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Introduction

Oracle8i interMedia Locator is a component of the Oracle8i interMedia product. Oracle8i interMedia Locator enables Oracle8i to support online internet-based geocoding facilities for locator applications and proximity queries.

Geocoding represents addresses and locations of interest (postal codes, demographic regions, and so forth) as geometric factors (points). These enable distances to be calculated and sites to be represented graphically in Web, data warehousing, customer information system, and enterprise resource planning applications. Geocoding services can be used to add the exact location (latitude and longitude) of points of interest to existing data files stored in Oracle8i.

Oracle8i interMedia Locator supports the leading online geocoding services including Centrus from QMSoft and MapXtreme from MapInfo. See the Oracle8i interMedia Locator Release Notes for additional information about the geocoding services provided by these Oracle Partners.

Oracle8i interMedia Locator also supports server-based geocoding and data scrubbing operations for data warehouse applications.

Using simple location queries, Oracle8i interMedia Locator allows Web and other applications to retrieve information based on distance. For example, using a set of geocoded address data and simple query-by-text or query-by-map operations, users can use a Web browser-based application, enter a distance, and identify the nearest location from a specific address or reference point on a map. For example, Oracle8i interMedia Locator applications can help you locate stores, offices, distribution points, and other points of interest based on their distance from a given postal (zip) code, address, or other reference point.

Oracle8i interMedia Locator supports geocoding, storage, and retrieval of geocoded, spatial-point data in Oracle8i databases. Oracle8i interMedia Locator is not designed to be an end-user application. It consists of:

• An interMedia Locator object type that describes and supports only the point-geometry object type

• A geocode result object type that describes the geocode result definition

• A call interface described by two geocode result functions used for geocoding spatial data that also contains the output geocode result object and the interMedia Locator geometry object

• A function to better estimate the index level for use with the spatial locator index for within-distance queries that use a radius distance greater than 100 miles

• A procedure to create a spatial locator index on the column where the spatial information is stored in the geocoded table that is used by the locator operator

• A locator operator that uses geometric intersection algorithms and the spatial locator index for performing within-distance queries

Based on this implementation, this Oracle8i interMedia Locator release supports:

• Geocoding spatial-point data by providing the means to add a geocoded address column or objects to existing tables and storing it locally in the Oracle8i universal database server

• Inserting and retrieving geocoded address data

• Performing simple within-distance text- or map-based queries on the geocoded data

Some example applications for this locator function are the following:

• Locate stores, offices, or distribution points based on their distances from a given reference point such as an address or postal code.

• Locate restaurants or hotels within a given point-to-point distance using a person's specific address or current location on a map, such as at a tourist information center.

These features enable database designers to extend existing application databases with geocoded, spatial-point data, or to build new geocoded spatial-point applications. Web application developers can build specialized web-enabled interMedia Locator applications.

For additional information, see the following:

• Chapter 2 describes interMedia Locator functions, the geocoding service, and the locator operator along with basic examples of using the Oracle8i interMedia Locator object types.

• Appendix A describes a number of sample scripts that are installed and that you can modify and run.

• Appendix B describes Oracle8i interMedia Locator exceptions and error messages.

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