UNIT IV (Vector Data Model)

G.BHOGAYYA NAIDU
Associate Professor, VBIT, HYD
Syllabus:
Vector Data Model: Representation of simple features- Topology and its importance; coverage
and its data structure, Shape file; Data models for composite features Object Based Vector Data
Model; Classes and their Relationship; The geobase data model; Geometric representation of
Spatial Feature and data structure, Topology rules.

Vector Data Model:

To prepare spatial data for computer processing, the vector data model first uses
points and their x- and y- coordinates to represent spatial features as points, lines, and
areas. Then it organizes geometric objects and their spatial relationships into digital
data files that the computer can access, interpret, and process.
 A point (node, vertex or 0-cell) has 0 dimension and has only the property of
dimension.ƒ
 A line (edge, link, chain, 1-cell) has 1 dimension and has the property of length.
ƒ
 An area (polygon, face, zone, 2-cells) has 2 dimension and has the property of
area and boundary.
 ƒ The basic units of vector data model are points and their coordinates. ƒ
 A line feature is made of points. – See Figure 3.2 ƒ An area feature is defined by
lines. – See Figure 3.3
Vector data model comprises discrete features. Features can be discrete locations
or events (points), lines, or areas (polygons). This model uses the geometric
objects of point, line and polygon (Fig. 5.5). In vector model, the point is the
fundamental object. Point represents anything that can be described as a discrete
x,y location (e.g., hospital, temple, well, etc.). Line or polyline (sequence of lines)
is created by connecting the sequence of points. End points are usually called as
nodes and the intermediate points are termed as vertices. If we know the start and
end node coordinates of each line or polyline we can compute the length of line or
polyline. These are used to represent features that are linear in nature e.g., stream,
rail, road, etc. Polygon is defined in this model by a closed set of lines or
polylines. Areas are often referred to as polygons. A polygon can be represented
by a sequence of nodes where the last node is equal to the first node. Polygons or
areas identified as closed set of lines are used to define features such as rock type,
land use, administration boundaries, etc.
 The simplest vector data model stores and organises the data without establishing
relationships among the geographic features are generally called as spaghetti
model. In this model, lines in the database overlap but do not intersect, just like
spaghetti on a plate. The polygon features are defined by lines which do not have
any concept of start and end node or intersection node. However, the polygons are
hatched or coloured manually to represent something. There is no data attached to
it and, therefore, no data analysis is possible in the spaghetti model (Fig. 5.7)
(Rolf, 2001).
______________________________________________________________________

REPRESENTATION OF SIMPLE FEATURES:

The vector data model uses the geometric objects of point, line, and area to
represent simple spatial features; Dimensionality and property distinguish the three types
of geometric objects as well as the features they represent.
A point has 0 dim, and has only the property of location. Called as node, vertex,
or 0 – cell, e.g. wells, benchmarks, gravel pits.
A line is a one - dim, and has the property of length. A line has two end points
and points in between to mark the shape of the line. The shape of a line may be a smooth
curve or a connection of Straight line segments. Smooth curves are typically fitted by
mathematical equations such as splines. Straight line segments may represent human
made features - canals and streets, or they may simply be approximations of curves. A
line is also called an edge, link, chain, or 1- cell. A line feature is made of lines, roads,
streams, and contour lines are examples of line features.
 An area is two-dimensional and has the property of area (size) and perimeter.
Made of connected lines, an area may be alone or share boundaries with other area. An
area may contain holes, such as a national forest containing private land parcels. The
existence of holes means that the area has both external and internal boundaries. Called a
polygon, face, zone, or 2-cell. An area feature is made of polygons. E.g. water bodies,
Agricultural land, parks, Buildings etc.
The representation of simple features using points, lines and area is not always straight
forward it can depend on map scale. For example, a city on a 1:1, 00, 000 scale map may
appear as an area on a 1:24,000 scale map. Occasionally, the representation of vector data
can be

_______________________________________________________________________

TOPOLOGY AND ITS IMPORTANCE:

Topology studies properties of spaces that are invariant under any continuous
deformation. It is sometimes called "rubber-sheet geometry" because the objects can be
stretched and contracted like rubber, but cannot be broken. For example, a square can be
deformed into a circle without breaking it, but a figure 8 cannot.
A GIS topology is a set of rules and behaviors that model how points, lines, and
polygons share coincident geometry. For example: Adjacent features, such as two
counties, will have a common boundary between them. They share this edge.
Diagrams or graphs are used in topology for studying the arrangements of geometric
objects and the relationships between objects.
Topology has at least two main advantages. One, it ensures Data quality. Two, it can
enhance GIS analysis. Topology deals with spatial properties that do not change under
specific transformations:
✓ The neighbourhood relationships between the areas remain, and the boundary lines
have the same start and end nodes.
✓ The areas are still bounded by the same boundary lines, only the shapes and lengths of
their perimeters have changed.
Topology is the branch of mathematics used to define spatial relationships between
entities (ESRI, 1999). GIS conveys information by graphic symbolization (points, lines,
and polygons), and retains spatial relationships mathematically through the concept of
topology. For example, when you stand on a hill and look down on a landscape, you can
easily identify intersecting streets and adjacent properties. The mathematical logic, a
computer uses to identify these relationships, is topology. Topology can be ―stored‖ as
topological data model (geometric correction of the data) but you can also use topology
for analysis on non-topological data. Creating and storing topological relationships have a
number of advantages:
Data is stored efficiently, so large datasets can be processed quickly.
✓ Allows the computer to rapidly determine and analyze the spatial relationships of all
features.
✓ Ensuring geometric correctness of the data
✓ Improved data quality - detecting and correcting digitizing errors and validates data to
make ✓ them accurate and error-free at all times.
✓ Carrying out some types of spatial analysis (selections, network analysis)
▪ Find all light poles that are inside pasture
▪ Find all the plots adjacent to a river
▪ Network analysis
✓ GIS queries that can be optimized by pre-computing and storing information about
topological relationships. Some common examples include:
a. Network tracing (e.g., find all connected water pipes and fittings).
b. Polygon adjacency (e.g., who owns the parcels adjoining those owned by a specific
owner?). c. Containment (e.g., which manholes lie within the pavement area of a given
street?).
d. Intersection (e.g., which census tracts intersect with a set of health areas?).

1. Topological/ spatial relationships

Topology explicitly defines spatial relationships between connecting or adjacent
features in geographic data. The geometric relationship between spatial entities and the
corresponding attributes are crucial for spatial analysis and integration in GIS (M. Anji
Reddy, 2008). The inclusion of topology into the data model allows a single line to
represent the shared boundary to denote which side of the line belongs with which
polygon. The spatial relationships are expressed as lists (for example, a polygon is
defined by the list of arcs comprising its border). Topological relationships are built from
simple elements into more complex elements:
✓ Nodes define line segments
✓ Line segments connect to define lines
✓ Lines define polygons
Figure No 1. Shows eight spatial relationships: Disjoint, meets, equals, inside, covered
by, contains, covers, and overlaps. How can spatial relationships be used? These
relationships can be used, for instance, in queries on a spatial database.
✓ Find all light poles that are inside pasture
✓ Find all the plots adjacent to a river Topological relationships can also be used to
ensure topological consistency of space. The rules presented and illustrated in Figure No
6 are satisfied for all features in 2D space, then the features define a topologically
consistent configuration in 2D space.

Figure No:1. Spatial relationships between two regions derived from the topological
invariants of intersections of boundary and interior
Topology, as it relates to spatial data, consists of three elements: adjacency, containment
and connectivity. Adjacency and containment describe the geometric relationships that
exist between area features. Containment is an extension of adjacency that describes area
features which may be wholly contained within another area feature. These three
topological relationships will ensure that:
✓ No node or line segment is duplicated;
✓ Line segments and nodes can be referenced to more than one polygon;
✓ All polygons have unique identifiers; and
✓ Island and hole polygons can be adequately represented

1. Connectivity
Connectivity is a geometric property used to describe the linkages between line features,
like road network. Connectivity allows you to identify a route to the airport, connect
streams to rivers, or follow a path from the water treatment plant to a house. This is the
basis for many network tracing and path finding operations. In the arc-node data
structure, arcs connect to each other at nodes and have both a from-node (i.e., starting
node) indicating where the arc begins and a to-node (i.e., ending node) indicating where
the arc ends. This is called arc-node topology. Arc-node topology is supported through an
arc-node list. The list identifies the fromand to-nodes for each arc. Connected arcs are
determined by searching through the list for common node numbers. In Figure No 3, arcs
1, 2, and 3 all intersect because they share node 11. It is possible to travel along arc 1 and
turn onto arc 3 because they share a common node (11), but it is not possible to turn
directly from arc 1 onto arc 5 because they do not share a common node. Connectivity
answers which line segments are connected?” for network analysis.
2. Area definition/ containment:
Containment is an extension of the adjacency that describes area features which
may be wholly contained within another area feature. For instance, an island defines an
inner boundary (or hole) of a polygon. The lake actually has two boundaries: one that
defines its outer edge and the island that defines its inner edge. In the terminology of the
vector model, an island defines an inner boundary (or hole) of a polygon. The arc-node
structure represents polygons as an ordered list of arcs rather than a closed loop of x, y
coordinates. The arc-node structure represents polygons as an ordered list of arcs rather
than a closed loop of (x, y) coordinates – known as polygon-arc topology.
In Figure No 4, polygon F is made up of arcs 8, 9, 10, and 7 (the 0 before the 7 indicates
that this arc creates an island in the polygon). Each arc appears in two polygons (in the
illustration below, arc 6 appears in the list for polygons B and C). Since the polygon is
simply the list of arcs defining its boundary, arc coordinates are stored only once, thereby
reducing the amount of data and ensuring that the boundaries of adjacent polygons do not
overlap. Containment answers, “Which spatial features are contained within which?” and
used for selection or geocoding
3. Contiguity or adjacency:
Contiguity is the topological concept that allows the vector data model to
determine adjacency of features share a boundary. This is the basis for many neighbor
and overlay operations. Areas can be described as being adjacent when they share a
common boundary. The from-node and the to-node define an arc. Arcs have direction and
left and right sides so the polygons on its left and right sides can be determined. In Figure
No 5, polygon B is on the left of arc 6, and polygon C is on the right. Thus, polygons B
and C are adjacent. Notice that the label for polygon A is outside the boundary of the
area. This polygon is called the external, or universe, polygon and represents the world
outside the study area. The universe polygon ensures that each arc always has a left and
right side. Adjacency answers “Which polygons are adjacent to which?” and used in
spatial analysis of areal data
 Rules of topological consistency:
Feature Rules
Type
Polygon must not overlap, must not have gaps, must not overlap with, must be covered by feature class
of, must cover each other, must be covered by, boundary must be covered by, area boundary
must be covered by boundary of, and contains point
Line must not overlap, must not intersect, must not have dangles, must not have pseudo-nodes,
must not intersect or touch interior, must not overlap with, must be covered by feature class
of, must be covered by boundary of, endpoint must be covered by, must not self overlap, must
not self intersect, and must be single part
Point must be covered by boundary of, must be properly inside polygons, must be covered by
endpoint of, and must be covered by line
Topology is a set of rules that models the relationships between neighbouring points,
lines, and polygons to determine how they share geometry. There are five rules of
topological consistency:
✓ Rule 1: Every arc must be bounded by two ‗nodes ‘, namely it begins and end node
✓ Rule 2: Every arc border two ‗polygons ‘, namely its ‗left ‘and ‗right ‘polygons
✓ Rule 3: Every polygon has a closed boundary consisting of an alternating (and cyclic)
sequence of nodes and arcs.
✓ Rule 4: Around every node exists an alternating (and cyclic) sequence of arcs and
polygons. ✓ Rule 5: -Arcs only intersect at their (bounding) nodes.
______________________________________________________________________
COMMON TOPOLOGICAL ERRORS IN GIS AND DETECTION:
Topological information permits an automatic verification of data consistency and
detects such errors as incomplete closing polygons during the encoding process. In the
case of polygon features, open or unclosed polygons, which occur when an arc does not
completely loop back upon itself; and unlabelled polygons, which occur when an area
does not contain any attribute information, violate polygon-arc topology rules. Another
topological error is sliver polygons, which are small, long and narrow polygons resulting
from the overlay operation of polygons with a common but separately digitized
boundary. The shared boundary of the two polygons does not meet exactly. In the case of
line features, the common error types are undershot and overshoot of lines (see Figure
No.7).
_______________________________________________________________________

TOPOLOGY IN A GEODATABASE:
The vector data model in ARC/INFO supports the topological concepts of
connectivity, area definition and contiguity. Every topology in the geodatabase is
associated with a set of topology rules. Topology rules can be defined for the features
within a feature class or alternatively for features between two feature classes. When a
topology is validated, the rules are tested. ArcGIS topology begins with the definition of
parameters to be included through a wizard in ArcCatalog. ArcGIS topologies have the
following characteristics:
They exist within feature datasets
✓ All participating feature classes have the same spatial reference.
✓ There can be multiple topologies within a data set.
✓ Feature classes can only participate in one topology.
✓ Feature classes cannot participate in both a topology and a geometric network.
✓ A topology can contain multiple point, line, and polygon feature classes.
The ArcGIS Geodatabase topology can be employed to:
1. Mange shared geometry, for example adjacent polygons share edges
2. Define and enforce data integrity rules (no gaps in between polygons)
3. Support topological relationships queries
4. Support sophisticated editing tools
5. Construct features from unstructured geometries
Spatial relationships express specifically how features share coincident geometry along
with the rules for the behavior of their spatial representations. For example, some
common spatial relationships and rules include the following:
✓ Parcels cannot overlap. Adjacent parcels have shared boundaries.
✓ Stream lines cannot overlap and must connect to one another at their endpoints.
✓ Adjacent counties have shared edges. Counties must completely cover and nest within
states. ✓ Adjacent Census Blocks have shared edges. Census Blocks must not overlap,
and Census Blocks must completely cover and nest within Block Groups.
✓ Road centrelines must connect at their endpoints.
✓ Road centrelines and Census Blocks share coincident geometry (edges and nodes).
Each of these situations defines a potential case for using topology rules to maintain data
integrity.
__________________________________________________________________
TIGER DATABASE:
Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing, or TIGER,
or TIGER/Line is a digital database developed by the United States Census Bureau to
map land topography, define their locations and their proximity to roads, buildings,
rivers, and lakes. Enumerated topographic features are integrated into the Census
Bureau's database and used in sample surveys and censuses. TIGER provides a
standardized method of measuring topography and its relation to infrastructure. Its
purpose is fulfilled in creating an automated mapping resource with which census tracts
can be measured without error.
TIGER was first employed during the 1990 census to support and automate the Bureau's
process of taking the Decennial Census. Since then, TIGER has been used to survey land
coverage of the United States and all of its territories, produce maps for a variety of
programs and uses, and assign addresses to individual land tracts formed along natural
and infrastructural borders.
All aspects of TIGER, including the data model, data structure, user interface, software
applications, and map creation process, were developed in-house by Census Bureau staff,
along with help from the USGS. Hydrography, railroads, and other features were scanned
or digitized from USGS topographic maps (1:1,00,000 scale), and combined with updated
addressing data from DIME and topology added. The process was automated with use
of batch processing, though staff manually digitized from 1:24,000 scale annotated USGS
maps to make updates to the TIGER data
_______________________________________________________________________

THE COVERAGE DATA STRUCTURE:

The coverage supports three basic relations:
1. Connectivity: Arcs connect each other
2. Area Definition: An area is defined by a series of connected arcs.
3. Contiguity: Arcs have direction and left and right polygon
The coverage model incorporates the topological relationships into the structure of
feature data. The data structure of point coverage is simple: It contains feature
identification numbers (IDs) and pairs of x- and y- coordinate (fig. 3.7)
Fig. 3.8 shows the data structure of line coverage. The starting point of an arc is the
from-node and the end point the to-node. The arc-node list sorts out the arc-node
relationship For example; arc 2 has 12 as the from-node and 13 as the to-node. The
arc-coordinate list shows the x, y – coordinates of the from-node, the to-node, and
other points (vertices) that makeup each arc. For example 3 consists of the front-node
at (2,9), the to-node (4,2), and two vertices at (2,6) and (4,4). Arc 3 therefore has
three lines segments.
Fig. 3.9. shows the data structure of a polygon coverage. The polygon/arc list
shows the relationship between polygons and arcs. For example arcs 1, 4, and 6
connect to define polygon 101. Polygon 104 defines from the other polygons because
it is surrounded by polygon 102. To show that polygon 104 is a hole within polygon
102, the arc list for polygon 102 contains a zero to separate external and internal
boundaries, polygon 104 is also an isolated polygon contains only one arc (7). A node
(15) is placed along the arc to be the beginning and end node. Polygon 100, which is
outside the map area, is the external or universe polygon.
The lest/right list in fig. 3.9. shows the relationship between arcs and their left
and right polygons. For example, arc 1 is a directed line from node 13 to node 11 and
has polygon 100 has the polygon on the left and polygon 101 as the polygon on the
right. The arc-coordinate list in fig 3.9 shows the nodes and vertices that makeup each
arc.
 Though two decade old, the coverage model is still a standard, topological vector data
format for the ESRI software. The graphic files, such as the arc node list and the
polygon/arc list, are efficient in reducing data redundancy. A shared or common
boundary between two polygons is stored in the arc coordinate list once, not twice.
This not only reduces the number of data entries but also makes it easier to update the
polygons. For example, if arc 4 in fig. 3.9 is changed to a straight line between two
nodes, only the coordinate list for arc 4 needs to be changed.

NON-TOPOLOGICAL VECTOR DATA:

The main advantage of nontopological (NTP) vector data is that they display more
rapidly on the monitor, and can be used directly in different GIS software packages. ƒ
The standard NTP format used in ArcView is shapefile.
 Shapefile saves a point as a pair of x, ycoordinates, a line as a series of points, and a
polygon as a series of lines. ƒ
 No files describe the spatial relationship among geometric objects. ƒ
 Two basic files in shapefile:
 – .shp file stores the feature geometry
– .shx file maintains the index of feature geometry
 Shapefiles can be converted to coverages and vice versa. ƒ
 Conversion from shapefile to coverage require building topological relationships and
removal of duplicate arcs. ƒ
 Conversion of coverages to shapefiles is simpler but need error-free coverage otherwise
some features are missing in shapefiles (see Figure 3.9a, 3.9b).

 The shape file is a standard non topological data format used in ESRI products.
Although the shape file ‘treats as a point as a pair of x- and y- coordinates, a line as a
series of points and a polygon as a serious of lines, no files describe the spatial
relationships between these geometric objects. The workspace containing shape files may
also contain dBASE tables, which can store additional attributes that can be joined to a
shape file's features.
 Shape file polygons actually have duplicate arcs for the shared boundaries and can
overlap one another. Basic files .shp file stores the feature geometry, & .shx file maintain
the spatial index of the feature geometry.
 Non-topological data such as shapefile have two main advances. First, They can display
more rapidly on the computer monitor than topology-based data. This advantage is
particularly important for people who use, rather than produce, GIS data. Second, They
are non-proprietary and interoperable, meaning that they can be used across different
 software packages (e.g. MapInfo can use shape file and Arc GIS can use MapInfo
interchange Format files). Gis users have pushed for interoperability since the early
1990s. The pushed result in the establishment of Open GIS Consertium, Inc,. a non-
profit, international, voluntary consensus standards organization in 1994. Interoporability
has been a primary mission of Open GIS Consortium, Inc. from the start. The
introduction of nontopological data in the early 1990s was perhaps a response to the call
for interoperability.

Shapefiles can converted to coverage, and vice versa. The conversion from a shapefile to
a coverage requires the building of topological relationships and the removal of duplicate
arcs. The conversion from coverage to a shape file is simpler. But if a coverage has
topological errors - such as lines not joined perfectly – the error can lead to problems missing
features in the shape file. Fig 3.9a shows a coverage has error in the joining. After the
coverage is converted to a shapefile fig 3.9b serves as an example of the importance of
topology in maintaining data integrity.

______________________________________________________________________

DATA MODELS FOR COMPOSITE FEATURES:

Composite features refer to those spatial features that are better represented as composites
of points, lines, and polygons.
Composite features Include
 TINs (Triangulated Irregular Networks),
 Regions and
 Routes.
TIN:
 A TIN data model approximates the terrain with a set of non overlapping triangles. Each
triangle in a TIN assumes a constant gradient. Flat areas of the land surface have fewer
but larger triangles. Areas with high variability in elevation have dencer but smaller
triangles.
 The inputs to TIN includes point, line and area features, point features are elevation point
features are elevation points with x, y and z values. The x, y values represents the
location and z value represents the elevation at the point. Elevation points can come from
a variety of sources including stereo aerial photographs, survey data, and digital elevation
model (DEM). From these irregularly sampled elevation points, an initial TIN can be
constructed using Delaunay triangulation, an iterative process of connecting points with
their two nearest neighbors to form triangles that are as equiangular as possible. This
initial TIN can be improved in terms of its approximation of the surface by incorporating
line features such as stream, ridge line, and roads and by area features such as lakes and
reservoir.
 A TIN prepared in this way comprises three types of geometric objects: Triangles (faces),
points (nodes), and lines (edges), it includes the triangle no, the no of each adjacent
 triangles, and data files showing the list of points and edges, as well as x, y, and z values
of each elevation point.
 A TIN is a data model designed for terrain mapping and analysis. It is an alternative to
DEM s and contour lines for representing the land surface.

REGIONS:
 A region is defined as a geographic area with similar characteristic's. The concept
of region is well established in such disciplines as geography, landscape ecology
and forestry. Uniform regions can apply to a variety of physical and cultural
phenomena including land forms, natural vegetation, forest files, ethnic groups,
and religions. The concept of regions has also been incorporated into the structure
of hierarchical regions, a structure that divides the ESRI’s surface into
 progressively smaller regions of increasingly uniform characteristics. Well-known
examples of hierarchical regions are cencus units, hydrological units, and
ecological units.
 A data model for regions must be able to handle two spatial characteristics: A
region may have spatially joint or disjoint areas, and regions can overlap or cover
the same area.
 ROUTES:
A route is a linear feature such as a highway, a bike path, or a stream but, unlike other
linear features, a route has a measurement system that allows linear measures to be used
on a projected coordinate system. Transportation agencies normally use linear measures
from known points such as the beginning of a highway, a milepost or a road intersection
to locate accidents, bridges, and pavement conditions along roads. Natural resource
agencies also use linear measures record water quantity data and fishery conditions along
streams. These linear attributes, called events, must be associated with routes so that they
can be displayed and analyzed with other spatial features.
The coverage model stores routes as subclasses in line coverage in the same way as
region sub-classes in polygon coverage. A route subclass is a collection os sections. A
section refers directly to lines in a line coverage and positions along lines. Because lines
are made of a series of x-y- coordinates based on a coordinate system. This means that a
section is also measured in coordinates and its length can be derived from its reference
lines. Fig 3.16 shows a route in a thick shaded line, which is built on line coverage. The
route has three sections, and the section table relates them to the arcs in the coverage.
The shape file data format allows measured polylines to be used as route. A
measured poly-line is a set of lines that store x- and y- coordinates as well as a measure
(m) value. The m value provides the linear measures for plotting events long lines.
Compared to the route subclass, the measured poly-line has a much simpler data
structure.
Routes are useful for a variety of applications. A public transit agency can build
different bus routes on the same street network. A state transportation department can use
different routes for different classes of highways such as interstate, U.S, and state. And
although the term route may not be most appropriate, a mapping agency can include
different types of political boundaries (ex- state and country boundaries) in different route
subclasses, mainly for the purpose of data distribution.

______________________________________________________________________

OBJECT BASED DATA MODEL:

The object based data model treats spatial data as objects. It differs from the geo-
relational data model in two important aspects:
The object based data model stores both the spatial and attribute data of spatial
features in a single system.
The object based data model allows a spatial feature (object) to be associated with
a set of properties and methods.
A user interface, such as windows environment, it is perhaps the most familiar
application of object-oriented technology. We use menus, icons, and dialog boxes,
instead of command lines, to interact with a software package such as Microsoft word.
We click on a menu, the menu shows allowable operations for the object (ex;- copy,
delete a word document). This kind of user interface is efficient for both the user and the
software developer. (Small world, Laser-scan, MapInfo, ArcView,)
 ______________________________________________________________________

Classes:

 A class is a set of objects with similar attributes. Unless objects are organized into some
hierarchical structures, the management of properties and methods in a GIS can become
difficult, if not impossible. Operationally, a class defines the properties and methods of
objects that are members of the class. Ex- a class called feature can cover point, line and
polygon feature objects. The feature class defines the same properties (ex- shape and
extent) and the same methods (ex- delete) for all the three types of objects.
 Since early in the adoption of object-oriented technology in GIS, the literature has
proposed the principles of generalization and specialization for the grouping and
differentiation of objects.
 Relation Ship B/W Classes:
Class relationship include association, aggregation, composition, type inheritance, and
instantiation

Introduction

Association, Aggregation, and Composition are terms that represent relationships among objects.
They are very basic stuff of Object Oriented Programming.

Association:

Association is a relationship among the objects. Association is "*a*" relationship among objects.
In Association, the relationship among the objects determines what an object instance can cause
another to perform an action on its behalf. We can also say that an association defines the
multiplicity among the objects. We can define a one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one and
many-to-many relationship among objects. Association is a more general term to define a
relationship among objects. Association means that an object "uses" another object.

For example Managers and Employees, multiple employees may be associated with a single
manager and a single employee may be associated with multiple managers.

Aggregation:

Aggregation is a special type of Association. Aggregation is "*the*" relationship among objects.

We can say it is a direct association among the objects. In Aggregation, the direction specifies
which object contains the other object. There are mutual dependencies among objects.

For example, departments and employees, a department has many employees but a single
employee is not associated with multiple departments.

UML Representation of Aggregation (white diamond):

The UML representation of the example above (relation between employee and department):

Here, the lives of both objects are independent of each other. That means that in this Association
(Aggregation) the object has their own life cycle. Employees may exist without a department.
Here, department can be called an owner object and the employee can be called a child object.
The owner and child objects cannot belong to a different parent object.

Composition:

Composition is special type of Aggregation. It is a strong type of Aggregation. In this type of

Aggregation the child object does not have their own life cycle. The child object's life depends
on the parent's life cycle. Only the parent object has an independent life cycle. If we delete the
parent object then the child object(s) will also be deleted. We can define the Composition as a
"Part of" relationship.

For example, the company and company location, a single company has multiple locations. If we
delete the company then all the company locations are automatically deleted. The company
location does not have their independent life cycle, it depends on the company object's life
(parent object).

UML Representation of Composition (black diamond):

UML representation of the example above (relation between Company and Company Location):

Here, the lives of both objects are not independent. The life of the company location object can
be determined by the life of the company object. The company object is responsible for creating
and destroying company location objects.
Relationship among Association, Aggregation, and Composition

Aggregation and Composition are a special type of Association. Composition is again a special
type of Aggregation. We can define Aggregation and Composition as "has a" relationships.
Composition is more restrictive or more specific. In Composition, composed objects cannot exist
without the other object. This type of restriction does not exist in Aggregations. In Aggregation,
the existence of a composed object is optional. In Aggregation, the child object can exist beyond
the life cycle of its parent whereas in Composition the child object cannot exist beyond the life
cycle of its parent.

Combined example of Aggregation and Composition:

Aggregation VS Composition

Aggregation Composition
Aggregation is a special type of
Composition is a special type of Aggregation.
Association.
All objects have their own life In Composition, the child object does not have their own life
cycle. cycle and it depends on the parent's life cycle.
A parent class is not responsible
The parent class is responsible for creating or destroying the
for creating or destroying the
child class.
child class.
Composition can be described as a "Has-a" relationship as well
Aggregation can be described as
as a "Part of" relationship, but here the difference is the length
a "Has-a" relationship.
of the relationship among the objects.
Aggregation is a weak
Composition is a strong Association.
Association.
Aggregation means one object is
Composition means one object is contained in another object.
the owner of another object.
The direction of a relation is a requirement in both Composition and Aggregation. The direction
specifies which object contains the other one.
Both have a single direction of association.
Both have a single owner.

Type Inheritance: The relationship between super class and a subclass. A subclass is a member
of super class and inherits the properties and methods of the super class
Instantiation: An object of a class can be created from an object of another class.

Conclusion

These three terms are more important in the object oriented world. They denote or represent the
relations among objects. If you are confused or unable to decide whether a specific relation best
describes an Association, Aggregation or Composition then it can be decribed as an Association.

_________________________________________________________________

THE GEO DATABASE DATA MODEL:

1. Geo Relational Data Model

2. Object Based Data Model
3. The geo-data base data model
This is the third major data model offered by ESRI, coverage model- 1980 and The shape
file – 1990s.
The geo-data base is part of arcobjects, a collection of thousands of objects, properties,
and methods. Based on the component object model(COM) technology. Arcobjects
provides the foundation for ArcGIS desktop.
It uses the geometries of points, polyline, and polygon to represent vector of points, lines
and polygon.
It is also similar to the coverage model in terms of simple features. Main difference is
composite features of regions and routes.
The region subclass in the coverage model is no longer supported in the geo-database.
The route subclass in the coverage model is replaced by polyline with m (measure) values
in the geo-database data model.
an ArcGIS geodatabase is a collection of geographic datasets of various types held in a
common file system folder, a Microsoft Access database, or a multiuser relational DBMS
(such as Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Informix, or IBM DB2). Geo-
databases come in many sizes, have varying numbers of users and can scale from small,
single-user databases built on files up to larger workgroup, department, and enterprise
geo-databases accessed by many users.

Data Structure in the Geo-Data Base:

 The geo-database organizes vector data sets into feature classes and feature
datasets.
 A Feature stores spatial data of the same geometry type
 A feature dataset stores feature classes that share the same coordinate system and
area extent.
Interface:
An interface represents a set of externally visible operations of an object. It allows the
user to use the properties and methods of the object.
_______________________________________________________________________

VECTOR DATA MODEL:

The vector model is close to the traditional mapping approach where the objects
are represented as points, lines, or areas. The position of each object is defined by a
coordinate pairs.
Vectors are graphical objects that have geometrical primitives such as points,
lines, and polygons to represents geographic entities in computer graphics. Vectors have
a precise direction, length, and shape, and can be defined by coordinate geometry.
A point is described by a single x-y coordinate pair and by its name or label. A
line described by a set of coordinate-pairs and by its name or label. In reality, a line is
described by an infinite number of points. An area, also called a polygon, is described by
a set of coordinate pairs and by its name or label.
 1)Object based Vector Model:
The vector model is ideal to represent discrete entities. According to this concept,
discrete entities are represented as points, lines, and areas. Point is simpler to input and
analyze. Points are required to represent entities whose areas are negligible or not
important; such as electric poles, postbox, tube well, etc.
Lines, defined by two points, are used to represent features that are linear in nature, for
example, roads or pipelines. Lines showing an international border. It is often not
possible to represent real-world linear entities by a single line. Multiple sequentially
connected segments of line are used to create an object. These multiple lines are
collectively called as polyline. Areas are represented by a closed set of lines and are used
to define features such as Playground, building, or administrative areas.
1-A) Spaghetti Model:
 The spaghetti model uses the simplest type of data structure. All objects are defined as
single items and no reference is made to other objects. Spaghetti data are collection of
points and line segments with no real connection. There are no specific points that
designate where the lines cross, nor there any logical relationships between the objects.
The common boundaries between adjacent polygons are stored twice. This model cannot
handle holes within a polygon (island polygon). The structure is inefficient in data
storage and queries, and consistency checks are not possible.
1-B) Vertex Dictionary Model:
Vertex dictionary uses a similar approach as spaghetti but a smarter structure. It uses
two files to store the vector data. The first file stores the vertices and the second file
stores the description of objects. In this data model, if some vertices are shared by
two adjacent polygons, these vertices are not required to store twice. Topological
relationships are not well defined in this model. The problem of island polygon still
exists. Therefore, it is inferior for data analysis and query.
1-C) DIME Model:
The DIME model was developed by the united states bureau of the census. This is a
complex model but more intelligent. It uses three files to represent the vector data; this
model also avoids duplication of data for adjacent polygons and can establish several
relationships between objects. Direction of the objects can also be determined by the
starting vertex and ending vertex.
1-D) Topological Model:
The mathematical field of topology investigates characteristics of geometry that remain
invariant under certain transformations such as stretching or bending. Topological
mappings are elastic transformations this keep topological incidence relation unchanged.
The connections and relationships between objects are described independently of their
coordinates.
2) Field-based Vector Model:
Although vectors are ideal for representing discrete objects, it can also be used for field-
based or continuous data such as elevation, temperature etc. Mass-points, counter lines/
isolines, lattice, and triangulated irregular network (TIN) are used to represent elevation
or other continuously changing values.
2-A) Point Model:
Multiple points are used to represent the surface. Ex; a pyramid can be represented by a
minimum of five points, four for base and one for peak. Mass-point is a technique to
represent surface using several points in a very dense manner.
1. Explain in detail about the representation of simple features of a vector data model?
2. Discuss the importance of topology in GIS?
3. Explain about data models for composite features?
4. Explain about the data model ‘TIN’ for representation of composite features?
5. Explain about Object based data model?
6. Define a class? State the relationship between classes along with examples?
7. Discuss the advantages of geo-data base data model?
8. Write a note on topology rules of geo-data base data model and list out there
applications?
9. Explain about Coverage Data Structure with examples of point, line, and polygon
data structures?
10. What is vector data model? Explain about spaghetti Model with neat diagram and its
coordinates of various features?
11. Explain about shape file in GIS?

2-B) Contour / Isoline Model: Contour is an imagery line of constant elevation on the
ground surface. The corresponding line on a map is called a contour line, a line on a map
that joins places of the same elevation above sea level. Contour Interval, Horizontal
equivalent
2-C) Lattice Model: Lattice is similar to point model. Lattice is a representation of
surface using an array of equally spaced sample points (mesh-points) that are represented
to a common origin and have a constant sampling distance in the x and y directions.
2-D) TIN Model: TIN or Triangulated irregular network stores GIS data for 3D surface
model. In vector GIS, a TIN used to create a DTM from either regular or irregular height
data. The TIN method joins the height observations together with straight lines to create a
non-overlapping mosaic of irregular triangles. The basic unit is a triangle. A triangle
consists of three lines connecting three nodes. The triangle is represented by a sequence
of three nodes. Each of the triangles is identified with the coordinates of the three points
forming it. The surfaces of individual triangles provide area, gradient (slope), and
orientation.
Advantages and Disadvantages of RASTER and VECTOR:

IMPORTANTQUESTIONS:
1. Explain in detail about the representation of simple features of a vector data model?
2. Discuss the importance of topology in GIS?
3. Explain about data models for composite features?
4. Explain about the data model ‘TIN’ for representation of composite features?
5. Explain about Object based data model?
6. Define a class? State the relationship between classes along with examples?
7. Discuss the advantages of geo-data base data model?
8. Write a note on topology rules of geo-data base data model and list out there
applications?
9. Explain about Coverage Data Structure with examples of point, line, and polygon
data structures?
10. What is vector data model? Explain about spaghetti Model with neat diagram and its
coordinates of various features?
11. Explain about shape file in GIS?