 library to provide coordinate transformation capabilities. The PROJ4TEXT column contains the Proj4 coordinate definition string for a particular SRID. For example:

+proj=utm +zone=10 +ellps=clrk66 +datum=NAD27 +units=m

For more information about, see the Proj4 web site at http://trac.osgeo.org/proj/. The spatial_ref_sys.sql file contains both SRTEXT and PROJ4TEXT definitions for all EPSG projections.

4.3.2. The GEOMETRY_COLUMNS Table

The GEOMETRY_COLUMNS table definition is as follows:

CREATE TABLE geometry_columns (
  f_table_catalog    VARRCHAR(256) NOT NULL,
  f_table_schema     VARCHAR(256) NOT NULL,
  f_table_name        VARCHAR(256) NOT NULL,
  f_geometry_column  VARCHAR(256) NOT NULL,
  coord_dimension    INTEGER NOT NULL,
  srid               INTEGER NOT NULL,
  type               VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL
)

The columns are as follows:

F_TABLE_CATALOG, F_TABLE_SCHEMA, F_TABLE_NAME

The fully qualified name of the feature table containing the geometry column. Note that the terms "catalog" and "schema" are Oracle-ish. There is not PostgreSQL analogue of "catalog" so that column is left blank -- for "schema" the PostgreSQL schema name is used (public is the default).

F_GEOMETRY_COLUMN

The name of the geometry column in the feature table.

COORD_DIMENSION

The spatial dimension (2, 3 or 4 dimensional) of the column.

SRID

The ID of the spatial reference system used for the coordinate geometry in this table. It is a foreign key reference to the SPATIAL_REF_SYS.

TYPE

The type of the spatial object. To restrict the spatial column to a single type, use one of: POINT, LINESTRING, POLYGON, MULTIPOINT, MULTILINESTRING, MULTIPOLYGON, GEOMETRYCOLLECTION or corresponding XYM versions POINTM, LINESTRINGM, POLYGONM, MULTIPOINTM, MULTILINESTRINGM, MULTIPOLYGONM, GEOMETRYCOLLECTIONM. For heterogeneous (mixed-type) collections, you can use "GEOMETRY" as the type.

[Note]

This attribute is (probably) not part of the OpenGIS specification, but is required for ensuring type homogeneity.

4.3.3. Creating a Spatial Table

Creating a table with spatial data is done in two stages:

  • Create a normal non-spatial table.

    For example: CREATE TABLE ROADS_GEOM ( ID int4, NAME varchar(25) )

  • Add a spatial column to the table using the OpenGIS "AddGeometryColumn" function.

    The syntax is:

    AddGeometryColumn(
      <schema_name>,
      <table_name>,
      <column_name>,
      <srid>,
      <type>,
      <dimension>
    )

    Or, using current schema:

    AddGeometryColumn(
      <table_name>,
      <column_name>,
      <srid>,
      <type>,
      <dimension>
    )

    Example1: SELECT AddGeometryColumn('public', 'roads_geom', 'geom', 423, 'LINESTRING', 2)

    Example2: SELECT AddGeometryColumn( 'roads_geom', 'geom', 423, 'LINESTRING', 2)

Here is an example of SQL used to create a table and add a spatial column (assuming that an SRID of 128 exists already):

CREATE TABLE parks (
  park_id    INTEGER,
  park_name  VARCHAR,
  park_date  DATE,
  park_type  VARCHAR
);
SELECT AddGeometryColumn('parks', 'park_geom', 128, 'MULTIPOLYGON', 2 );

Here is another example, using the generic "geometry" type and the undefined SRID value of -1:

CREATE TABLE roads (
  road_id INTEGER,
  road_name VARCHAR
);
SELECT AddGeometryColumn( 'roads', 'roads_geom', -1, 'GEOMETRY', 3 );

4.3.4. Manually Registering Geometry Columns in geometry_columns

The AddGeometryColumn() approach creates a geometry column and also registers the new column in the geometry_columns table. If your software utilizes geometry_columns, then any geometry columns you need to query by must be registered in this table. Two of the cases where you want a geometry column to be registered in the geometry_columns table, but you can't use AddGeometryColumn, is in the case of SQL Views and bulk inserts. For these cases, you must register the column in the geometry_columns table manually. Below is a simple script to do that.

--Lets say you have a view created like this
CREATE VIEW  public.vwmytablemercator AS
	SELECT gid, ST_Transform(the_geom,3395) As the_geom, f_name
	FROM public.mytable;

--To register this table in AddGeometry columns - do the following
INSERT INTO geometry_columns(f_table_catalog, f_table_schema, f_table_name, f_geometry_column, coord_dimension, srid, "type")
SELECT '', 'public', 'vwmytablemercator', 'the_geom', ST_CoordDim(the_geom), ST_SRID(the_geom), GeometryType(the_geom)
FROM public.vwmytablemercator LIMIT 1;

		
--Lets say you created a derivative table by doing a bulk insert
SELECT poi.gid, poi.the_geom, citybounds.city_name
INTO myschema.myspecialpois
FROM poi INNER JOIN citybounds ON ST_Intersects(citybounds.the_geom, poi.the_geom);

--Create index on new table
CREATE INDEX idx_myschema_myspecialpois_geom_gist
  ON myschema.myspecialpois USING gist(the_geom);

--To manually register this new table's geometry column in geometry_columns
-- we do the same thing as with view
INSERT INTO geometry_columns(f_table_catalog, f_table_schema, f_table_name, f_geometry_column, coord_dimension, srid, "type")
SELECT '', 'myschema', 'myspecialpois', 'the_geom', ST_CoordDim(the_geom), ST_SRID(the_geom), GeometryType(the_geom)
FROM public.myschema.myspecialpois LIMIT 1;

		

4.3.5. Ensuring OpenGIS compliancy of geometries

PostGIS is compliant with the Open Geospatial Consortium’s (OGC) OpenGIS Specifications. As such, many PostGIS methods require, or more accurately, assume that geometries that are operated on are both simple and valid. for example, it does not make sense to calculate the area of a polygon that has a hole defined outside of the polygon, or to construct a polygon from a non-simple boundary line.

According to the OGC Specifications, a simple geometry is one that has no anomalous geometric points, such as self intersection or self tangency and primarily refers to 0 or 1-dimensional geometries (i.e. [MULTI]POINT, [MULTI]LINESTRING). Geometry validity, on the other hand, primarily refers to 2-dimensional geometries (i.e. [MULTI]POLYGON) and defines the set of assertions that characterizes a valid polygon. The description of each geometric class includes specific conditions that further detail geometric simplicity and validity.

A POINT is inheritably simple as a 0-dimensional geometry object.

MULTIPOINTs are simple if no two coordinates (POINTs) are equal (have identical coordinate values).

A LINESTRING is simple if it does not pass through the same POINT twice (except for the endpoints, in which case it is referred to as a linear ring and additionally considered closed).

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(a) and (c) are simple LINESTRINGs, (b) and (d) are not.

A MULTILINESTRING is simple only if all of its elements are simple and the only intersection between any two elements occurs at POINTs that are on the boundaries of both elements.

(e)

(f)

(g)

(e) and (f) are simple MULTILINESTRINGs, (g) is not.

By definition, a POLYGON is always simple. It is valid if no two rings in the boundary (made up of an exterior ring and interior rings) cross. The boundary of a POLYGON may intersect at a POINT but only as a tangent (i.e. not on a line). A POLYGON may not have cut lines or spikes and the interior rings must be contained entirely within the exterior ring.

(h)

(i)

(j)

(k)

(l)

(m)

(h) and (i) are valid POLYGONs, (j-m) cannot be represented as single POLYGONs, but (j) and (m) could be represented as a valid MULTIPOLYGON.

A MULTIPOLYGON is valid if and only if all of its elements are valid and the interiors of no two elements intersect. The boundaries of any two elements may touch, but only at a finite number of POINTs.

(n)

(o)

(n) and (o) are not valid MULTIPOLYGONs.

Most of the functions implemented by the GEOS library rely on the assumption that your geometries are valid as specified by the OpenGIS Simple Feature Specification. To check simplicity or validity of geometries you can use the ST_IsSimple() and ST_IsValid()

-- Typically, it doesn't make sense to check
-- for validity on linear features since it will always return TRUE.
-- But in this example, PostGIS extends the definition of the OGC IsValid
-- by returning false if a LinearRing (start and end points are the same)
-- has less than 2 vertices.
gisdb=# SELECT
   ST_IsValid('LINESTRING(0 0, 1 1)'),
   ST_IsValid('LINESTRING(0 0, 0 0)');

 st_isvalid | st_isvalid
------------+-----------
      t     |     f

By default, PostGIS does not apply this validity check on geometry input, because testing for validity needs lots of CPU time for complex geometries, especially polygons. If you do not trust your data sources, you can manually enforce such a check to your tables by adding a check constraint:

ALTER TABLE mytable
  ADD CONSTRAINT geometry_valid_check
	CHECK (ST_IsValid(the_geom));

If you encounter any strange error messages such as "GEOS Intersection() threw an error!" or "JTS Intersection() threw an error!" when calling PostGIS functions with valid input geometries, you likely found an error in either PostGIS or one of the libraries it uses, and you should contact the PostGIS developers. The same is true if a PostGIS function returns an invalid geometry for valid input.

[Note]

Strictly compliant OGC geometries cannot have Z or M values. The ST_IsValid() function won't consider higher dimensioned geometries invalid! Invocations of AddGeometryColumn() will add a constraint checking geometry dimensions, so it is enough to specify 2 there.

4.3.6. Dimensionally Extended 9 Intersection Model (DE-9IM)

It is sometimes the case that the typical spatial predicates (ST_Contains, ST_Crosses, ST_Intersects, ST_Touches, ...) are insufficient in and of themselves to adequately provide that desired spatial filter.

For example, consider a linear dataset representing a road network. It may be the task of a GIS analyst to identify all road segments that cross each other, not at a point, but on a line, perhaps invalidating some business rule. In this case, ST_Crosses does not adequately provide the necessary spatial filter since, for linear features, it returns true only where they cross at a point.

One two-step solution might be to first perform the actual intersection (ST_Intersection) of pairs of road segments that spatially intersect (ST_Intersects), and then compare the intersection's ST_GeometryType with 'LINESTRING' (properly dealing with cases that return GEOMETRYCOLLECTIONs of [MULTI]POINTs, [MULTI]LINESTRINGs, etc.).

A more elegant / faster solution may indeed be desirable.

A second [theoretical] example may be that of a GIS analyst trying to locate all wharfs or docks that intersect a lake's boundary on a line and where only one end of the wharf is up on shore. In other words, where a wharf is within, but not completely within a lake, intersecting the boundary of a lake on a line, and where the wharf's endpoints are both completely within and on the boundary of the lake. The analyst may need to use a combination of spatial predicates to isolate the sought after features:

So enters the Dimensionally Extended 9 Intersection Model, or DE-9IM for short.

4.3.6.1. Theory

According to the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL, "the basic approach to comparing two geometries is to make pair-wise tests of the intersections between the Interiors, Boundaries and Exteriors of the two geometries and to classify the relationship between the two geometries based on the entries in the resulting 'intersection' matrix."

Boundary

The boundary of a geometry is the set of geometries of the next lower dimension. For POINTs, which have a dimension of 0, the boundary is the empty set. The boundary of a LINESTRING are the two endpoints. For POLYGONs, the boundary is the linework that make up the exterior and interior rings.

Interior

The interior of a geometry are those points of a geometry that are left when the boundary is removed. For POINTs, the interior is the POINT itself. The interior of a LINESTRING are the set of real points between the endpoints. For POLYGONs, the interior is the areal surface inside the polygon.

Exterior

The exterior of a geometry is the universe, an areal surface, not on the interior or boundary of the geometry.

Given geometry a, where the I(a), B(a), and E(a) are the Interior, Boundary, and Exterior of a, the mathematical representation of the matrix is:

 InteriorBoundaryExterior
Interior dim( I(a) I(b) ) dim( I(a) B(b) ) dim( I(a) E(b) )
Boundary dim( B(a) I(b) ) dim( B(a) B(b) ) dim( B(a) E(b) )
Exterior dim( E(a) I(b) ) dim( E(a) B(b) ) dim( E(a) E(b) )

Where dim(a) is the dimension of a as specified by ST_Dimension but has the domain of {0,1,2,T,F,*}

  • 0 => point

  • 1 => line

  • 2 => area

  • T => {0,1,2}

  • F => empty set

  • * => don't care

Visually, for two overlapping polygonal geometries, this looks like:

 

 InteriorBoundaryExterior
Interior

dim(...) = 2

dim(...) = 1

dim(...) = 2

Boundary

dim(...) = 1

dim(...) = 0

dim(...) = 1

Exterior

dim(...) = 2

dim(...) = 1

dim(...) = 2

Read from left to right and from top to bottom, the dimensional matrix is represented, '212101212'.

A relate matrix that would therefore represent our first example of two lines that intersect on a line would be: '1*1***1**'

-- Identify road segments that cross on a line
SELECT a.id
FROM roads a, roads b
WHERE a.id != b.id 
AND a.geom && b.geom
AND ST_Relate(a.geom, b.geom, '1*1***1**');

A relate matrix that represents the second example of wharfs partly on the lake's shoreline would be '102101FF2'

-- Identify wharfs partly on a lake's shoreline
SELECT a.lake_id, b.wharf_id
FROM lakes a, wharfs b
WHERE a.geom && b.geom
AND ST_Relate(a.geom, b.geom, '102101FF2');

For more information or reading, see:

4.4. Loading GIS Data

Once you have created a spatial table, you are ready to upload GIS data to the database. Currently, there are two ways to get data into a PostGIS/PostgreSQL database: using formatted SQL statements or using the Shape file loader/dumper.

4.4.1. Using SQL

If you can convert your data to a text representation, then using formatted SQL might be the easiest way to get your data into PostGIS. As with Oracle and other SQL databases, data can be bulk loaded by piping a large text file full of SQL "INSERT" statements into the SQL terminal monitor.

A data upload file (roads.sql for example) might look like this:

BEGIN;
INSERT INTO roads (road_id, roads_geom, road_name)
  VALUES (1,ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(191232 243118,191108 243242)',-1),'Jeff Rd');
INSERT INTO roads (road_id, roads_geom, road_name)
  VALUES (2,ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(189141 244158,189265 244817)',-1),'Geordie Rd');
INSERT INTO roads (road_id, roads_geom, road_name)
  VALUES (3,ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(192783 228138,192612 229814)',-1),'Paul St');
INSERT INTO roads (road_id, roads_geom, road_name)
  VALUES (4,ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(189412 252431,189631 259122)',-1),'Graeme Ave');
INSERT INTO roads (road_id, roads_geom, road_name)
  VALUES (5,ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(190131 224148,190871 228134)',-1),'Phil Tce');
INSERT INTO roads (road_id, roads_geom, road_name)
  VALUES (6,ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(198231 263418,198213 268322)',-1),'Dave Cres');
COMMIT;

The data file can be piped into PostgreSQL very easily using the "psql" SQL terminal monitor:

psql -d [database] -f roads.sql

4.4.2. Using the Loader

The shp2pgsql data loader converts ESRI Shape files into SQL suitable for insertion into a PostGIS/PostgreSQL database either in geometry or geography format. The loader has several operating modes distinguished by command line flags:

In addition to the shp2pgsql command-line loader, there is an shp2pgsql-gui graphical interface with most of the options as the command-line loader, but may be easier to use for one-off non-scripted loading or if you are new to PostGIS. It can also be configured as a plugin to PgAdminIII.

(c|a|d|p) These are mutually exclusive options:

-c

Creates a new table and populates it from the shapefile. This is the default mode.

-a

Appends data from the Shape file into the database table. Note that to use this option to load multiple files, the files must have the same attributes and same data types.

-d

Drops the database table before creating a new table with the data in the Shape file.

-p

Only produces the table creation SQL code, without adding any actual data. This can be used if you need to completely separate the table creation and data loading steps.

-?

Display help screen.

-D

Use the PostgreSQL "dump" format for the output data. This can be combined with -a, -c and -d. It is much faster to load than the default "insert" SQL format. Use this for very large data sets.

-s <SRID>

Creates and populates the geometry tables with the specified SRID.

-k

Keep identifiers' case (column, schema and attributes). Note that attributes in Shapefile are all UPPERCASE.

-i

Coerce all integers to standard 32-bit integers, do not create 64-bit bigints, even if the DBF header signature appears to warrant it.

-I

Create a GiST index on the geometry column.

-w

Output WKT format, for use with older (0.x) versions of PostGIS. Note that this will introduce coordinate drifts and will drop M values from shapefiles.

-W <encoding>

Specify encoding of the input data (dbf file). When used, all attributes of the dbf are converted from the specified encoding to UTF8. The resulting SQL output will contain a SET CLIENT_ENCODING to UTF8 command, so that the backend will be able to reconvert from UTF8 to whatever encoding the database is configured to use internally.

-N <policy>

NULL geometries handling policy (insert*,skip,abort)

-n

-n Only import DBF file. If your data has no corresponding shapefile, it will automatically switch to this mode and load just the dbf. So setting this flag is only needed if you have a full shapefile set, and you only want the attribute data and no geometry.

-G

Use geography type instead of geometry (requires lon/lat data) in WGS84 long lat (SRID=4326)

An example session using the loader to create an input file and uploading it might look like this:

# shp2pgsql -c -D -s 4269 -i -I shaperoads.shp myschema.roadstable > roads.sql
# psql -d roadsdb -f roads.sql

A conversion and upload can be done all in one step using UNIX pipes:

# shp2pgsql shaperoads.shp myschema.roadstable | psql -d roadsdb

4.5. Retrieving GIS Data

Data can be extracted from the database using either SQL or the Shape file loader/dumper. In the section on SQL we will discuss some of the operators available to do comparisons and queries on spatial tables.

4.5.1. Using SQL

The most straightforward means of pulling data out of the database is to use a SQL select query and dump the resulting columns into a parsable text file:

db=# SELECT road_id, ST_AsText(road_geom) AS geom, road_name FROM roads;

road_id | geom                                    | road_name
--------+-----------------------------------------+-----------
	  1 | LINESTRING(191232 243118,191108 243242) | Jeff Rd
	  2 | LINESTRING(189141 244158,189265 244817) | Geordie Rd
	  3 | LINESTRING(192783 228138,192612 229814) | Paul St
	  4 | LINESTRING(189412 252431,189631 259122) | Graeme Ave
	  5 | LINESTRING(190131 224148,190871 228134) | Phil Tce
	  6 | LINESTRING(198231 263418,198213 268322) | Dave Cres
	  7 | LINESTRING(218421 284121,224123 241231) | Chris Way
(6 rows)

However, there will be times when some kind of restriction is necessary to cut down the number of fields returned. In the case of attribute-based restrictions, just use the same SQL syntax as normal with a non-spatial table. In the case of spatial restrictions, the following operators are available/useful:

&&

This operator tells whether the bounding box of one geometry intersects the bounding box of another.

~=

This operators tests whether two geometries are geometrically identical. For example, if 'POLYGON((0 0,1 1,1 0,0 0))' is the same as 'POLYGON((0 0,1 1,1 0,0 0))' (it is).

=

This operator is a little more naive, it only tests whether the bounding boxes of two geometries are the same.

Next, you can use these operators in queries. Note that when specifying geometries and boxes on the SQL command line, you must explicitly turn the string representations into geometries by using the "GeomFromText()" function. So, for example:

SELECT road_id, road_name
  FROM roads
  WHERE roads_geom ~= ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(191232 243118,191108 243242)',-1);

The above query would return the single record from the "ROADS_GEOM" table in which the geometry was equal to that value.

When using the "&&" operator, you can specify either a BOX3D as the comparison feature or a GEOMETRY. When you specify a GEOMETRY, however, its bounding box will be used for the comparison.

SELECT road_id, road_name
FROM roads
WHERE roads_geom && ST_GeomFromText('POLYGON((...))',-1);

The above query will use the bounding box of the polygon for comparison purposes.

The most common spatial query will probably be a "frame-based" query, used by client software, like data browsers and web mappers, to grab a "map frame" worth of data for display. Using a "BOX3D" object for the frame, such a query looks like this:

SELECT ST_AsText(roads_geom) AS geom
FROM roads
WHERE
  roads_geom && SetSRID('BOX3D(191232 243117,191232 243119)'::box3d,-1);

Note the use of the SRID, to specify the projection of the BOX3D. The value -1 is used to indicate no specified SRID.

4.5.2. Using the Dumper

The pgsql2shp table dumper connects directly to the database and converts a table (possibly defined by a query) into a shape file. The basic syntax is:

pgsql2shp [<options>] <database> [<schema>.]<table>
pgsql2shp [<options>] <database> <query>

The commandline options are:

-f <filename>

Write the output to a particular filename.

-h <host>

The database host to connect to.

-p <port>

The port to connect to on the database host.

-P <password>

The password to use when connecting to the database.

-u <user>

The username to use when connecting to the database.

-g <geometry column>

In the case of tables with multiple geometry columns, the geometry column to use when writing the shape file.

-b

Use a binary cursor. This will make the operation faster, but will not work if any NON-geometry attribute in the table lacks a cast to text.

-r

Raw mode. Do not drop the gid field, or escape column names.

-d

For backward compatibility: write a 3-dimensional shape file when dumping from old (pre-1.0.0) postgis databases (the default is to write a 2-dimensional shape file in that case). Starting from postgis-1.0.0+, dimensions are fully encoded.

4.6. Building Indexes

Indexes are what make using a spatial database for large data sets possible. Without indexing, any search for a feature would require a "sequential scan" of every record in the database. Indexing speeds up searching by organizing the data into a search tree which can be quickly traversed to find a particular record. PostgreSQL supports three kinds of indexes by default: B-Tree indexes, R-Tree indexes, and GiST indexes.

  • B-Trees are used for data which can be sorted along one axis; for example, numbers, letters, dates. GIS data cannot be rationally sorted along one axis (which is greater, (0,0) or (0,1) or (1,0)?) so B-Tree indexing is of no use for us.

  • R-Trees break up data into rectangles, and sub-rectangles, and sub-sub rectangles, etc. R-Trees are used by some spatial databases to index GIS data, but the PostgreSQL R-Tree implementation is not as robust as the GiST implementation.

  • GiST (Generalized Search Trees) indexes break up data into "things to one side", "things which overlap", "things which are inside" and can be used on a wide range of data-types, including GIS data. PostGIS uses an R-Tree index implemented on top of GiST to index GIS data.

4.6.1. GiST Indexes

GiST stands for "Generalized Search Tree" and is a generic form of indexing. In addition to GIS indexing, GiST is used to speed up searches on all kinds of irregular data structures (integer arrays, spectral data, etc) which are not amenable to normal B-Tree indexing.

Once a GIS data table exceeds a few thousand rows, you will want to build an index to speed up spatial searches of the data (unless all your searches are based on attributes, in which case you'll want to build a normal index on the attribute fields).

The syntax for building a GiST index on a "geometry" column is as follows:

CREATE INDEX [indexname] ON [tablename] USING GIST ( [geometryfield] ); 

Building a spatial index is a computationally intensive exercise: on tables of around 1 million rows, on a 300MHz Solaris machine, we have found building a GiST index takes about 1 hour. After building an index, it is important to force PostgreSQL to collect table statistics, which are used to optimize query plans:

VACUUM ANALYZE [table_name] [column_name];
-- This is only needed for PostgreSQL 7.4 installations and below
SELECT UPDATE_GEOMETRY_STATS([table_name], [column_name]);

GiST indexes have two advantages over R-Tree indexes in PostgreSQL. Firstly, GiST indexes are "null safe", meaning they can index columns which include null values. Secondly, GiST indexes support the concept of "lossiness" which is important when dealing with GIS objects larger than the PostgreSQL 8K page size. Lossiness allows PostgreSQL to store only the "important" part of an object in an index -- in the case of GIS objects, just the bounding box. GIS objects larger than 8K will cause R-Tree indexes to fail in the process of being built.

4.6.2. Using Indexes

Ordinarily, indexes invisibly speed up data access: once the index is built, the query planner transparently decides when to use index information to speed up a query plan. Unfortunately, the PostgreSQL query planner does not optimize the use of GiST indexes well, so sometimes searches which should use a spatial index instead default to a sequence scan of the whole table.

If you find your spatial indexes are not being used (or your attribute indexes, for that matter) there are a couple things you can do:

  • Firstly, make sure statistics are gathered about the number and distributions of values in a table, to provide the query planner with better information to make decisions around index usage. For PostgreSQL 7.4 installations and below this is done by running update_geometry_stats([table_name, column_name]) (compute distribution) and VACUUM ANALYZE [table_name] [column_name] (compute number of values). Starting with PostgreSQL 8.0 running VACUUM ANALYZE will do both operations. You should regularly vacuum your databases anyways -- many PostgreSQL DBAs have VACUUM run as an off-peak cron job on a regular basis.

  • If vacuuming does not work, you can force the planner to use the index information by using the SET ENABLE_SEQSCAN=OFF command. You should only use this command sparingly, and only on spatially indexed queries: generally speaking, the planner knows better than you do about when to use normal B-Tree indexes. Once you have run your query, you should consider setting ENABLE_SEQSCAN back on, so that other queries will utilize the planner as normal.

    [Note]

    As of version 0.6, it should not be necessary to force the planner to use the index with ENABLE_SEQSCAN.

  • If you find the planner wrong about the cost of sequential vs index scans try reducing the value of random_page_cost in postgresql.conf or using SET random_page_cost=#. Default value for the parameter is 4, try setting it to 1 or 2. Decrementing the value makes the planner more inclined of using Index scans.

4.7. Complex Queries

The raison d'etre of spatial database functionality is performing queries inside the database which would ordinarily require desktop GIS functionality. Using PostGIS effectively requires knowing what spatial functions are available, and ensuring that appropriate indexes are in place to provide good performance.

4.7.1. Taking Advantage of Indexes

When constructing a query it is important to remember that only the bounding-box-based operators such as && can take advantage of the GiST spatial index. Functions such as distance() cannot use the index to optimize their operation. For example, the following query would be quite slow on a large table:

SELECT the_geom
FROM geom_table
WHERE ST_Distance(the_geom, ST_GeomFromText('POINT(100000 200000)', -1)) < 100

This query is selecting all the geometries in geom_table which are within 100 units of the point (100000, 200000). It will be slow because it is calculating the distance between each point in the table and our specified point, ie. one ST_Distance() calculation for each row in the table. We can avoid this by using the && operator to reduce the number of distance calculations required:

SELECT the_geom
FROM geom_table
WHERE the_geom && 'BOX3D(90900 190900, 100100 200100)'::box3d
  AND
ST_Distance(the_geom, ST_GeomFromText('POINT(100000 200000)', -1)) < 100

This query selects the same geometries, but it does it in a more efficient way. Assuming there is a GiST index on the_geom, the query planner will recognize that it can use the index to reduce the number of rows before calculating the result of the distance() function. Notice that the BOX3D geometry which is used in the && operation is a 200 unit square box centered on the original point - this is our "query box". The && operator uses the index to quickly reduce the result set down to only those geometries which have bounding boxes that overlap the "query box". Assuming that our query box is much smaller than the extents of the entire geometry table, this will drastically reduce the number of distance calculations that need to be done.

[Note]Change in Behavior

As of PostGIS 1.3.0, most of the Geometry Relationship Functions, with the notable exceptions of ST_Disjoint and ST_Relate, include implicit bounding box overlap operators.

4.7.2. Examples of Spatial SQL

The examples in this section will make use of two tables, a table of linear roads, and a table of polygonal municipality boundaries. The table definitions for the bc_roads table is:

Column      | Type              | Description
------------+-------------------+-------------------
gid         | integer           | Unique ID
name        | character varying | Road Name
the_geom    | geometry          | Location Geometry (Linestring)

The table definition for the bc_municipality table is:

Column     | Type              | Description
-----------+-------------------+-------------------
gid        | integer           | Unique ID
code       | integer           | Unique ID
name       | character varying | City / Town Name
the_geom   | geometry          | Location Geometry (Polygon)
4.7.2.1. What is the total length of all roads, expressed in kilometers?
4.7.2.2. How large is the city of Prince George, in hectares?
4.7.2.3. What is the largest municipality in the province, by area?
4.7.2.4. What is the length of roads fully contained within each municipality?
4.7.2.5. Create a new table with all the roads within the city of Prince George.
4.7.2.6. What is the length in kilometers of "Douglas St" in Victoria?
4.7.2.7. What is the largest municipality polygon that has a hole?

4.7.2.1.

What is the total length of all roads, expressed in kilometers?

You can answer this question with a very simple piece of SQL:

SELECT sum(ST_Length(the_geom))/1000 AS km_roads FROM bc_roads;

km_roads
------------------
70842.1243039643
(1 row)

4.7.2.2.

How large is the city of Prince George, in hectares?

This query combines an attribute condition (on the municipality name) with a spatial calculation (of the area):

SELECT
  ST_Area(the_geom)/10000 AS hectares
FROM bc_municipality
WHERE name = 'PRINCE GEORGE';

hectares
------------------
32657.9103824927
(1 row)

4.7.2.3.

What is the largest municipality in the province, by area?

This query brings a spatial measurement into the query condition. There are several ways of approaching this problem, but the most efficient is below:

SELECT
  name,
  ST_Area(the_geom)/10000 AS hectares
FROM
  bc_municipality
ORDER BY hectares DESC
LIMIT 1;

name           | hectares
---------------+-----------------
TUMBLER RIDGE  | 155020.02556131
(1 row)

Note that in order to answer this query we have to calculate the area of every polygon. If we were doing this a lot it would make sense to add an area column to the table that we could separately index for performance. By ordering the results in a descending direction, and them using the PostgreSQL "LIMIT" command we can easily pick off the largest value without using an aggregate function like max().

4.7.2.4.

What is the length of roads fully contained within each municipality?

This is an example of a "spatial join", because we are bringing together data from two tables (doing a join) but using a spatial interaction condition ("contained") as the join condition rather than the usual relational approach of joining on a common key:

SELECT
  m.name,
  sum(ST_Length(r.the_geom))/1000 as roads_km
FROM
  bc_roads AS r,
  bc_municipality AS m
WHERE
  ST_Contains(m.the_geom,r.the_geom)
GROUP BY m.name
ORDER BY roads_km;

name                        | roads_km
----------------------------+------------------
SURREY                      | 1539.47553551242
VANCOUVER                   | 1450.33093486576
LANGLEY DISTRICT            | 833.793392535662
BURNABY                     | 773.769091404338
PRINCE GEORGE               | 694.37554369147
...

This query takes a while, because every road in the table is summarized into the final result (about 250K roads for our particular example table). For smaller overlays (several thousand records on several hundred) the response can be very fast.

4.7.2.5.

Create a new table with all the roads within the city of Prince George.

This is an example of an "overlay", which takes in two tables and outputs a new table that consists of spatially clipped or cut resultants. Unlike the "spatial join" demonstrated above, this query actually creates new geometries. An overlay is like a turbo-charged spatial join, and is useful for more exact analysis work:

CREATE TABLE pg_roads as
SELECT
  ST_Intersection(r.the_geom, m.the_geom) AS intersection_geom,
  ST_Length(r.the_geom) AS rd_orig_length,
  r.*
FROM
  bc_roads AS r,
  bc_municipality AS m
WHERE  m.name = 'PRINCE GEORGE' AND ST_Intersects(r.the_geom, m.the_geom);

4.7.2.6.

What is the length in kilometers of "Douglas St" in Victoria?

SELECT
  sum(ST_Length(r.the_geom))/1000 AS kilometers
FROM
  bc_roads r,
  bc_municipality m
WHERE  r.name = 'Douglas St' AND m.name = 'VICTORIA'
	AND ST_Contains(m.the_geom, r.the_geom) ;

kilometers
------------------
4.89151904172838
(1 row)

4.7.2.7.

What is the largest municipality polygon that has a hole?

SELECT gid, name, ST_Area(the_geom) AS area
FROM bc_municipality
WHERE ST_NRings(the_geom) > 1
ORDER BY area DESC LIMIT 1;

gid  | name         | area
-----+--------------+------------------
12   | SPALLUMCHEEN | 257374619.430216
(1 row)

Chapter 5. Using PostGIS: Building Applications

5.1. Using MapServer

The Minnesota MapServer is an internet web-mapping server which conforms to the OpenGIS Web Mapping Server specification.

5.1.1. Basic Usage

To use PostGIS with MapServer, you will need to know about how to configure MapServer, which is beyond the scope of this documentation. This section will cover specific PostGIS issues and configuration details.

To use PostGIS with MapServer, you will need:

  • Version 0.6 or newer of PostGIS.

  • Version 3.5 or newer of MapServer.

MapServer accesses PostGIS/PostgreSQL data like any other PostgreSQL client -- using the libpq interface. This means that MapServer can be installed on any machine with network access to the PostGIS server, and use PostGIS as a source of data. The faster the connection between the systems, the better.

  1. Compile and install MapServer, with whatever options you desire, including the "--with-postgis" configuration option.

  2. In your MapServer map file, add a PostGIS layer. For example:

    LAYER 
      CONNECTIONTYPE postgis 
      NAME "widehighways" 
      # Connect to a remote spatial database
      CONNECTION "user=dbuser dbname=gisdatabase host=bigserver"
      PROCESSING "CLOSE_CONNECTION=DEFER"
      # Get the lines from the 'geom' column of the 'roads' table 
      DATA "geom from roads using srid=4326 using unique gid" 
      STATUS ON
      TYPE LINE 
      # Of the lines in the extents, only render the wide highways 
      FILTER "type = 'highway' and numlanes >= 4" 
      CLASS 
        # Make the superhighways brighter and 2 pixels wide
        EXPRESSION ([numlanes] >= 6) 
        STYLE
          COLOR 255 22 22 
          WIDTH 2 
        END
      END 
      CLASS 
        # All the rest are darker and only 1 pixel wide 
        EXPRESSION ([numlanes] < 6) 
        STYLE
          COLOR 205 92 82
        END
      END 
    END

    In the example above, the PostGIS-specific directives are as follows:

    CONNECTIONTYPE

    For PostGIS layers, this is always "postgis".

    CONNECTION

    The database connection is governed by the a 'connection string' which is a standard set of keys and values like this (with the default values in <>):

    user=<username> password=<password> dbname=<username> hostname=<server> port=<5432>

    An empty connection string is still valid, and any of the key/value pairs can be omitted. At a minimum you will generally supply the database name and username to connect with.

    DATA

    The form of this parameter is "<geocolumn> from <tablename> using srid=<srid> using unique <primary key>" where the column is the spatial column to be rendered to the map, the SRID is SRID used by the column and the primary key is the table primary key (or any other uniquely-valued column with an index).

    You can omit the "using srid" and "using unique" clauses and MapServer will automatically determine the correct values if possible, but at the cost of running a few extra queries on the server for each map draw.

    PROCESSING

    Putting in a CLOSE_CONNECTION=DEFER if you have multiple layers reuses existing connections instead of closing them. This improves speed. Refer to for MapServer PostGIS Performance Tips for a more detailed explanation.

    FILTER

    The filter must be a valid SQL string corresponding to the logic normally following the "WHERE" keyword in a SQL query. So, for example, to render only roads with 6 or more lanes, use a filter of "num_lanes >= 6".

  3. In your spatial database, ensure you have spatial (GiST) indexes built for any the layers you will be drawing.

    CREATE INDEX [indexname] ON [tablename] USING GIST ( [geometrycolumn] );
  4. If you will be querying your layers using MapServer you will also need to use the "using unique" clause in your DATA statement.

    MapServer requires unique identifiers for each spatial record when doing queries, and the PostGIS module of MapServer uses the unique value you specify in order to provide these unique identifiers. Using the table primary key is the best practice.

5.1.2. Frequently Asked Questions

5.1.2.1. When I use an EXPRESSION in my map file, the condition never returns as true, even though I know the values exist in my table.
5.1.2.2. The FILTER I use for my Shape files is not working for my PostGIS table of the same data.
5.1.2.3. My PostGIS layer draws much slower than my Shape file layer, is this normal?
5.1.2.4. My PostGIS layer draws fine, but queries are really slow. What is wrong?
5.1.2.5. Can I use "geography" columns (new in PostGIS 1.5) as a source for MapServer layers?

5.1.2.1.

When I use an EXPRESSION in my map file, the condition never returns as true, even though I know the values exist in my table.

Unlike shape files, PostGIS field names have to be referenced in EXPRESSIONS using lower case.

EXPRESSION ([numlanes] >= 6)

5.1.2.2.

The FILTER I use for my Shape files is not working for my PostGIS table of the same data.

Unlike shape files, filters for PostGIS layers use SQL syntax (they are appended to the SQL statement the PostGIS connector generates for drawing layers in MapServer).

FILTER "type = 'highway' and numlanes >= 4"

5.1.2.3.

My PostGIS layer draws much slower than my Shape file layer, is this normal?

In general, the more features you are drawing into a given map, the more likely it is that PostGIS will be slower than Shape files. For maps with relatively few features (100s), PostGIS will often be faster. For maps with high feature density (1000s), PostGIS will always be slower.

If you are finding substantial draw performance problems, it is possible that you have not built a spatial index on your table.

postgis# CREATE INDEX geotable_gix ON geotable USING GIST ( geocolumn ); 
postgis# VACUUM ANALYZE;

5.1.2.4.

My PostGIS layer draws fine, but queries are really slow. What is wrong?

For queries to be fast, you must have a unique key for your spatial table and you must have an index on that unique key.

You can specify what unique key for mapserver to use with the USING UNIQUE clause in your DATA line:

DATA "the_geom FROM geotable USING UNIQUE gid"

5.1.2.5.

Can I use "geography" columns (new in PostGIS 1.5) as a source for MapServer layers?

Yes! MapServer understands geography columns as being the same as geometry columns, but always using an SRID of 4326. Just make sure to include a "using srid=4326" clause in your DATA statement. Everything else works exactly the same as with geometry.

DATA "the_geog FROM geogtable USING SRID=4326 USING UNIQUE gid"

5.1.3. Advanced Usage

The USING pseudo-SQL clause is used to add some information to help mapserver understand the results of more complex queries. More specifically, when either a view or a subselect is used as the source table (the thing to the right of "FROM" in a DATA definition) it is more difficult for mapserver to automatically determine a unique identifier for each row and also the SRID for the table. The USING clause can provide mapserver with these two pieces of information as follows:

DATA "the_geom FROM (
  SELECT 
    table1.the_geom AS the_geom, 
    table1.oid AS oid, 
    table2.data AS data 
  FROM table1 
  LEFT JOIN table2 
  ON table1.id = table2.id
) AS new_table USING UNIQUE gid USING SRID=-1"
USING UNIQUE <uniqueid>

MapServer requires a unique id for each row in order to identify the row when doing map queries. Normally it identifies the primary key from the system tables. However, views and subselects don't automatically have an known unique column. If you want to use MapServer's query functionality, you need to ensure your view or subselect includes a uniquely valued column, and declare it with USING UNIQUE. For example, you could explicitly select nee of the table's primary key values for this purpose, or any other column which is guaranteed to be unique for the result set.

[Note]

"Querying a Map" is the action of clicking on a map to ask for information about the map features in that location. Don't confuse "map queries" with the SQL query in a DATA definition.

USING SRID=<srid>

PostGIS needs to know which spatial referencing system is being used by the geometries in order to return the correct data back to MapServer. Normally it is possible to find this information in the "geometry_columns" table in the PostGIS database, however, this is not possible for tables which are created on the fly such as subselects and views. So the USING SRID= option allows the correct SRID to be specified in the DATA definition.

5.1.4. Examples

Lets start with a simple example and work our way up. Consider the following MapServer layer definition:

LAYER 
  CONNECTIONTYPE postgis 
  NAME "roads"
  CONNECTION "user=theuser password=thepass dbname=thedb host=theserver" 
  DATA "the_geom from roads" 
  STATUS ON 
  TYPE LINE 
  CLASS 
    STYLE
      COLOR 0 0 0 
    END
  END 
END

This layer will display all the road geometries in the roads table as black lines.

Now lets say we want to show only the highways until we get zoomed in to at least a 1:100000 scale - the next two layers will achieve this effect:

LAYER 
  CONNECTIONTYPE postgis 
  CONNECTION "user=theuser password=thepass dbname=thedb host=theserver" 
  PROCESSING "CLOSE_CONNECTION=DEFER"
  DATA "the_geom from roads"
  MINSCALE 100000 
  STATUS ON 
  TYPE LINE 
  FILTER "road_type = 'highway'" 
  CLASS 
    COLOR 0 0 0 
  END 
END 
LAYER 
  CONNECTIONTYPE postgis 
  CONNECTION "user=theuser password=thepass dbname=thedb host=theserver"
  PROCESSING "CLOSE_CONNECTION=DEFER"
  DATA "the_geom from roads" 
  MAXSCALE 100000 
  STATUS ON 
  TYPE LINE
  CLASSITEM road_type 
  CLASS 
    EXPRESSION "highway" 
    STYLE
      WIDTH 2 
      COLOR 255 0 0  
    END
  END 
  CLASS  
    STYLE
      COLOR 0 0 0 
    END
  END 
END

The first layer is used when the scale is greater than 1:100000, and displays only the roads of type "highway" as black lines. The FILTER option causes only roads of type "highway" to be displayed.

The second layer is used when the scale is less than 1:100000, and will display highways as double-thick red lines, and other roads as regular black lines.

So, we have done a couple of interesting things using only MapServer functionality, but our DATA SQL statement has remained simple. Suppose that the name of the road is stored in another table (for whatever reason) and we need to do a join to get it and label our roads.

LAYER 
  CONNECTIONTYPE postgis
  CONNECTION "user=theuser password=thepass dbname=thedb host=theserver" 
  DATA "the_geom FROM (SELECT roads.oid AS oid, roads.the_geom AS the_geom, 
        road_names.name as name FROM roads LEFT JOIN road_names ON 
        roads.road_name_id = road_names.road_name_id) 
        AS named_roads USING UNIQUE oid USING SRID=-1" 
  MAXSCALE 20000 
  STATUS ON 
  TYPE ANNOTATION 
  LABELITEM name
  CLASS 
    LABEL 
      ANGLE auto 
      SIZE 8 
      COLOR 0 192 0 
      TYPE truetype 
      FONT arial
    END
  END 
END

This annotation layer adds green labels to all the roads when the scale gets down to 1:20000 or less. It also demonstrates how to use an SQL join in a DATA definition.

5.2. Java Clients (JDBC)

Java clients can access PostGIS "geometry" objects in the PostgreSQL database either directly as text representations or using the JDBC extension objects bundled with PostGIS. In order to use the extension objects, the "postgis.jar" file must be in your CLASSPATH along with the "postgresql.jar" JDBC driver package.

import java.sql.*; 
import java.util.*; 
import java.lang.*; 
import org.postgis.*; 

public class JavaGIS { 

public static void main(String[] args) { 

  java.sql.Connection conn; 

  try { 
    /* 
    * Load the JDBC driver and establish a connection. 
    */
    Class.forName("org.postgresql.Driver"); 
    String url = "jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/database"; 
    conn = DriverManager.getConnection(url, "postgres", ""); 
    /* 
    * Add the geometry types to the connection. Note that you 
    * must cast the connection to the pgsql-specific connection 
    * implementation before calling the addDataType() method. 
    */
    ((org.postgresql.PGConnection)conn).addDataType("geometry",Class.forName("org.postgis.PGgeometry"));
    ((org.postgresql.PGConnection)conn).addDataType("box3d",Class.forName("org.postgis.PGbox3d"));

    /* 
    * Create a statement and execute a select query. 
    */ 
    Statement s = conn.createStatement(); 
    ResultSet r = s.executeQuery("select geom,id from geomtable"); 
    while( r.next() ) { 
      /* 
      * Retrieve the geometry as an object then cast it to the geometry type. 
      * Print things out. 
      */ 
      PGgeometry geom = (PGgeometry)r.getObject(1); 
      int id = r.getInt(2); 
      System.out.println("Row " + id + ":");
      System.out.println(geom.toString()); 
    } 
    s.close(); 
    conn.close(); 
  } 
catch( Exception e ) { 
  e.printStackTrace(); 
  } 
} 
}

The "PGgeometry" object is a wrapper object which contains a specific topological geometry object (subclasses of the abstract class "Geometry") depending on the type: Point, LineString, Polygon, MultiPoint, MultiLineString, MultiPolygon.

PGgeometry geom = (PGgeometry)r.getObject(1); 
if( geom.getType() == Geometry.POLYGON ) { 
  Polygon pl = (Polygon)geom.getGeometry(); 
  for( int r = 0; r < pl.numRings(); r++) { 
    LinearRing rng = pl.getRing(r); 
    System.out.println("Ring: " + r); 
    for( int p = 0; p < rng.numPoints(); p++ ) { 
      Point pt = rng.getPoint(p); 
      System.out.println("Point: " + p);
      System.out.println(pt.toString()); 
    } 
  } 
}

The JavaDoc for the extension objects provides a reference for the various data accessor functions in the geometric objects.

5.3. C Clients (libpq)

...

5.3.1. Text Cursors

...

5.3.2. Binary Cursors

...

Chapter 6. Performance tips

6.1. Small tables of large geometries

6.1.1. Problem description

Current PostgreSQL versions (including 8.0) suffer from a query optimizer weakness regarding TOAST tables. TOAST tables are a kind of "extension room" used to store large (in the sense of data size) values that do not fit into normal data pages (like long texts, images or complex geometries with lots of vertices), see http://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/interactive/storage-toast.html for more information).

The problem appears if you happen to have a table with rather large geometries, but not too much rows of them (like a table containing the boundaries of all European countries in high resolution). Then the table itself is small, but it uses lots of TOAST space. In our example case, the table itself had about 80 rows and used only 3 data pages, but the TOAST table used 8225 pages.

Now issue a query where you use the geometry operator && to search for a bounding box that matches only very few of those rows. Now the query optimizer sees that the table has only 3 pages and 80 rows. He estimates that a sequential scan on such a small table is much faster than using an index. And so he decides to ignore the GIST index. Usually, this estimation is correct. But in our case, the && operator has to fetch every geometry from disk to compare the bounding boxes, thus reading all TOAST pages, too.

To see whether your suffer from this bug, use the "EXPLAIN ANALYZE" postgresql command. For more information and the technical details, you can read the thread on the postgres performance mailing list: http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-performance/2005-02/msg00030.php

6.1.2. Workarounds

The PostgreSQL people are trying to solve this issue by making the query estimation TOAST-aware. For now, here are two workarounds:

The first workaround is to force the query planner to use the index. Send "SET enable_seqscan TO off;" to the server before issuing the query. This basically forces the query planner to avoid sequential scans whenever possible. So it uses the GIST index as usual. But this flag has to be set on every connection, and it causes the query planner to make misestimations in other cases, so you should "SET enable_seqscan TO on;" after the query.

The second workaround is to make the sequential scan as fast as the query planner thinks. This can be achieved by creating an additional column that "caches" the bbox, and matching against this. In our example, the commands are like:

SELECT AddGeometryColumn('myschema','mytable','bbox','4326','GEOMETRY','2'); 
UPDATE mytable SET bbox = ST_Envelope(ST_Force_2d(the_geom));

Now change your query to use the && operator against bbox instead of geom_column, like:

SELECT geom_column 
FROM mytable 
WHERE bbox && ST_SetSRID('BOX3D(0 0,1 1)'::box3d,4326);

Of course, if you change or add rows to mytable, you have to keep the bbox "in sync". The most transparent way to do this would be triggers, but you also can modify your application to keep the bbox column current or run the UPDATE query above after every modification.

6.2. CLUSTERing on geometry indices

For tables that are mostly read-only, and where a single index is used for the majority of queries, PostgreSQL offers the CLUSTER command. This command physically reorders all the data rows in the same order as the index criteria, yielding two performance advantages: First, for index range scans, the number of seeks on the data table is drastically reduced. Second, if your working set concentrates to some small intervals on the indices, you have a more efficient caching because the data rows are spread along fewer data pages. (Feel invited to read the CLUSTER command documentation from the PostgreSQL manual at this point.)

However, currently PostgreSQL does not allow clustering on PostGIS GIST indices because GIST indices simply ignores NULL values, you get an error message like:

lwgeom=# CLUSTER my_geom_index ON my_table; 
ERROR: cannot cluster when index access method does not handle null values
HINT: You may be able to work around this by marking column "the_geom" NOT NULL.

As the HINT message tells you, one can work around this deficiency by adding a "not null" constraint to the table:

lwgeom=# ALTER TABLE my_table ALTER COLUMN the_geom SET not null; 
ALTER TABLE

Of course, this will not work if you in fact need NULL values in your geometry column. Additionally, you must use the above method to add the constraint, using a CHECK constraint like "ALTER TABLE blubb ADD CHECK (geometry is not null);" will not work.

6.3. Avoiding dimension conversion

Sometimes, you happen to have 3D or 4D data in your table, but always access it using OpenGIS compliant ST_AsText() or ST_AsBinary() functions that only output 2D geometries. They do this by internally calling the ST_Force_2d() function, which introduces a significant overhead for large geometries. To avoid this overhead, it may be feasible to pre-drop those additional dimensions once and forever:

UPDATE mytable SET the_geom = ST_Force_2d(the_geom); 
VACUUM FULL ANALYZE mytable;

Note that if you added your geometry column using AddGeometryColumn() there'll be a constraint on geometry dimension. To bypass it you will need to drop the constraint. Remember to update the entry in the geometry_columns table and recreate the constraint afterwards.

In case of large tables, it may be wise to divide this UPDATE into smaller portions by constraining the UPDATE to a part of the table via a WHERE clause and your primary key or another feasible criteria, and running a simple "VACUUM;" between your UPDATEs. This drastically reduces the need for temporary disk space. Additionally, if you have mixed dimension geometries, restricting the UPDATE by "WHERE dimension(the_geom)>2" skips re-writing of geometries that already are in 2D.

6.4. Tuning your configuration

These tips are taken from Kevin Neufeld's presentation "Tips for the PostGIS Power User" at the FOSS4G 2007 conference. Depending on your use of PostGIS (for example, static data and complex analysis vs frequently updated data and lots of users) these changes can provide significant speedups to your queries.

For a more tips (and better formatting), the original presentation is at http://2007.foss4g.org/presentations/view.php?abstract_id=117.

6.4.1. Startup

These settings are configured in postgresql.conf:

checkpoint_segment_size (this setting is obsolete in newer versions of PostgreSQL) got replaced with many configurations with names starting with checkpoint and WAL.

  • # of WAL files = 16MB each; default is 3

  • Set to at least 10 or 30 for databases with heavy write activity, or more for large database loads. Another article on the topic worth reading Greg Smith: Checkpoint and Background writer

  • Possibly store the xlog on a separate disk device

constraint_exclusion

  • Default: off (prior to PostgreSQL 8.4 and for PostgreSQL 8.4+ is set to partition)

  • This is generally used for table partitioning. If you are running PostgreSQL versions below 8.4, set to "on" to ensure the query planner will optimize as desired. As of PostgreSQL 8.4, the default for this is set to "partition" which is ideal for PostgreSQL 8.4 and above since it will force the planner to only analyze tables for constraint consideration if they are in an inherited hierarchy and not pay the planner penalty otherwise.

shared_buffers

  • Default: ~32MB

  • Set to about 1/3 to 3/4 of available RAM

6.4.2. Runtime

work_mem (the memory used for sort operations and complex queries)

  • Default: 1MB

  • Adjust up for large dbs, complex queries, lots of RAM

  • Adjust down for many concurrent users or low RAM.

  • If you have lots of RAM and few developers:

                        SET work_mem TO 1200000;
                    

maintenance_work_mem (used for VACUUM, CREATE INDEX, etc.)

  • Default: 16MB

  • Generally too low - ties up I/O, locks objects while swapping memory

  • Recommend 32MB to 256MB on production servers w/lots of RAM, but depends on the # of concurrent users. If you have lots of RAM and few developers:

                        SET maintainence_work_mem TO 1200000;
                    

Chapter 7. PostGIS Reference

The functions given below are the ones which a user of PostGIS is likely to need. There are other functions which are required support functions to the PostGIS objects which are not of use to a general user.

[Note]

PostGIS has begun a transition from the existing naming convention to an SQL-MM-centric convention. As a result, most of the functions that you know and love have been renamed using the standard spatial type (ST) prefix. Previous functions are still available, though are not listed in this document where updated functions are equivalent. The non ST_ functions not listed in this documentation are deprecated and will be removed in a future release so STOP USING THEM.

7.1. PostgreSQL PostGIS Types

Abstract

This section lists the PostgreSQL data types installed by PostGIS. Note we describe the casting behavior of these which is very important especially when designing your own functions.

A Cast is when one type is coerced into another type. PostgreSQL is unique from most databases in that it allows you to define casting behavior for custom types and the functions used for casting. A cast can be specified as automatic in which case, you do not have to do a CAST(myfoo As otherfootype) or myfoo::otherfootype if you are feeding it to a function that only works with otherfootype and there is an automatic cast in place for it.

The danger of relying on automatic cast behavior is when you have an overloaded function say one that takes a box2d and one that takes a box3d but no geometry. What happens is that both functions are equally good to use with geometry since geometry has an autocast for both -- so you end up with an ambiguous function error. To force PostgreSQL to choose, you do a CAST(mygeom As box3d) or mygeom::box3d.

[Note]
At least as of PostgreSQL 8.3 - Everything can be CAST to text (presumably because of the magical unknown type), so no defined CASTS for that need to be present for you to CAST an object to text.
box2d — A box composed of x min, ymin, xmax, ymax. Often used to return the 2d enclosing box of a geometry.
box3d — A box composed of x min, ymin, zmin, xmax, ymax, zmax. Often used to return the 3d extent of a geometry or collection of geometries.
box3d_extent — A box composed of x min, ymin, zmin, xmax, ymax, zmax. Often used to return the extent of a geometry.
geometry — Planar spatial data type.
geometry_dump — A spatial datatype with two fields - geom (holding a geometry object) and path[] (a 1-d array holding the position of the geometry within the dumped object.)
geography — Ellipsoidal spatial data type.

Name

box2d — A box composed of x min, ymin, xmax, ymax. Often used to return the 2d enclosing box of a geometry.

Description

box2d is a spatial data type used to represent the enclosing box of a geometry or set of geometries. ST_Extent in earlier versions prior to PostGIS 1.4 would return a box2d.


Name

box3d — A box composed of x min, ymin, zmin, xmax, ymax, zmax. Often used to return the 3d extent of a geometry or collection of geometries.

Description

box3d is a postgis spatial data type used to represent the enclosing box of a geometry or set of geometries. ST_Extent3D returns a box3d object.

Casting Behavor

This section lists the automatic as well as explicit casts allowed for this data type

Cast ToBehavior
boxautomatic
box2dautomatic
geometryautomatic

Name

box3d_extent — A box composed of x min, ymin, zmin, xmax, ymax, zmax. Often used to return the extent of a geometry.

Description

box3d_extent is a data type returned by ST_Extent. In versions prior to PostGIS 1.4, ST_Extent would return a box2d.

Casting Behavor

This section lists the automatic as well as explicit casts allowed for this data type

Cast ToBehavior
box2dautomatic
box3dautomatic
geometryautomatic

Name

geometry — Planar spatial data type.

Description

geometry is a fundamental postgis spatial data type used to represent a feature in the Euclidean coordinate system.

Casting Behavor

This section lists the automatic as well as explicit casts allowed for this data type

Cast ToBehavior
boxautomatic
box2dautomatic
box3dautomatic
byteaautomatic
geographyautomatic
textautomatic

Name

geometry_dump — A spatial datatype with two fields - geom (holding a geometry object) and path[] (a 1-d array holding the position of the geometry within the dumped object.)

Description

geometry_dump is a compound data type consisting of a geometry object referenced by the .geom field and path[] a 1-dimensional integer array (starting at 1 e.g. path[1] to get first element) array that defines the navigation path within the dumped geometry to find this element. It is used by the ST_Dump* family of functions as an output type to explode a more complex geometry into its constituent parts and location of parts.


Name

geography — Ellipsoidal spatial data type.

Description

geography is a spatial data type used to represent a feature in the round-earth coordinate system.

Casting Behavor

This section lists the automatic as well as explicit casts allowed for this data type

Cast ToBehavior
geometryexplicit

7.2. Management Functions

AddGeometryColumn — Adds a geometry column to an existing table of attributes.
DropGeometryColumn — Removes a geometry column from a spatial table.
DropGeometryTable — Drops a table and all its references in geometry_columns.
PostGIS_Full_Version — Reports full postgis version and build configuration infos.
PostGIS_GEOS_Version — Returns the version number of the GEOS library.
PostGIS_LibXML_Version — Returns the version number of the libxml2 library.
PostGIS_Lib_Build_Date — Returns build date of the PostGIS library.
PostGIS_Lib_Version — Returns the version number of the PostGIS library.
PostGIS_PROJ_Version — Returns the version number of the PROJ4 library.
PostGIS_Scripts_Build_Date — Returns build date of the PostGIS scripts.
PostGIS_Scripts_Installed — Returns version of the postgis scripts installed in this database.
PostGIS_Scripts_Released — Returns the version number of the postgis.sql script released with the installed postgis lib.
PostGIS_Uses_Stats — Returns TRUE if STATS usage has been enabled.
PostGIS_Version — Returns PostGIS version number and compile-time options.
Populate_Geometry_Columns — Ensures geometry columns have appropriate spatial constraints and exist in the geometry_columns table.
Probe_Geometry_Columns — Scans all tables with PostGIS geometry constraints and adds them to the geometry_columns table if they are not there.
UpdateGeometrySRID — Updates the SRID of all features in a geometry column, geometry_columns metadata and srid table constraint

Name

AddGeometryColumn — Adds a geometry column to an existing table of attributes.

Synopsis

text AddGeometryColumn(varchar table_name, varchar column_name, integer srid, varchar type, integer dimension);

text AddGeometryColumn(varchar schema_name, varchar table_name, varchar column_name, integer srid, varchar type, integer dimension);

text AddGeometryColumn(varchar catalog_name, varchar schema_name, varchar table_name, varchar column_name, integer srid, varchar type, integer dimension);

Description

Adds a geometry column to an existing table of attributes. The schema_name is the name of the table schema (unused for pre-schema PostgreSQL installations). The srid must be an integer value reference to an entry in the SPATIAL_REF_SYS table. The type must be an uppercase string corresponding to the geometry type, eg, 'POLYGON' or 'MULTILINESTRING'. An error is thrown if the schemaname doesn't exist (or not visible in the current search_path) or the specified SRID, geometry type, or dimension is invalid.

[Note]

Views and derivatively created spatial tables will need to be registered in geometry_columns manually, since AddGeometryColumn also adds a spatial column which is not needed when you already have a spatial column. Refer to Section 4.3.4, “Manually Registering Geometry Columns in geometry_columns”.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

-- Create a new simple PostgreSQL table
postgis=# CREATE TABLE my_schema.my_spatial_table (id serial);

-- Describing the table shows a simple table with a single "id" column.
postgis=# \d my_schema.my_spatial_table
							 Table "my_schema.my_spatial_table"
 Column |  Type   |                                Modifiers
--------+---------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 id     | integer | not null default nextval('my_schema.my_spatial_table_id_seq'::regclass)

-- Add a spatial column to the table
postgis=# SELECT AddGeometryColumn ('my_schema','my_spatial_table','the_geom',4326,'POINT',2);

--Add a curvepolygon
SELECT AddGeometryColumn ('my_schema','my_spatial_table','the_geomcp',4326,'CURVEPOLYGON',2);

-- Describe the table again reveals the addition of a new "the_geom" column.
postgis=# \d my_schema.my_spatial_table
   Column   |   Type   |                                Modifiers

------------+----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 id         | integer  | not null default nextval('my_schema.my_spatial_table_id_seq'::regclass)
 the_geom   | geometry |
 the_geomcp | geometry |
Check constraints:
	"enforce_dims_the_geom" CHECK (ndims(the_geom) = 2)
	"enforce_dims_the_geomcp" CHECK (ndims(the_geomcp) = 2)
	"enforce_geotype_the_geom" CHECK (geometrytype(the_geom) = 'POINT'::text OR
the_geom IS NULL)
	"enforce_geotype_the_geomcp" CHECK (geometrytype(the_geomcp) = 'CURVEPOLYGON
'::text OR the_geomcp IS NULL)
	"enforce_srid_the_geom" CHECK (srid(the_geom) = 4326)
	"enforce_srid_the_geomcp" CHECK (srid(the_geomcp) = 4326)

Name

DropGeometryColumn — Removes a geometry column from a spatial table.

Synopsis

text DropGeometryColumn(varchar table_name, varchar column_name);

text DropGeometryColumn(varchar schema_name, varchar table_name, varchar column_name);

text DropGeometryColumn(varchar catalog_name, varchar schema_name, varchar table_name, varchar column_name);

Description

Removes a geometry column from a spatial table. Note that schema_name will need to match the f_table_schema field of the table's row in the geometry_columns table.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

			SELECT DropGeometryColumn ('my_schema','my_spatial_table','the_geomcp');
			----RESULT output ---
			my_schema.my_spatial_table.the_geomcp effectively removed.
		

Name

DropGeometryTable — Drops a table and all its references in geometry_columns.

Synopsis

boolean DropGeometryTable(varchar table_name);

boolean DropGeometryTable(varchar schema_name, varchar table_name);

boolean DropGeometryTable(varchar catalog_name, varchar schema_name, varchar table_name);

Description

Drops a table and all its references in geometry_columns. Note: uses current_schema() on schema-aware pgsql installations if schema is not provided.

Examples

			SELECT DropGeometryTable ('my_schema','my_spatial_table');
			----RESULT output ---
			my_schema.my_spatial_table dropped.
		

Name

PostGIS_Full_Version — Reports full postgis version and build configuration infos.

Synopsis

text PostGIS_Full_Version();

Description

Reports full postgis version and build configuration infos.

Examples

SELECT PostGIS_Full_Version();
							   postgis_full_version
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 POSTGIS="1.3.3" GEOS="3.1.0-CAPI-1.5.0" PROJ="Rel. 4.4.9, 29 Oct 2004" USE_STATS
(1 row)

Name

PostGIS_GEOS_Version — Returns the version number of the GEOS library.

Synopsis

text PostGIS_GEOS_Version();

Description

Returns the version number of the GEOS library, or NULL if GEOS support is not enabled.

Examples

SELECT PostGIS_GEOS_Version();
 postgis_geos_version
----------------------
 3.1.0-CAPI-1.5.0
(1 row)

Name

PostGIS_LibXML_Version — Returns the version number of the libxml2 library.

Synopsis

text PostGIS_LibXML_Version();

Description

Returns the version number of the LibXML2 library.

Availability: 1.5

Examples

SELECT PostGIS_LibXML_Version();
 postgis_libxml_version
----------------------
 2.7.6
(1 row)

Name

PostGIS_Lib_Build_Date — Returns build date of the PostGIS library.

Synopsis

text PostGIS_Lib_Build_Date();

Description

Returns build date of the PostGIS library.

Examples

SELECT PostGIS_Lib_Build_Date();
 postgis_lib_build_date
------------------------
 2008-06-21 17:53:21
(1 row)

Name

PostGIS_Lib_Version — Returns the version number of the PostGIS library.

Synopsis

text PostGIS_Lib_Version();

Description

Returns the version number of the PostGIS library.

Examples

SELECT PostGIS_Lib_Version();
 postgis_lib_version
---------------------
 1.3.3
(1 row)

Name

PostGIS_PROJ_Version — Returns the version number of the PROJ4 library.

Synopsis

text PostGIS_PROJ_Version();

Description

Returns the version number of the PROJ4 library, or NULL if PROJ4 support is not enabled.

Examples

SELECT PostGIS_PROJ_Version();
  postgis_proj_version
-------------------------
 Rel. 4.4.9, 29 Oct 2004
(1 row)

Name

PostGIS_Scripts_Build_Date — Returns build date of the PostGIS scripts.

Synopsis

text PostGIS_Scripts_Build_Date();

Description

Returns build date of the PostGIS scripts.

Availability: 1.0.0RC1

Examples

SELECT PostGIS_Scripts_Build_Date();
  postgis_scripts_build_date
-------------------------
 2007-08-18 09:09:26
(1 row)

Name

PostGIS_Scripts_Installed — Returns version of the postgis scripts installed in this database.

Synopsis

text PostGIS_Scripts_Installed();

Description

Returns version of the postgis scripts installed in this database.

[Note]

If the output of this function doesn't match the output of PostGIS_Scripts_Released you probably missed to properly upgrade an existing database. See the Upgrading section for more info.

Availability: 0.9.0

Examples

SELECT PostGIS_Scripts_Installed();
  postgis_scripts_installed
-------------------------
 1.5.0SVN
(1 row)

Name

PostGIS_Scripts_Released — Returns the version number of the postgis.sql script released with the installed postgis lib.

Synopsis

text PostGIS_Scripts_Released();

Description

Returns the version number of the postgis.sql script released with the installed postgis lib.

[Note]

Starting with version 1.1.0 this function returns the same value of PostGIS_Lib_Version. Kept for backward compatibility.

Availability: 0.9.0

Examples

SELECT PostGIS_Scripts_Released();
  postgis_scripts_released
-------------------------
 1.3.4SVN
(1 row)

Name

PostGIS_Uses_Stats — Returns TRUE if STATS usage has been enabled.

Synopsis

text PostGIS_Uses_Stats();

Description

Returns TRUE if STATS usage has been enabled, FALSE otherwise.

Examples

SELECT PostGIS_Uses_Stats();
 postgis_uses_stats
--------------------
 t
(1 row)

Name

PostGIS_Version — Returns PostGIS version number and compile-time options.

Synopsis

text PostGIS_Version();

Description

Returns PostGIS version number and compile-time options.

Examples

SELECT PostGIS_Version();
			postgis_version
---------------------------------------
 1.3 USE_GEOS=1 USE_PROJ=1 USE_STATS=1
(1 row)

Name

Populate_Geometry_Columns — Ensures geometry columns have appropriate spatial constraints and exist in the geometry_columns table.

Synopsis

text Populate_Geometry_Columns();

int Populate_Geometry_Columns(oid relation_oid);

Description

Ensures geometry columns have appropriate spatial constraints and exist in the geometry_columns table. In particular, this means that every geometry column belonging to a table has at least three constraints:

  • enforce_dims_the_geom - ensures every geometry has the same dimension (see ST_NDims)

  • enforce_geotype_the_geom - ensures every geometry is of the same type (see GeometryType)

  • enforce_srid_the_geom - ensures every geometry is in the same projection (see ST_SRID)

If a table oid is provided, this function tries to determine the srid, dimension, and geometry type of all geometry columns in the table, adding contraints as necessary. If successful, an appropriate row is inserted into the geometry_columns table, otherwise, the exception is caught and an error notice is raised describing the problem.

If the oid of a view is provided, as with a table oid, this function tries to determine the srid, dimension, and type of all the geometries in the view, inserting appropriate entries into the geometry_columns table, but nothing is done to enforce contraints.

The parameterless variant is a simple wrapper for the parameterized variant that first truncates and repopulates the geometry_columns table for every spatial table and view in the database, adding spatial contraints to tables where appropriate. It returns a summary of the number of geometry columns detected in the database and the number that were inserted into the geometry_columns table. The parameterized version simply returns the number of rows inserted into the geometry_columns table.

Availability: 1.4.0

Examples

SELECT Populate_Geometry_Columns('public.myspatial_table'::regclass);

Name

Probe_Geometry_Columns — Scans all tables with PostGIS geometry constraints and adds them to the geometry_columns table if they are not there.

Synopsis

text Probe_Geometry_Columns();

Description

Scans all tables with PostGIS geometry constraints and adds them to the geometry_columns table if they are not there. Also give stats on number of inserts and already present or possibly obsolete.

[Note]

This will usually only pick up records added by AddGeometryColumn() function. It will not scan views so views will need to be manually added to geometry_columns table.

Examples

SELECT Probe_Geometry_Columns();
			probe_geometry_columns
---------------------------------------
probed:6 inserted:0 conflicts:6 stale:0
(1 row)

Name

UpdateGeometrySRID — Updates the SRID of all features in a geometry column, geometry_columns metadata and srid table constraint

Synopsis

text UpdateGeometrySRID(varchar table_name, varchar column_name, integer srid);

text UpdateGeometrySRID(varchar schema_name, varchar table_name, varchar column_name, integer srid);

text UpdateGeometrySRID(varchar catalog_name, varchar schema_name, varchar table_name, varchar column_name, integer srid);

Description

Updates the SRID of all features in a geometry column, updating constraints and reference in geometry_columns. Note: uses current_schema() on schema-aware pgsql installations if schema is not provided.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

See Also

ST_SetSRID

7.3. Geometry Constructors

ST_BdPolyFromText — Construct a Polygon given an arbitrary collection of closed linestrings as a MultiLineString Well-Known text representation.
ST_BdMPolyFromText — Construct a MultiPolygon given an arbitrary collection of closed linestrings as a MultiLineString text representation Well-Known text representation.
ST_GeogFromText — Return a specified geography value from Well-Known Text representation or extended (WKT).
ST_GeographyFromText — Return a specified geography value from Well-Known Text representation or extended (WKT).
ST_GeogFromWKB — Creates a geography instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) or extended Well Known Binary (EWKB).
ST_GeomCollFromText — Makes a collection Geometry from collection WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1.
ST_GeomFromEWKB — Return a specified ST_Geometry value from Extended Well-Known Binary representation (EWKB).
ST_GeomFromEWKT — Return a specified ST_Geometry value from Extended Well-Known Text representation (EWKT).
ST_GeometryFromText — Return a specified ST_Geometry value from Well-Known Text representation (WKT). This is an alias name for ST_GeomFromText
ST_GeomFromGML — Takes as input GML representation of geometry and outputs a PostGIS geometry object
ST_GeomFromKML — Takes as input KML representation of geometry and outputs a PostGIS geometry object
ST_GMLToSQL — Return a specified ST_Geometry value from GML representation. This is an alias name for ST_GeomFromGML
ST_GeomFromText — Return a specified ST_Geometry value from Well-Known Text representation (WKT).
ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.
ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.
ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.
ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID
ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.
ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.
ST_MakeBox3D — Creates a BOX3D defined by the given 3d point geometries.
ST_MakeLine — Creates a Linestring from point geometries.
ST_MakeEnvelope — Creates a rectangular Polygon formed from the given minimums and maximums. Input values must be in SRS specified by the SRID.
ST_MakePolygon — Creates a Polygon formed by the given shell. Input geometries must be closed LINESTRINGS.
ST_MakePoint — Creates a 2D,3DZ or 4D point geometry.
ST_MakePointM — Creates a point geometry with an x y and m coordinate.
ST_MLineFromText — Return a specified ST_MultiLineString value from WKT representation.
ST_MPointFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1.
ST_MPolyFromText — Makes a MultiPolygon Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1.
ST_Point — Returns an ST_Point with the given coordinate values. OGC alias for ST_MakePoint.
ST_PointFromText — Makes a point Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to unknown.
ST_PointFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID
ST_Polygon — Returns a polygon built from the specified linestring and SRID.
ST_PolygonFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1.
ST_WKBToSQL — Return a specified ST_Geometry value from Well-Known Binary representation (WKB). This is an alias name for ST_GeomFromWKB that takes no srid
ST_WKTToSQL — Return a specified ST_Geometry value from Well-Known Text representation (WKT). This is an alias name for ST_GeomFromText

Name

ST_BdPolyFromText — Construct a Polygon given an arbitrary collection of closed linestrings as a MultiLineString Well-Known text representation.

Synopsis

geometry ST_BdPolyFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Construct a Polygon given an arbitrary collection of closed linestrings as a MultiLineString Well-Known text representation.

[Note]

Throws an error if WKT is not a MULTILINESTRING. Throws an error if output is a MULTIPOLYGON; use ST_BdMPolyFromText in that case, or see ST_BuildArea() for a postgis-specific approach.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

Availability: 1.1.0 - requires GEOS >= 2.1.0.

Examples

Forthcoming

Name

ST_BdMPolyFromText — Construct a MultiPolygon given an arbitrary collection of closed linestrings as a MultiLineString text representation Well-Known text representation.

Synopsis

geometry ST_BdMPolyFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Construct a Polygon given an arbitrary collection of closed linestrings, polygons, MultiLineStrings as Well-Known text representation.

[Note]

Throws an error if WKT is not a MULTILINESTRING. Forces MULTIPOLYGON output even when result is really only composed by a single POLYGON; use ST_BdPolyFromText if you're sure a single POLYGON will result from operation, or see ST_BuildArea() for a postgis-specific approach.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

Availability: 1.1.0 - requires GEOS >= 2.1.0.

Examples

Forthcoming

Name

ST_GeogFromText — Return a specified geography value from Well-Known Text representation or extended (WKT).

Synopsis

geography ST_GeogFromText(text EWKT);

Description

Returns a geography object from the well-known text or extended well-known representation. SRID 4326 is assumed. This is an alias for ST_GeographyFromText

Examples

--- converting lon lat coords to geography
ALTER TABLE sometable ADD COLUMN geog geography(POINT,4326);
UPDATE sometable SET geog = ST_GeogFromText('SRID=4326;POINT(' || lon || ' ' || lat || ')');		
			

Name

ST_GeographyFromText — Return a specified geography value from Well-Known Text representation or extended (WKT).

Synopsis

geography ST_GeographyFromText(text EWKT);

Description

Returns a geography object from the well-known text representation. SRID 4326 is assumed.

See Also

ST_AsText


Name

ST_GeogFromWKB — Creates a geography instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) or extended Well Known Binary (EWKB).

Synopsis

geography ST_GeogFromWKB(bytea geom);

Description

The ST_GeogFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation (WKB) of a geometry or PostGIS Extended WKB and creates an instance of the appropriate geography type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to 4326 (WGS 84 long lat).

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsText(
ST_GeogFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@')
);
					  st_astext
------------------------------------------------------
 LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)


Name

ST_GeomCollFromText — Makes a collection Geometry from collection WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomCollFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

geometry ST_GeomCollFromText(text WKT);

Description

Makes a collection Geometry from the Well-Known-Text (WKT) representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1.

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite

Returns null if the WKT is not a GEOMETRYCOLLECTION

[Note]

If you are absolutely sure all your WKT geometries are collections, don't use this function. It is slower than ST_GeomFromText since it adds an additional validation step.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification.

Examples

SELECT ST_GeomCollFromText('GEOMETRYCOLLECTION(POINT(1 2),LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4))');

Name

ST_GeomFromEWKB — Return a specified ST_Geometry value from Extended Well-Known Binary representation (EWKB).

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromEWKB(bytea EWKB);

Description

Constructs a PostGIS ST_Geometry object from the OGC Extended Well-Known binary (EWKT) representation.

[Note]

The EWKB format is not an OGC standard, but a PostGIS specific format that includes the spatial reference system (SRID) identifier

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

line string binary rep 0f LINESTRING(-71.160281 42.258729,-71.160837 42.259113,-71.161144 42.25932) in NAD 83 long lat (4269).

[Note]

NOTE: Even though byte arrays are delimited with \ and may have ', we need to escape both out with \ and ''. So it does not look exactly like its AsEWKB representation.

SELECT ST_GeomFromEWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000 \\255\\020\\000\\000\\003\\000\\000\\000\\344J=
\\013B\\312Q\\300n\\303(\\010\\036!E@''\\277E''K
\\312Q\\300\\366{b\\235*!E@\\225|\\354.P\\312Q
\\300p\\231\\323e1!E@');

Name

ST_GeomFromEWKT — Return a specified ST_Geometry value from Extended Well-Known Text representation (EWKT).

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromEWKT(text EWKT);

Description

Constructs a PostGIS ST_Geometry object from the OGC Extended Well-Known text (EWKT) representation.

[Note]

The EWKT format is not an OGC standard, but an PostGIS specific format that includes the spatial reference system (SRID) identifier

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

SELECT ST_GeomFromEWKT('SRID=4269;LINESTRING(-71.160281 42.258729,-71.160837 42.259113,-71.161144 42.25932)');
SELECT ST_GeomFromEWKT('SRID=4269;MULTILINESTRING((-71.160281 42.258729,-71.160837 42.259113,-71.161144 42.25932))');

SELECT ST_GeomFromEWKT('SRID=4269;POINT(-71.064544 42.28787)');

SELECT ST_GeomFromEWKT('SRID=4269;POLYGON((-71.1776585052917 42.3902909739571,-71.1776820268866 42.3903701743239,
-71.1776063012595 42.3903825660754,-71.1775826583081 42.3903033653531,-71.1776585052917 42.3902909739571))');

SELECT ST_GeomFromEWKT('SRID=4269;MULTIPOLYGON(((-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236,
-71.1031627617667 42.3152960829043,-71.102923838298 42.3149156848307,
-71.1023097974109 42.3151969047397,-71.1019285062273 42.3147384934248,
-71.102505233663 42.3144722937587,-71.10277487471 42.3141658254797,
-71.103113945163 42.3142739188902,-71.10324876416 42.31402489987,
-71.1033002961013 42.3140393340215,-71.1033488797549 42.3139495090772,
-71.103396240451 42.3138632439557,-71.1041521907712 42.3141153348029,
-71.1041411411543 42.3141545014533,-71.1041287795912 42.3142114839058,
-71.1041188134329 42.3142693656241,-71.1041112482575 42.3143272556118,
-71.1041072845732 42.3143851580048,-71.1041057218871 42.3144430686681,
-71.1041065602059 42.3145009876017,-71.1041097995362 42.3145589148055,
-71.1041166403905 42.3146168544148,-71.1041258822717 42.3146748022936,
-71.1041375307579 42.3147318674446,-71.1041492906949 42.3147711126569,
-71.1041598612795 42.314808571739,-71.1042515013869 42.3151287620809,
-71.1041173835118 42.3150739481917,-71.1040809891419 42.3151344119048,
-71.1040438678912 42.3151191367447,-71.1040194562988 42.3151832057859,
-71.1038734225584 42.3151140942995,-71.1038446938243 42.3151006300338,
-71.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))');

--3d circular string
SELECT ST_GeomFromEWKT('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415 1,220227 150505 2,220227 150406 3)');
	

Name

ST_GeometryFromText — Return a specified ST_Geometry value from Well-Known Text representation (WKT). This is an alias name for ST_GeomFromText

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeometryFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_GeometryFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1.

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.40


Name

ST_GeomFromGML — Takes as input GML representation of geometry and outputs a PostGIS geometry object

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromGML(text geomgml);

Description

Constructs a PostGIS ST_Geometry object from the OGC GML representation.

ST_GeomFromGML works only for GML Geometry fragments. It throws an error if you try to use it on a whole GML document.

OGC GML versions supported:

  • GML 3.2.1 Namespace

  • GML 3.1.1 Simple Features profile SF-2 (with GML 3.1.0 and 3.0.0 backward compatibility)

  • GML 2.1.2

OGC GML standards, cf: http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/gml:

Availability: 1.5

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

GML allow mixed dimensions (2D and 3D inside the same MultiGeometry for instance). As PostGIS geometries don't, ST_GeomFromGML convert the whole geometry to 2D if a missing Z dimension is found once.

GML support mixed SRS inside the same MultiGeometry. As PostGIS geometries don't, ST_GeomFromGML, in this case, reproject all subgeometries to the SRS root node. If no srsName attribute available for the GML root node, the function throw an error.

ST_GeomFromGML function is not pedantic about an explicit GML namespace. You could avoid to mention it explicitly for common usages. But you need it if you want to use XLink feature inside GML.

[Note]

ST_GeomFromGML function not support SQL/MM curves geometries.

Examples - A single geometry with srsName

SELECT ST_GeomFromGML('
		<gml:LineString srsName="EPSG:4269">
			<gml:coordinates>
				-71.16028,42.258729 -71.160837,42.259112 -71.161143,42.25932
			</gml:coordinates>
		</gml:LineString>');
		

Examples - XLink usage

ST_GeomFromGML('
		<gml:LineString xmlns:gml="http://www.opengis.net/gml" 
				xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
				srsName="urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::4269">
			<gml:pointProperty>
				<gml:Point gml:id="p1"><gml:pos>42.258729 -71.16028</gml:pos></gml:Point>
			</gml:pointProperty>
			<gml:pos>42.259112 -71.160837</gml:pos>
			<gml:pointProperty>
				<gml:Point xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="#p1"/>
			</gml:pointProperty>
		</gml:LineString>'););
		

Name

ST_GeomFromKML — Takes as input KML representation of geometry and outputs a PostGIS geometry object

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromKML(text geomkml);

Description

Constructs a PostGIS ST_Geometry object from the OGC KML representation.

ST_GeomFromKML works only for KML Geometry fragments. It throws an error if you try to use it on a whole KML document.

OGC KML versions supported:

  • KML 2.2.0 Namespace

OGC KML standards, cf: http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/kml:

Availability: 1.5

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

[Note]

ST_GeomFromKML function not support SQL/MM curves geometries.

Examples - A single geometry with srsName

SELECT ST_GeomFromKML('
		<LineString>
			<coordinates>-71.1663,42.2614 
				-71.1667,42.2616</coordinates>
		</LineString>');
		

See Also

ST_AsKML


Name

ST_GMLToSQL — Return a specified ST_Geometry value from GML representation. This is an alias name for ST_GeomFromGML

Synopsis

geometry ST_GMLToSQL(text geomgml);

Description

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.50 (except for curves support).

Availability: 1.5


Name

ST_GeomFromText — Return a specified ST_Geometry value from Well-Known Text representation (WKT).

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_GeomFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Constructs a PostGIS ST_Geometry object from the OGC Well-Known text representation.

[Note]

There are 2 variants of ST_GeomFromText function, the first takes no SRID and returns a geometry with no defined spatial reference system. The second takes a spatial reference id as the second argument and returns an ST_Geometry that includes this srid as part of its meta-data. The srid must be defined in the spatial_ref_sys table.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.40

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(-71.160281 42.258729,-71.160837 42.259113,-71.161144 42.25932)');
SELECT ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(-71.160281 42.258729,-71.160837 42.259113,-71.161144 42.25932)',4269);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('MULTILINESTRING((-71.160281 42.258729,-71.160837 42.259113,-71.161144 42.25932))');

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('POINT(-71.064544 42.28787)');

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('POLYGON((-71.1776585052917 42.3902909739571,-71.1776820268866 42.3903701743239,
-71.1776063012595 42.3903825660754,-71.1775826583081 42.3903033653531,-71.1776585052917 42.3902909739571))');

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('MULTIPOLYGON(((-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236,
-71.1031627617667 42.3152960829043,-71.102923838298 42.3149156848307,
-71.1023097974109 42.3151969047397,-71.1019285062273 42.3147384934248,
-71.102505233663 42.3144722937587,-71.10277487471 42.3141658254797,
-71.103113945163 42.3142739188902,-71.10324876416 42.31402489987,
-71.1033002961013 42.3140393340215,-71.1033488797549 42.3139495090772,
-71.103396240451 42.3138632439557,-71.1041521907712 42.3141153348029,
-71.1041411411543 42.3141545014533,-71.1041287795912 42.3142114839058,
-71.1041188134329 42.3142693656241,-71.1041112482575 42.3143272556118,
-71.1041072845732 42.3143851580048,-71.1041057218871 42.3144430686681,
-71.1041065602059 42.3145009876017,-71.1041097995362 42.3145589148055,
-71.1041166403905 42.3146168544148,-71.1041258822717 42.3146748022936,
-71.1041375307579 42.3147318674446,-71.1041492906949 42.3147711126569,
-71.1041598612795 42.314808571739,-71.1042515013869 42.3151287620809,
-71.1041173835118 42.3150739481917,-71.1040809891419 42.3151344119048,
-71.1040438678912 42.3151191367447,-71.1040194562988 42.3151832057859,
-71.1038734225584 42.3151140942995,-71.1038446938243 42.3151006300338,
-71.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a LINESTRING from WKB with the given SRID

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LineFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LineFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LinestringFromWKB — Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB);

geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB(bytea WKB, integer srid);

Description

The ST_LinestringFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a LINESTRING geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1. NULL is returned if the input bytea does not represent a LINESTRING geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGs, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a LINESTRING.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

Examples

SELECT
  ST_LineStringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
  ) AS aline,
  ST_LinestringFromWKB(
	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
  ) IS NULL AS null_return;
   aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

Name

ST_MakeBox2D — Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries.

Synopsis

box2d ST_MakeBox2D(geometry pointLowLeft, geometry pointUpRight);

Description

Creates a BOX2D defined by the given point geometries. This is useful for doing range queries

Examples

--Return all features that fall reside or partly reside in a US national atlas coordinate bounding box
--It is assumed here that the geometries are stored with SRID = 2163 (US National atlas equal area)
SELECT feature_id, feature_name, the_geom
FROM features
WHERE the_geom && ST_Se.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
-71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
-71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
-71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');
	

Name

ST_GeomFromWKB — Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

Synopsis

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom);

geometry ST_GeomFromWKB(bytea geom, integer srid);

Description

The ST_GeomFromWKB function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (SRID) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to -1 (Unknown).

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

This method supports Circular Strings and Curves

Examples

--Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
);
					  st_asewkt
------------------------------------------------------
 SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
(1 row)

SELECT
  ST_AsText(
	ST_GeomFromWKB(
	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
	)
  );
 st_astext
------------
 POINT(2 5)
(1 row)

Name

ST_LineFromMultiPoint — Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromMultiPoint(geometry aMultiPoint);

Description

Creates a LineString from a MultiPoint geometry.

This function supports 3d and will not drop the z-index.

Examples

--Create a 3d line string from a 3d multipoint
SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromMultiPoint(ST_GeomFromEWKT('MULTIPOINT(1 2 3, 4 5 6, 7 8 9)')));
--result--
LINESTRING(1 2 3,4 5 6,7 8 9)
		

Name

ST_LineFromText — Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to -1.

Synopsis

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT);

geometry ST_LineFromText(text WKT, integer srid);

Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not give, it defaults to -1. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

[Note]

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

[Note]

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

This method implements the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL 1.1. s3.2.6.2

This method implements the SQL/MM specification. SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

Examples

SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
aline                            | null_return
------------------------------------------------
010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t
		

Name

ST_LineFromWKB — Makes a