ESRI and OracleSolutions for GIS and Spatial

Data Management
An ESRI White Paper August 2000

ESRI 380 New York St., Redlands, CA 92373-8100, USA TEL 909-793-2853 FAX 909-793-5953 E-MAIL info@esri.com WEB www.esri.com

Copyright 2000 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.

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J-8551

ESRI and OracleSolutions for

GIS and Spatial Data
Management

An ESRI White Paper

Contents

Page

ESRI and OracleA Partnership That Works.....................................

What Oracle Brings to the Partnership.................................................

What ESRI Brings to the Partnership...................................................

ArcInfo 8 ..............................................................................................

ArcIMS 3..............................................................................................

New Direct Connection Option............................................................

ArcSDEESRI's Gateway to Oracle8i ...............................................

Distributed GISThe New Wave .......................................................

Locational and Wireless Services ........................................................

11

Open Standards and Interoperability for Spatial Data .........................

11

Software Availability ...........................................................................

11

ESRI White Paper

J-8551

ESRI and OracleSolutions for

GIS and Spatial Data
Management
ESRI and Oracle
A Partnership That
Works

Billions of dollars of investments have been made in converting the

world's vast supply of maps into digital, geographically referenced spatial
databases. These spatial databases are now maintained by geographic
information system (GIS) technology. Today, advances in both GIS and
database management system (DBMS) technology are enabling
many organizations to migrate these spatial databases from traditional filebased or hybrid georelational formats into their DBMS in order to provide
an improved framework for critical applications. Some of the advantages
for using a DBMS as a central repository for spatial data include

Easier integration of spatial data with other core organizational data

Expanded database size limits

Support for the larger number of users required for enterprise implementations

The ability to take advantage of enhanced DBMS features such as administration and
maintenance utilities, replication, and faster backup and recovery
The availability of Java and Structured Query Language (SQL) as open application
programming interfaces (APIs)
The emergence of spatial standards for interoperability
The ability to publish and distribute spatial data over private Intranets or the public
Internet

The ability to store and manage digital spatial data inside Oracle8, combined with ESRI's
newest generation of GIS software, sets the foundation for what is one of the most
remarkable and far-reaching movements impacting information technology.
For more than 30 years, ESRI has been providing leading-edge technology to the most
successful companies and organizations in the world. GIS technology is rapidly
emerging as an integral component in nearly every type of business and government
agency. As the leader in GIS technology, ESRI offers innovative solutions that will help
organizations create, maintain, publish, query, visualize, and analyze information more
clearly and make better decisions than ever before. ArcGIS, ESRI's new integrated

ESRI White Paper

ESRI and OracleSolutions for GIS and Spatial Data Management

J-8551

system of scalable software programs, including ArcInfo 8, ArcIMS 3, ArcSDE 8,

and soon ArcView 8.1, provide the most open, powerful, and easy-to-use solutions
available on the market today.
Founded in 1977, Oracle Corporation is the world's leading supplier of software for
information management and is the world's second largest independent software
company. Oracle offers its database, tools, and application products, along with related
consulting, education, and support services, in more than 145 countries around the world.
Oracle was the first software company to develop and deploy 100 percent Internetenabled enterprise software across its entire product line including database, server,
enterprise business applications, and application development and decision support tools.
ESRI and Oracle share a vision of delivering enterprise and Internet solutions to private
and public organizations and have been working together to develop a powerful solution
for merging and utilizing GIS and information management system technologies. This
shared vision includes

A combined and finely tuned solution that includes ESRI's handheld, wireless,
desktop, enterprise, and Internet GIS software and Oracle8i Enterprise Server, Oracle
Spatial, and related products
Delivering scalable, secure, and robust spatial data platforms
Bringing spatial capability to mainstream business and government applications

This vision is emphasized today through an alliance that has integrated ESRI's core
software with Oracle8i Enterprise Edition and Oracle Spatial, offering a scalable solution
for deploying spatial data across an enterprise or over the Internet. ESRI's software
programs have passed all of Oracle's tests for vendor integration with Oracle8i Spatial.
This combination of ESRI's GIS technology and Oracle's database management and ebusiness technology allows any organization to move from managing their data in
traditional file-based formats to a seamless, powerful, and flexible solution for managing
their data within Oracle8i. In addition to product collaboration, ESRI and Oracle are also
working together within their consulting, support, and training groups to deliver the
integrated solutions for critical enterprise and Internet applications.
By providing solutions that support computing environments ranging from mobile
handheld systems to desktop computers and workstations to powerful enterprise servers,
all connected by fast networks, new opportunities for the rapid and widespread use of
GIS and spatial information management technology are emerging.
Every day, more and more organizations are realizing the incredible opportunities that
now exist for the use of the ESRI and Oracle solutions in a rapidly growing number of
application areas and market segments. Both public and private organizations
increasingly realize that location information, combined with the traditional "who, what,
when" information, is essential to improved decision making and fast, accurate "how and
why" understanding of improved business effectiveness.

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These opportunities include the use of GIS and information management technology in
the general business sector, customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise
resource planning (ERP), business intelligence, data warehousing and data mining, and
many more. This also includes the role of GIS and information management in all levels
of government including local, state, regional, and federal. The number continues to
grow in other major industry sectors including gas, electric, water, wastewater,
telecommunications, wireless communications and cable, financial services, health care,
and many others.
A combined ESRI/Oracle8i GIS solution delivers the scalability, security, and reliability
that one would expect by combining a state-of-the-art GIS with the world's leading
database server.

What Oracle Brings

to the Partnership

No single company can realistically deliver all the technology needed for the deployment
of mission-critical, enterprise GIS, Web mapping portals, and wireless location services.
However, the recent adoption of both DBMS and spatial technologies into new
applications, such as CRM and ERP, requires a tight coupling of GIS and DBMS
technologies. Across the board, government customers; management information system
organizations in markets such as telecommunications, utilities, and health care; systems
integrators; and developers all want complete, seamless solutions that can be rapidly
deployed across their enterprise and on their Internet sites. The combination of ESRI and
Oracle technology, for the first time, enables location technologies to be an integral
feature of e-business solutions.
Oracle makes this possible by providing the underlying database engine to power
enterprise GIS and Web mapping solutions. Oracle Spatial is an extension to Oracle8i
that provides geometry storage, indexing, and spatial search functions. When used with
Oracle8i Enterprise Edition, Oracle Spatial provides a standards-based data management
solution for the delivery of GIS, Internet mapping, and mobile location-based services. It
serves as a technology platform for managing an enterprisewide GIS or location-enabled
e-business applications. Oracle Spatial allows users to

Store vector geometries in the database.

Index vector geometries.
Query spatial relationships between the geometries.
Perform spatial operations on the geometries.

The combination of Oracle8i Enterprise Edition and Oracle Spatial enables GIS users to

Store spatial data using open standards increasing return on data investment.
Access spatial and attribute data using SQL for ease of programming to support
multiple applications.
Manage spatial and business data in the same database, reducing complexity,
management, and training costs.
Manage their spatial and business information in a secure and reliable data server
platform reducing downtime and increasing service dependability.

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What ESRI Brings

to the Partnership

Apply their spatial applications across the enterprise, expanding the value of current
investments in GIS, data, and expertise.
Support multiple tools and applications via SQL for ease of programming and
application development.
Incorporate Java and XML APIs for geocoding, geoimage, and location services,
enabling rapid application development.
Deploy on leading operating systems (UNIX, Windows NT, Windows 2000) and
hardware platforms.

ESRI's ArcGIS system, consisting of ArcInfo 8, ArcIMS 3, ArcSDE 8, and soon

ArcView 8.1 and other ESRI software programs, provides an open, standards-based
solution for environments ranging from handheld personal digital assistants (PDAs) to
thin Java-based browsers to thick clients used in traditional client/server environments.
ESRI's software can be used for a variety of tasks including

ArcInfo 8

Data automation, maintenance, and publishing

Simple query and access to content
Data analysis
Data and content display and map rendering
SQL and geographic or spatial queries

ArcInfo has become the de facto standard for providing state-of-the-art GIS for creating
spatial content, advanced geographic analysis, and advanced cartography for government,
industry, and academia. ArcInfo 8 has been completely redesigned and reengineered
to be an all-relational, open extensible GIS. In multiuser implementations, ArcInfo 8
provides the advanced applications and tools to work with spatial data in Oracle8i
Standard or Enterprise Edition. ArcSDE 8 has been tightly integrated with ArcInfo 8 for
building a multiuser enterprise GIS. With Oracle8i Enterprise Edition, Oracle Spatial
physically stores and manages the spatial data directly in the database engine, while
ArcSDE provides the gateway.
ArcInfo 8 uses a new all-relational data model called a geodatabase for storing and
managing spatial data inside a DBMS. A geodatabase can contain all of an organization's
vector data, raster data, related attribute information, and other GIS objects. The term
geodatabase is shorthand for geographic database, a relational database containing
geographic information.
A geodatabase is used to model not only spatial features but also their behavior, rules,
and relationships with other feature classes (for more information on the geodatabase, see
ESRI's Modeling our World or Understanding ArcSDE) and objects in the geodatabase.
This integration of behavior with features allows the creation of sophisticated advanced
GIS models. Once behavior has been defined for features, it is available in each of the
three applications that make up ArcInfo 8 (e.g., ArcCatalog, ArcMap, and
ArcToolbox) as well as ArcObjects, the application programming interface of
ArcInfo 8.

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A personal geodatabase, which serves as a personal workspace for an individual user, is

distributed with every copy of ArcInfo 8. However, a multiuser solution that can scale
from a small work group to an enterprise implementation requires that the spatial data be
stored in a DBMS such as Oracle8i. Whether creating a personal workspace or a shared,
multiuser geodatabase, ArcInfo 8 is used to implement the database design, specify
feature behavior, add and edit geodatabase contents, and provide the administration tools
for a multiuser setting.

ESRI and Oracle Spatial

A Web-Enabled Enterprise
ESRI GIS Clients
Oracle Developer
ArcInfo 8

ArcView GIS

ArcIMS

Other GIS
or CAD
Clients

Intranet/
Internet
Clients

This is a button

This
is a
butto

n
This
is a
butto
n

This is a
button

Application Server
HTTP
Server

ArcIMS
ArcSDE 8

Data Server
Oracle
tables

Oracle Spatial
One of the key features of a shared, multiuser geodatabase is the ability to manage
concurrent access to the data. While the DBMS provides multiuser read and write access,
what the DBMS does not provide is the concept of long transaction for GIS editing or
"what if" scenarios. Some GIS editing or "what if" analysis requires hours, days, and
even weeks to complete. With ArcInfo 8, long transaction editing and support for "what
if" scenarios are supported by creating versions of spatial data.
Versioning lets users organize their work flow by simultaneously creating multiple,
persistent representations of the database without making copies of the data. Most users
work with and view the default version of the geodatabase, while editors maintain the
database through other versions, updating the default version when appropriate.
Versioning allows multiple users to simultaneously edit the same spatial features without
explicitly applying locks to prohibit other users from accessing and modifying the same
data.

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Besides improving multiuser editing, versioning also enables engineers to generate

design alternatives using the geodatabase. Spatial analysts can perform complex
"what if" scenarios without affecting the default or as-built representation in the database.
Database administrators can also create historical snapshots of the geodatabase for
archival and database recovery.
For enterprise GIS implementations, Oracle8i Enterprise Edition and Oracle Spatial can
provide the platform for managing the spatial information with ArcInfo 8. The ArcSDE
gateway described below provides the mechanism and logic for versioning. ESRI is
working with Oracle to support the new versioning in Oracle8i in a future product
release.
The combination of ArcInfo 8, ArcSDE 8, Oracle8i Enterprise Edition, and Oracle
Spatial provides a complete, integrated, and powerful enterprise GIS solution. In
summary, ArcInfo 8, with the ArcSDE 8 gateway, allows you to

ArcIMS 3

Directly edit spatial information in Oracle Spatial.

Manage the edits of multiple users on the same geodatabase with long transactions,
alternate versions, and history.
Manage features in a geometric network. Connect and edit features as a graph of
related objects and perform network queries such as tracing and finding the shortest
path between locations.
Associate editing and mapping rules with features in the geodatabase. This means
that you can define and manage associations between different feature classes and
objects such as between property parcels and owners or lot lines and zoning
boundaries.

Because the Internet has changed the way we use, manage, and access information in
business and government, it has changed the way that organizations now plan for and
implement information management technologies. Organizations demand robust, secure,
and fully integrated solutions for their Internet and information management platforms.
GIS and spatial data management are a critical part of these new modern platforms.
ArcIMS 3 sets the standard for fast and powerful Internet mapping and GIS tools.
ArcIMS features an out-of-the-box solution for creating, designing, and managing
Internet sites that incorporate mapping and GIS capabilities.
ArcIMS changes the way users can access and interact with Internet mapping and GIS
data at their desktops. The only solution that enables users to integrate local data with
Internet data in a simple browser interface, ArcIMS offers powerful GIS capabilities in an
easy-to-use framework. ArcIMS supports serving data with maps (e.g., bit maps) or with
intelligent vector streaming. In addition, ArcIMS facilitates access from multiple servers
within an organization or throughout the world.

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ArcIMS is the only Web-mapping solution that leverages an organization's existing

investment in GIS databases and has become a fundamental and integral part of
information management. ArcIMS supports a variety of file formats such as shapefiles,
coverages, and a large variety of raster and computer-aided design data formats. ArcIMS
also supports serving and accessing data stored in ArcSDE software's traditional
compressed binary format as well as data stored in Oracle Spatial.
ArcIMS features include

Easy installation, implementation, and administration with wizards and templates

A powerful client that supports vector streaming data
The capability to integrate local and Internet data in a desktop browser
Highly scalable architecture

ArcIMS 3, with the ArcSDE 8 gateway, is fully integrated with Oracle8i Enterprise and
Oracle Spatial for a seamless solution and a framework that provides

New Direct
Connection Option

Fully integrated GIS functionality on the Internet

Low-cost GIS deployment
Central IT management of spatial data
Security and reliability

It has long been ESRI's goal to develop multitier client/server technology that facilitates
the storing of spatial features and images within a DBMS such as Oracle8i using core
Oracle tools as well as spatial extension capabilities.
ESRI's three-tier technology for doing this is called ArcSDE, which we refer to as
gateway software to integrate ESRI's GIS software with Oracle8i. Now ESRI's core
client application software (ArcInfo 8.1, ArcIMS 3, and ArcView 8.1) is being expanded
to support a new two-tier client/server architecture where the GIS application connects
directly to Oracle Spatial for read-only access to the spatial database.
Under this new two-tier client/server architecture, the access services, which have been
provided in the past only by the ArcSDE server process, have been redistributed to the
client application process and the database server. Communication with Oracle Spatial is
provided by database-specific network communication software such as Oracle Net8.
What this means is that users will have a seamless connection between ESRI's newest
technology and Oracle Spatial.
The two-tier and three-tier systems are designed to work independently or together,
giving an organization additional flexibility in system design and implementation.

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ArcGIS 8.1 Direct Connection Architecture

ArcMap
Direct
Connect

ArcCatalog
Direct
Connect

Application
Direct
Connect

Network

Oracle 8i
and
Oracle
Spatial
ArcSDEESRI's
Gateway to Oracle8i

ESRI
License
Manager

ArcSDE plays a fundamental role in both traditional multiuser desktop GIS and
distributed GIS systems. ArcSDE provides a three-tier client/server gateway between
ESRI's GIS software and Oracle8i, filling three roles as follows:

An integral part of a multiuser ArcGIS system

An application server to deliver spatial data to many users and applications
A developer tool for open access using either ArcObjects or its own Java or C API

When will organizations use ArcSDE?

When ArcInfo 8 software's ArcMap is used to edit a spatial geodatabase that has the
feature geometry stored in Oracle Spatial
When ArcCatalog or other ESRI and third party applications are used to load spatial
data into Oracle Spatial
When a developer will create custom applications using ArcSDE software's Java or
C APIs or ArcInfo 8 software's ArcObjects
When there is a need for increased performance to support large complex sets of
linear or polygon features or large enterprise implementations

ArcSDE is completely integrated with and supports all the major functions and
capabilities in Oracle Spatial including geometry data management. When using Oracle
Spatial with ArcSDE, the geometry, spatial index, and spatial searches are performed by
Oracle. The ArcSDE gateway enables the ArcInfo 8 geodatabase to leverage Oracle
Spatial to store and manage feature geometry. In addition to its core gateway role,
ArcSDE extends and enhances Oracle Spatial by providing

Increased flexibility and enhanced performanceby distributing the GIS application

between the client layer, the ArcSDE application server, and the database server.

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Improved data integrityArcSDE manages the integrity of point, line, and polygon
information. It is added to the database and will not allow ill-formed feature
geometry to be inserted (for example, a polygon's boundaries must be closed). In
addition, ArcInfo 8 and the ArcSDE 8 gateway can be used to implement additional
integrity constraints that are not practical to implement in the DBMS itself (for
example, you can add editing rules to prevent overlapping polygons or connectivity
rules for utility networks).
Reduced database and application development costsArcInfo 8 software's
ArcObjects, ArcSDE software's Java and C APIs, and MapObjects software allow
developers to choose the appropriate tools to quickly create focused applications and
custom data loaders.

In a typical configuration, an ArcSDE application server resides with Oracle8i Enterprise

Edition and Oracle Spatial on a server platform. When used with Oracle8i Spatial,
ArcSDE performs the second order spatial searches and sends the spatial features that
meet the search criteria to the client application.
ArcSDE speeds performance by sending data to the client using intelligent buffering.
Buffering is the process of collecting large chunks of data and sending it all to the client
application rather than sending one record at a time. Processing and buffering data on the
server is much more efficient than sending all of the data across the network and having
the client determine which data to send to the end user application. This becomes critical
when applications are simultaneously using thousands of records in the database.

Distributed GISThe
New Wave

The demand for organizationwide access to geographic data has led to an explosion in the
demand for Internet-based GIS solutions that are fully integrated with spatial data stored
in a DBMS. In turn, this has driven the requirement for solutions that provide

The capability to store and manage complex spatial structures with open standardsbased interfaces

A map-based application framework to ensure spatial data integrity

Advanced analysis

SQL access to the spatial data from core organizational applications

The capability to deploy spatial data easily over the Internet

To meet these requirements, ESRI has pioneered a revolutionary breakthrough in the GIS
arena and developed a new generation of distributed GIS software. Distributed GIS will
change the way people use, analyze, and disseminate their spatial information assets in
their daily operations. Distributed GIS means that GIS capabilities can be truly
distributed on any number of platforms to any number of users across any number of
organizations. ArcIMS 3 has been designed from the outset to be the GIS application
server that is the backbone for distributed GIS.

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Through these new advancements by ESRI, all information can be given locational
intelligence stored in Oracle Spatial and accessed through a distributed GIS. Everyone
on the Internet and in an enterprise-networked environment can now have access to and
use of GIS and mapping tools and spatial data integrated with corporate databases and
information management infrastructures.
Whether within a single organization, across the private Intranet of a multinational
corporate business with globally distributed operations and diverse information assets, or
globally linked and accessed information on the Internet, with ESRI's new breakthrough,
ArcIMS, distributed GIS is leading a new revolution in spatial data use and information
management. This new integrated solution connects hundreds, thousands, or even
millions of users and businesses in a common framework.
ESRI's new distributed GIS architecture provides organizations with an unbeatable
solution for every aspect of deploying spatial data on every desktop and computing
device within an organization, whether it is in the same building, dispersed around a city,
or scattered around the globe. Key beneficiaries of distributed GIS are far ranging and
include

People with no in-depth knowledge of GIS but who need access to spatial
information through simple browser interfaces or who simply need SQL access to
spatial data such as an operator in a wireless phone company customer service center

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Locational and
Wireless Services

GIS professionals that are building and maintaining content to be used throughout an
organization such as the tax mapping authority in a county government
Public organizations providing access and use of spatial information over the Internet
to the general public (a.k.a. e-government) such as the United States Geological
Survey, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Census
Commercial organizations providing access and use of spatial information over the
Internet such as visa.com, realtor.com, and homestore.com

Today, some in the industry refer to the use of spatial information as location services. In
fact, GIS technology and spatial databases are the foundation for location services and
indeed are but a subset, targeted to a much larger market, of GIS technology.
Oracle8i Server technologies (Oracle8i, Spatial, Portal to Go), in combination with
ESRI's ArcIMS 3 and, in the future, ArcPad software, comprise a platform for delivery
of wireless location-based services. ESRI business partners have adopted this
infrastructure to develop Web portals and solutions for wireless carriers to support query
and delivery of mapping, driving directions, and proximity analysis to consumers using
Windows CE appliances, Web phones, and handheld PDAs.

Open Standards and

Interoperability for
Spatial Data

Open standards and interoperability are fundamental requirements for today's software
solutions. ESRI and Oracle have been leaders in their respective industries in
establishing standards for spatial data. ESRI and Oracle are both members of the Open
GIS Consortium (OGC) and have each served on numerous technical committees of OGC
including the Simple Feature for SQL committee and the Web Test Bed committee.
ESRI and Oracle are also represented on the SQL3MM committee, the ISO TC211
committee, and at the American National Standards Institute. ESRI is committed to and
continues to work with all of the world's leading standards bodies in the general software
industry and in the GIS industry, and its software reflects this leadership position and
ESRI's unending efforts to help in the definition and creation of new standards and
advancements.
ESRI and Oracle were the first organizations to be completely compliant with OGC's
simple feature specifications. Both organizations continue to maintain this leadership
position in open standards and interoperability. ArcSDE allows for multiple GIS system
vendors to interoperate with and access information stored in the Oracle database through
its open API and its adherence to standard SQL query structures.

Software Availability

ESRI's GIS software programs (ArcInfo 8, ArcIMS 3, and ArcSDE 8) are available
today. For more information on these or ESRI's other GIS software programs, contact
ESRI at 1-800-447-9778 or www.esri.com.

ESRI White Paper

11

For more than 30 years ESRI has been helping people manage and analyze geographic information. ESRI offers a
framework for implementing GIS in any organization with a seamless link from personal GIS on the desktop to enterprisewide
GIS client/server and data management systems. ESRI GIS solutions are flexible and can be customized to meet the
needs of our users. ESRI is a full-service GIS company, ready to help you begin, grow, and build success with GIS.

Corporate
ESRI
380 New York Street
Redlands, California
92373-8100, USA
Telephone: 909-793-2853
Fax: 909-793-5953

Regional Offices
ESRIMinneapolis
651-454-0600

ESRIOlympia
360-754-4727

ESRIPhiladelphia
610-337-8380

ESRISt. Louis
636-949-6620

ESRIBoston
978-777-4543

For more information call

ESRI or your local reseller at

ESRIWashington, D.C.
703-506-9515

1-800-447-9778
(1-800-GIS-XPRT)
Send e-mail inquiries to
info@esri.com

ESRICharlotte
704-541-9810

ESRICalifornia
909-793-2853
ext. 1-1906

Visit ESRIs Web page at

ESRIDenver
303-449-7779

www.esri.com

ESRISan Antonio
210-499-1044

International Offices
Outside the United States,
contact your local ESRI distributor.
For the number of your distributor,
call ESRI at 909-793-2853,
ext. 1-1235,
or visit our Web site at
www.esri.com/international

Australia
61-89-242-1005

Hong Kong
852-2730-6883

Netherlands
31-10-217-0700

Sweden
46-23-84090

Belgium/Luxembourg
32-2-460-7480

Hungary
361-428-8040

Poland
48-22-825-9836

Thailand
66-2-678-0707

Canada
416-441-6035

India
91-11-620-3802

Romania
40-1-231-13-81

United Kingdom
44-1296-745-500

France
33-1-46-23-6060

Italy
3906-406-96-1

Singapore/Malaysia/Indonesia
65-742-8622

Venezuela
58-2-285-1134

Germany and Switzerland

49-8166-677-0
41-1-360-2460

Korea
82-2-571-3161

Spain
34-91-559-4375

No. GS-35F-5086H
Place ESRI business partner or distributor address here.
Printed in USA