16.5 Analyzing Spatial Information

16.5. Analyzing Spatial Information

16.5.1. Geometry Format Conversion Functions
16.5.2. Geometry Functions
16.5.3. Functions That Create New Geometries from Existing Ones
16.5.4. Functions for Testing Spatial Relations Between Geometric Objects
16.5.5. Relations on Geometry Minimal Bounding Rectangles (MBRs)
16.5.6. Functions That Test Spatial Relationships Between Geometries

After populating spatial columns with values, you are ready to query and analyze them. MySQL provides a set of functions to perform various operations on spatial data. These functions can be grouped into four major categories according to the type of operation they perform:

Functions that convert geometries between various formats
Functions that provide access to qualitative or quantitative properties of a geometry
Functions that describe relations between two geometries
Functions that create new geometries from existing ones

Spatial analysis functions can be used in many contexts, such as:

Any interactive SQL program, such as mysql or MySQL Query Browser
Application programs written in any language that supports a MySQL client API