Oracle Locator (also referred to as Locator) is a feature of Oracle Database 11g Standard Edition. Locator provides core features and services available in Oracle Spatial. It provides significant capabilities typically required to support Internet and wireless service-based applications and partner-based GIS solutions. Locator is not designed to be a solution for geographic information system (GIS) applications requiring complex spatial data management. If you need capabilities such as linear referencing, advanced spatial functions, or Spatial Web services, use Oracle Spatial instead of Locator.
Like Spatial, Locator is not designed to be an end-user application, but is a set of spatial capabilities for application developers.
Locator is available with the Standard Edition One, Standard Edition, and Enterprise Edition of Oracle Database, and with Oracle Database XE (Express Edition). Spatial is a priced option available only with Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition. Spatial includes all Locator features as well as other features that are not available with Locator.
If you want to ensure that you are using only features available in Locator, see Section B.1, "Installing and Deinstalling Locator or Spatial Manually". For licensing information about Spatial and Locator, see Oracle Database Licensing Information.
The installation of Locator depends on the successful and proper installation of Oracle Multimedia. Oracle Multimedia is installed and configured with Oracle Database 11g, although you can install Oracle Multimedia manually if necessary, as documented in Oracle Multimedia User's Guide. During the installation of Oracle Multimedia, Locator is installed.
In general, Locator includes the data types, operators, and indexing capabilities of Oracle Spatial, along with a limited set of the subprograms (functions and procedures) of Spatial. The Locator features include the following:
An object type (SDO_GEOMETRY) that describes and supports any type of geometry
A spatial indexing capability that lets you create spatial indexes on geometry data
Spatial operators (described in Chapter 19) that use the spatial index for performing spatial queries
Most geometry functions and spatial aggregate functions (as explained in Table B-1)
Coordinate system support for geometry and layer transformations (SDO_CS.TRANSFORM function and SDO_CS.TRANSFORM_LAYER procedure, described in Chapter 21)
Tuning subprograms (SDO_TUNE package, described in Chapter 31)
Spatial utility functions (SDO_UTIL package, described in Chapter 32)
Classes in the oracle.spatial.geometry (sdoapi.jar) and oracle.spatial.util (sdoutil.jar) packages of the Spatial Java API (described in Oracle Spatial Java API Reference)
For information about spatial concepts, the SDO_GEOMETRY object type, support for SQL Multimedia types annotation text, and indexing and loading of spatial data, see Chapters 1 through 5 in this guide. For reference and usage information about features supported by Locator, see the chapter or section listed in Table B-1.
Table B-1 Spatial-Related Features Supported for Locator
| Feature | Described in |
|---|---|
|
Spatial operators (including SDO_JOIN, which is technically a table function but is documented with the operators) |
|
|
All SDO_GEOM package subprograms except for the following: SDO_GEOM.RELATE, SDO_GEOM.SDO_DIFFERENCE, SDO_GEOM.SDO_INTERSECTION, SDO_GEOM.SDO_UNION, SDO_GEOM.SDO_VOLUME, SDO_GEOM.SDO_XOR |
|
|
Spatial aggregate functions, except for SDO_AGGR_SET_UNION and SDO_AGGR_UNION |
|
|
Coordinate system transformation subprograms (SDO_CS package) |
|
|
Implicit coordinate system transformations for operator calls where a window needs to be converted to the coordinate system of the queried layer |
|
|
Function-based spatial indexing |
|
|
Table partitioning support for spatial indexes (including splitting, merging, and exchanging partitions and their indexes) |
|
|
Geodetic data support |
|
|
SQL statements for creating, altering, and deleting indexes |
|
|
Parallel spatial index builds (PARALLEL keyword with ALTER INDEX REBUILD and CREATE INDEX statements) (new with release 9.2) |
|
|
SDO_GEOMETRY object type methods |
|
|
SQL Multimedia spatial types (ST_xxx types) |
|
|
SQL Multimedia functions (ST_xxx functions) whose Oracle Spatial counterparts are supported for Locator |
|
|
Annotation text |
|
|
Package (SDO_MIGRATE) to upgrade data from previous Spatial releases to the current release |
|
|
Tuning subprograms (SDO_TUNE package) |
|
|
Spatial utility functions (SDO_UTIL package) |
|
|
Classes in the |
|
Table B-2 lists Spatial features that are not supported for Locator, with the chapter in this guide or the separate manual that describes the feature.
Table B-2 Spatial Features Not Supported for Locator
| Feature | Described in |
|---|---|
|
The following SDO_GEOM package subprograms: SDO_GEOM.RELATE, SDO_GEOM.SDO_DIFFERENCE, SDO_GEOM.SDO_INTERSECTION, SDO_GEOM.SDO_UNION, SDO_GEOM.SDO_VOLUME, SDO_GEOM.SDO_XOR |
|
|
SDO_AGGR_UNION spatial aggregate function |
|
|
Linear referencing system (LRS) support |
Chapter 7 (concepts and usage) and Chapter 25 (reference) |
|
Three-dimensional geometry support: the use of 3D spatial indexing, 3D operators, and subprograms on 3D data is not supported for Locator. |
Section 1.11 (3D concepts and usage) |
|
Spatial analysis and mining subprograms (SDO_SAM package) |
|
|
OpenLS support, including support for geocoding, mapping, business directory (Yellow Pages), and driving directions (routing) services |
Chapter 14, "OpenLS Support" and Chapter 27, "SDO_OLS Package (OpenLS)". See also: |
|
Web feature service (WFS) support (SDO_WFS_PROCESS and SDO_WFS_LOCK packages) |
Chapter 15 (concepts and usage), and Chapter 34 and Chapter 33 (reference) |
|
Catalog services for the Web (CSW) support (SDO_CSW_PROCESS package) |
Chapter 16 (concepts and usage) and Chapter 22 (reference) |
|
Triangulated irregular network (TIN) and point cloud (PC) data types and related subprograms |
Section 1.11 (concepts and usage), and Chapter 30 (SDO_TIN_PKG reference) and Chapter 28 (SDO_PC_PKG reference) |
|
GeoRaster support |
|
|
Topology data model |
Oracle Spatial Topology and Network Data Models Developer's Guide |
|
Network data model |
Oracle Spatial Topology and Network Data Models Developer's Guide |
|
Classes in packages other than the |
Although Locator is available on both the Standard and Enterprise Editions of Oracle Database 11g, some Locator features require database features that are not available or are limited on the Standard Edition. Some of those Locator features and their availability are listed in Table B-3.
Table B-3 Feature Availability with Standard or Enterprise Edition
| Feature | Standard/Enterprise Edition Availability |
|---|---|
|
Parallel spatial index builds |
Supported with Enterprise Edition only. |
|
Supported with Enterprise Edition only. (Single master/materialized view replication for SDO_GEOMETRY objects is supported with both Standard Edition and Enterprise Edition. See Oracle Database Advanced Replication for more information.) |
|
|
Partitioned spatial indexes |
Requires the Partitioning Option with Enterprise Edition. Not supported with Standard Edition. |
To install Spatial or to use any features that are specific to Spatial but not Locator, you must meet the licensing requirements for Spatial. For licensing information about Spatial and Locator, see Oracle Database Licensing Information.
Note:
If you install and configure Oracle Multimedia with Oracle Database, then Oracle Locator is also installed.Scripts are available to perform certain installation and deinstallation operations relating to Locator and Spatial:
mddins.sql manually deinstalls Spatial and leaves only Locator, thus "installing" only Locator. This ensures that you can use only features available in Locator and no features that are available only with Spatial.
mdinst.sql manually installs Spatial, so that you are able to use all features available with Spatial and Locator.
If you want to ensure that you are using only Locator features, but Spatial is already installed, run the mddins.sql script, as follows:
Ensure that Oracle Multimedia is installed.
Connect to the database as the SYS user with SYSDBA privileges (SYS AS SYSDBA, and enter the SYS account password when prompted).
Start SQL*Plus, and enter the following statement:
Linux: @$ORACLE_HOME/md/admin/mddins.sql
Windows: @%ORACLE_HOME%\md\admin\mddins.sql
If you need to be able to use Spatial, you can run the mdinst.sql script, as follows:
Connect to the database as the SYS user with SYSDBA privileges (SYS AS SYSDBA, and enter the SYS account password when prompted).
Start SQL*Plus, and enter the following statement:
Linux: @$ORACLE_HOME/md/admin/mdinst.sql
Windows: @%ORACLE_HOME%\md\admin\mdinst.sql