Re: Oracle 9i - Spatial vs Locator

Chris Morgan wrote:

> Hi Brian,
>
> The Oracle 9i Spatial Users Guide and Reference, Apendix C: Locator
> says:
> "Locator is available with both Oracle9i Standard Edition and Oracle9i
> Enterprise Edition. Spatial is a priced option available only with
> Oracle9i Enterprise Edition. Spatial includes all Locator features as
> well as other features that are not available with Locator."
>

Yes. AFAIK, that is correct.

>
> I have inferred from this that basic spatial functionality can be used
> without having to purchase a Spatial licence.
>

Again, correct. Locator is part of Intermedia. Therefore, AFAIK, included in the license. It's always wise to recheck/reconfirm licensing statements made in the forum directly with Oracle (your neck, not ours!)

>
> What I'm looking for is a test like the number of schema objects in
> MDSYS
> to check whether Locator or Spatial is installed, plus the SQL scripts
> I would need to run to install Locator and Spatial manually.
>

Look at the Intermedia manual. The implementation is as an object type. If you can detect the 'typedef' (potentially by doing a create table & catching the error), you can determine whether the feature is installed. Second step would be to check whether a locator and a spatial method are available. There are all sorts of secondary permissions gotchas - simple detection (especially outside of the database) will not be sufficient.

Note the availability of Spatial does not imply licensing of Spatial.

I believe Spatial and Locator/Intermedia are only implemented as PL/SQL functions probably created by simple .sql scripts in the appropriate $ORACLE_HOME/{component}/admin directories.

It is never a good idea to install components/features/options manually as it hoops the installer's inventory. Stoopid tings happen later - especially when trying to upgrade/patch.

/Hans Received on Thu Jun 05 2003 - 19:25:21 CDT