The terms in this topic are defined based on their use with enterprise geodatabases, SQL, and spatial user-defined types. Some of the terms have different meanings outside the context of an enterprise geodatabase using spatial types.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
Coordinate system | A coordinate system is a reference framework, consisting of a set of points, lines, and/or surfaces and a set of rules, used to define the positions of points in space in either two or three dimensions. The Cartesian coordinate system and the geographic coordinate system used on the earth's surface are common examples of coordinate systems. |
Named version | A named version is a geodatabase version you create that is a descendant of the Default version. Named versions are accessed differently when using versioned views to edit data that participates in traditional versioning; the named version must be set when you edit it through a versioned view. The version itself is locked for the duration of the edit session. |
The Object ID field is maintained by ArcGIS and guarantees a unique ID for each row in the table. Most of the functionality in ArcGIS requires the Object ID to be unique. If it is not unique, you will see inconsistent behavior in functionality. This field is also sometimes referred to as the row ID. | |
Registering a table with the geodatabase adds a record for the table to the GDB_ITEMS and TABLE_REGISTRY system tables, one record for each column in the table to the COLUMN_REGISTRY system table, and adds an Object ID column to the table. This column is maintained and used by ArcGIS. If the table contains a spatial column, a record for the table is added to the LAYERS system table and a record for the spatial column is added to the GEOMETRY_COLUMNS system table. | |
A spatial index is a database index created on the spatial column in a table to optimize access to the spatial data. | |
A spatial reference describes where features are located in the real world. You define a spatial reference when creating a geodatabase feature dataset or stand-alone feature class. The spatial reference includes a coordinate system for x-, y-, and z-values as well as tolerance and resolution values for x-, y-, z-, and m-values. | |
Spatial table | A spatial table is a table that includes a spatial column. To create a spatial table, include a spatial column in the column clause of the CREATE TABLE statement. A spatial table is also called a feature class. |
The ST_Geometry data type is a user-defined data type (UDT) that allows you to define columns that store spatial data. | |
A versioned view incorporates a database view, stored procedures, triggers, and functions to allow you to use Structured Query Language (SQL) to read or edit data in a geodatabase that has been registered to use traditional versioning. When you query a versioned view, you can see the data in the base (business) table and the edits that are stored in the delta tables. The triggers used by the versioned views update the delta tables when you edit the versioned view using SQL. |