OGR Comes to SQL Server 2008 Spatial

Sep 252010

image OGR, created by Frank Warmerdam, is an open source library and set of command line utilities for reading and writing geospatial vector data using many different formats . It is the vector equivalent of GDAL which has similar functionality for rasters.

The name of the library is a vestige from when OGR used to stand for OpenGIS Simple Features Reference Implementation. However as OGR is not fully compliant with the OpenGIS Simple Feature specification the name was changed to OGR Simple Features Library (from the GDAL FAQ).

The latest additions to the OGR formats are the SQL Server 2008 geometry and geography. This enables spatial data in SQL Server 2008 to be reprojected, and converted to other formats (shapefiles, MapInfo, KML, GML, GeoJSON and any of the many other formats already supported by OGR) using freely available open source tools. Details on the associated OGR tools can be seen here.

The full MSSQLSpatial OGR driver notes and details are available online.

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Does SQL Azure have Allure?

Mar 262010

image I love SQL Server 2008 spatial functionality. Not only because it has effectively killed off the middle-man GIS database software, but it even sticks to OGC standards allowing the same data and tables to be used in nearly all GIS software. However I have some reservations about the use of SQL Azure for GIS applications.

FAQ

How is SQL Azure Database different from working with a hoster using SQL Server?

Developers do not have to install, setup, patch or manage any software. High Availability and fault tolerance is built-in and no physical administration of hardware, storage or servers is required.

If you have a good hosting solution then the same benefits apply (well maybe not the “self-healing” also mentioned). The only real difference I can tell is that you pay a lot more, to be able to scale more easily. Its unlikely your Local Planning Mapping system is suddenly going to need to scale up to meet the expectations of millions of new users, no matter how great the system looks.

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MapInfo and SQL Server 2008

Mar 242010

For a new project I am working for the first time with MapInfo 10 “the world’s premier desktop mapping application.”

In an effort to move away from MapInfo’s .tab files (the shapefile equivalent) I was keen to test out the direct connection to geometry stored in SQL Server 2008. Until version 9.5 data could only be stored and accessed in a relational database using SpatialWare. Again to use ESRI terminology this is the ArcSDE equivalent. Fortunately MapInfo was quick off the mark in removing this barrier.

Access to SQL Server 2008 spatial data is provided by integrating FME functionality directly into the product, and having a “Universal Data” option on the File menu. There is also a tool named Easy Loader that allows loading .tab files into SQL Server as geometry.

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