Conceptual and application issues in the implementation of object-oriented GIS

The adoption of object-oriented technology for spatial data modeling is becoming a significant trend in GIS. This research explores the concepts of Object-Oriented GIS (OOGIS) and illustrates its versatility in two case studies. OOGIS provides a feature-based, intuitive representation of real world features. The study emphasizes the fundamental concepts of inheritance, polymorphism, and encapsulation in OOGIS and explores schema design, long transactions, and versioning. Further, the study discusses the advantages of OOGIS in the management and analysis of geospatial data. The case studies demonstrate both the conceptual basis of OOGIS and specific functionality including behavior, methods, versioning, long transactions and data locking. OOGIS demonstrates many advantages over the traditional entity-relationship model in database maintenance and functionality.