Geographical,Databases:,PostGIS,

Introduction,
PostGIS(is(an(extension(of(PostgresSQL(for(storing(and(analyzing(spatial(data.(It(
defines(data(types(and(operations(to(process((mostly)(vector(data.(It(has(
extensive(support(for(importing(and(exporting(geographical(data(from(other(
platforms(and(supporting(visualization(tools.(
These(exercises(will(provide(an(overview(of(what(PostGIS,(and(more(generally(
Geographical(Information(Systems(can(do(and(how(to(use(them.(Well(build(a(
new(spatial(database(from(a(conceptual(schema(and(export(the(data(as(
Shapefiles,(visualize(them(in(a(GIS(viewer,(then(import(other(shapefiles(into(
PostGIS(and(query(them(through(PostGISs(spatial(operators.(
Text

References,
PostgreSQL: http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.2/interactive/index.html
PostGIS: http://postgis.org/documentation/manual-2.0/
QuantumGIS: http://www.qgis.org/
Connection,parameters,
Well(be(using(PostGIS(2.0.1(on(Postgres(9.2.1.(
Host:(164.15.78.59(
164.15.81.95
Database(name:(infoh415_2((infoh415_20(
Donwload(scripts(at(http://cs.ulb.ac.be/public/teaching/infoh415/tp((

Creating,a,new,database,
A(PostGIS(database(is(essentially(a(Postgres(database(containing(several(
predefined(datatypes(and(tables.(The(infoh415_##(databases(are(empty(at(the(
moment.(Choose(a(number(and(use(the(following(command(to(make(them(postgis(
databases:(
psql%h%164.15.78.59%0d%infoh415_1%0c%"CREATE%EXTENSION%
164.15.81.95
##
postgis;"%-U sdi##
This(builds(a(number(of(tables(that(will(be(used(to(store(geographic(data.(
Observe(the(created(tables(using(postgres(shell(client.(From the OS shell, psql%
00help displays most of the commands youll need.(
psql%h%164.15.78.59%0d%infoh415_1%
## -U sdi##
164.15.81.95
psql%(9.2.1)%
Type%"help"%for%help.%
%
postgis=#%\d%
Note: Use \q to quit the psql.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%List%of%relations%
%Schema%|%%%%%%%Name%%%%%%%%|%Type%%|%%Owner%%%%
00000000+0000000000000000000+0000000+0000000000%
%public%|%geography_columns%|%view%%|%sboucher%
%public%|%geometry_columns%%|%view%%|%sboucher%
%public%|%raster_columns%%%%|%view%%|%sboucher%
%public%|%raster_overviews%%|%view%%|%sboucher%
%public%|%spatial_ref_sys%%%|%table%|%sboucher%
(5%rows)%
%
postgis=#%\d%geography_columns%
%%%%%View%"public.geography_columns"%
%%%%%%%Column%%%%%%%|%%Type%%%|%Modifiers%%
00000000000000000000+000000000+00000000000%
%f_table_catalog%%%%|%name%%%%|%%
%f_table_schema%%%%%|%name%%%%|%%
%f_table_name%%%%%%%|%name%%%%|%%
%f_geography_column%|%name%%%%|%%
%coord_dimension%%%%|%integer%|%%
%srid%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%|%integer%|%%
%type%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%|%text%%%%|%%
(

Creating,a,geographical,database,
Build,your,own,
At(first(well(create(a(small(database(from(scratch,(containing(the(Brussels(Region(
as(a(polygon,(and(several(cities(in(and(around(it.((

Creating,the,tables,
First,(create(the(tables(without(geometry(columns,(as(youd(do(for(any(SQL(
database:(
CREATE%TABLE%"regions"%(%
%%"id"%%%serial%primary%key,%
%%"name"%varchar(17));%
%
CREATE%TABLE%"cities"%(%
%%"id"%%%serial%primary%key,%
%%"name"%varchar(20));%
%
Then,(add(geometry(columns.(This(relies(on(a(PostGIS(function,((see(
http://postgis.org/docs/AddGeometryColumn.html()(:(
SELECT%
AddGeometryColumn('regions','geom','4326','MULTIPOLYGON',2);%
SELECT%AddGeometryColumn('cities','geom','4326','POINT',2);%
(

Question: what does the 4326 refer to?

Its time to populate the database. PostGIS stores coordinates in a binary
format, but we can generate it using the ST_GeomFromText function:
INSERT%INTO%"cities"%("name",%geom)%VALUES%
('Ixelles',%ST_GeomFromText('POINT(4.377307%50.828844)',%
4326)),%
('Anderlecht',%ST_GeomFromText('POINT(4.311476%
50.838283)',%4326)),%
('Jette',%ST_GeomFromText('POINT(4.336345%50.882989)',%
4326)),%
('Uccle',%ST_GeomFromText('POINT(4.372532%50.796875)',%
4326)),%
('Sint0Pieters0Woluwe',%ST_GeomFromText('POINT(4.434936%
50.838888)',%4326)),%
('Watermaal0Bosvoorde',%ST_GeomFromText('POINT(4.418119%
50.799759)',%4326)),%
('Zaventem',%ST_GeomFromText('POINT(4.474544%50.888983)',%
4326));%
INSERT%INTO%regions%(name,%geom)%
VALUES%('Brussel0Hoofstad',%
ST_GeomFromText('MULTIPOLYGON(((4.479645%50.822743,4.457515%
50.820229,4.456853%50.817054,4.45187%50.813328,4.45194%
50.811219,4.457141%50.812188,4.460937%50.813218,4.458989%
50.810348,4.456116%50.808439,4.486724%50.797359,4.475172%
50.791591,4.454373%50.783902,4.439379%50.778243,4.435901%
50.779246,4.421607%50.775625,4.416667%50.774577,4.402251%
50.77087,4.387639%50.765453,4.387318%50.767396,4.384095%
50.772136,4.383319%50.772448,4.375609%50.774116,4.364969%
50.775656,4.35601%50.776492,4.347556%50.777496,4.338407%
50.776461,4.333619%50.778414,4.329975%50.780467,4.324307%
50.789305,4.322575%50.79504,4.317525%50.800722,4.309047%
50.802291,4.308363%50.803579,4.308465%50.804311,4.30964%
50.80717,4.311257%50.811984,4.311522%50.815316,4.307527%
50.816388,4.303343%50.815591,4.301754%50.813618,4.301211%
50.810931,4.294128%50.809113,4.289011%50.809436,4.285491%
50.811489,4.282386%50.812657,4.277631%50.813553,4.268556%
50.813893,4.265531%50.816359,4.263138%50.818998,4.256857%
50.819707,4.254612%50.82178,4.250028%50.821461,4.251942%
50.824982,4.256682%50.828063,4.259648%50.830789,4.260635%
50.835269,4.262463%50.837653,4.268154%50.839206,4.275046%
50.839319,4.277955%50.840096,4.288646%50.841081,4.290085%
50.843701,4.291939%50.845435,4.291858%50.847707,4.290091%
50.850681,4.292963%50.852513,4.292229%50.855179,4.291524%
50.857034,4.294124%50.859349,4.286354%50.862307,4.284119%
50.867627,4.285793%50.870819,4.294436%50.875666,4.299716%

50.878105,4.305949%50.882506,4.307293%50.884232,4.305059%
50.885981,4.303219%50.887413,4.301968%50.890233,4.302662%
50.892273,4.307749%50.893004,4.319537%50.89579,4.324096%
50.896998,4.330009%50.899689,4.337384%50.904432,4.341859%
50.904421,4.352447%50.905075,4.365646%50.904144,4.378209%
50.903121,4.383628%50.901663,4.387152%50.903259,4.390386%
50.909639,4.393336%50.913093,4.400666%50.91564,4.41137%
50.916696,4.417836%50.914521,4.417774%50.912572,4.420493%
50.911558,4.42832%50.906887,4.428396%50.904615,4.430256%
50.902533,4.431213%50.90068,4.435338%50.895791,4.431019%
50.891181,4.439619%50.882381,4.434035%50.881243,4.431428%
50.878931,4.429613%50.875901,4.42742%50.868888,4.430542%
50.863415,4.434736%50.864046,4.43563%50.86406,4.439634%
50.862739,4.44479%50.861355,4.448267%50.860514,4.451311%
50.857312,4.460166%50.856063,4.464033%50.854983,4.465028%
50.851913,4.469804%50.846463,4.471775%50.844788,4.471915%
50.840488,4.470134%50.836404,4.475079%50.829658,4.479645%
50.822743)))',%4326));%

You can either copy and paste the following, or execute the insertion.sql%
script, thus:
\i%insertion.sql%
Finally, indices are especially important for geographical data and get
absolutely essential even for relatively small row counts. (A few thousands.)
Add indices to your geometry columns using the following syntax:
create%index%cities_geom_idx%on%cities%USING%GIST%(geom);%
create%index%regions_geom_idx%on%regions%USING%GIST%(geom);%
vacuum%analyze;%00%resets%query%optimizer%statistics%

Visualizing,data,
Obviously(it(is(extremely(hard(to(make(any(sense(of(geographical(data(just(by(
reading(geographical(coordinates.(PostGIS(doesnt(support(visualization(directly,(
but(many(commercial(and(open_source(GIS(can(read(data(from(a(PostGIS(
database.(
Launch(QuantumGIS(with(the(qgis%&(command(and,(in(a(new(project,(add(a(
PostGIS(layer.(Create(a(new(connection(with(the(following(parameters:(
Host:(164.15.78.59(
164.15.81.95
Port:(5432(
Database:(//(your(database(
Click(Connect,(select(all(layers(and(then(click(Add.(You(should(see(the(map(
displayed(in(the(main(window.(Try(panning(and(zooming(around,(as(well(as(
hiding(and(reordering(layers(with(the(Layers(panel.(

Exporting,and,Importing,
Exporting,
PostGIS(makes(it(easy(to(export(a(table(in(the(commonly(used(Shapefile(format:(
164.15.81.95 -u sdi## -P sdi infoh415_## regions
pgsql2shp%h%164.15.78.59%postgis%regions%%
pgsql2shp%h%164.15.78.59%postgis%cities%
164.15.81.95 -u sdi## -P sdi infoh415_## cities

Look(at(how(many(files(you(get(for(each(table.(What(does(each(of(them(do(?(
Open(the(shapefiles(in(a(new(QuantumGIS(project(by(dragging(the(.shp%files(in(
the(layer(column.(

Importing,
The(shp2pgsql(command(predictably(handles(the(opposite(operation.(First(
check(out(its(parameters(with(the(shp2pgsql%00help(command.(Note(that(
shp2pgsql(only(generates(SQL(statements,(it(doesnt(executes(them(by(itself.(To(
make(the(actual(insert(you(need(to(execute(the(generated(.sql(files,(or(pipe(
shp2pgsqls(output(directly(to(psql.(
Download(the(shapefiles.tar.gz(file(from(the(exercises(web(page(and(import(
the(following(files(into(your(PostGIS(database:(
bel_city.shp(
bel_dist.shp(
bel_prov.shp(
bel_regn.shp(
belriver.shp(
Explore(the(created(tables(with(psql.(Start(a(new(project(in(QuantumGIS(and(load(
all(these(layers.(Define(SRID(Rearrange(the(layers(to(make(sure(you(see(whats(on(
each(one.(Study(the(different(features(with(QuantumGIS(Identify(Features%
tool.(

SRID,
The(Shapefiles(you(imported(did(not(specify(a(Coordinate(Reference(System.(In(
psql,(update(all(new(tables(to(use(WGS84.(

Spatial,queries,
Write(down(and(execute(the(following(queries:(
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Get(the(SRID(from(table(cities.(
Get(a(textual(description(for(this(SRID.(
Get(the(dimension(of(geographical(objects(in(that(table.(
Get(the(geometry(type(of(these(objects.(
Compute(the(distance(between(the(cities(of(IXELLES(and(BRUGES.(
Compute(the(bounding(rectangle(for(the(BRABANT(province.(
Compute(the((geographical)(union(of(the(bel_regn(and(bel_prov(tables.(

8. Compute(the(length(of(each(river(
9. Create(a(table(containing(all(cities(that(stand(less(than(1000m(from(a(
river.(
10. For(each(river,(compute(the(length(of(its(path(inside(each(province(it(
traverses.(
(