What's New in GeoRaster?

This section describes new and changed features of Oracle Spatial GeoRaster for the current release.

JPEG and DEFLATE Compression and Decompression

You can use native JPEG and DEFLATE compression with GeoRaster objects, and you can decompress compressed GeoRaster objects. All GeoRaster operations in the SDO_GEOR package that can be performed on a decompressed (uncompressed) GeoRaster object can be performed on a compressed GeoRaster object. For more information, see Section 1.8.

Third-party Wavelet Compression and Decompression

GeoRaster supports some wavelet compression types through third-party plug-ins. For information about the availability and features of any such plug-ins, check the Oracle Spatial page on the Oracle Technology Network (OTN):

http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/spatial/

Requirements for GeoRaster Tables and Raster Data Tables

The following requirements apply to tables related to GeoRaster:

A GeoRaster table and its associated raster data table or tables must have the same owner. However, cross-schema usage and operations (such as query, create, insert, update, delete, or copy operations) of GeoRaster objects and their GeoRaster tables and associated raster data tables are allowed, as explained in Section 1.4.4.
Each raster data table (RDT) name must be unique within the database.

New Procedures for RDT Name Uniqueness

The SDO_GEOR_UTL package (documented in Chapter 5) contains the following new procedures that can help to ensure that raster data table names are unique within the database:

The SDO_GEOR_UTL.makeRDTNamesUnique procedure renames some existing raster data tables that do not have unique names so that all raster data table names are unique within the database, and it updates the GeoRaster system data and all affected GeoRaster objects to reflect the new names.
The SDO_GEOR_UTL.renameRDT procedure renames one or more existing raster data tables, and updates the GeoRaster system data and all affected GeoRaster objects to reflect the new names.

Migration Might Require RDT Name Changes

If you migrate from Oracle Database release 10.1.0.2 or 10.1.0.3 to release 10.1.0.4 or to the current release, some raster data table names might not be unique in the database. If any RDT names are not unique, you must use the SDO_GEOR_UTL.makeRDTNamesUnique or SDO_GEOR_UTL.renameRDT procedure (documented in Chapter 5).

GeoRaster Objects in Schemas Other Than the Current Schema

All SDO_GEOR subprograms (documented in Chapter 4) can now work on GeoRaster objects defined in schemas other than the current connection schema, as long as they have the appropriate privileges. For information about cross-schema considerations, see Section 1.4.4.

changeFormat and scale Procedures Deprecated

The SDO_GEOR.changeFormat and SDO_GEOR.scale procedures have been deprecated; you should instead use the SDO_GEOR.changeFormatCopy and SDO_GEOR.scaleCopy procedures, respectively. Thus, if you use the supported procedures, the format change or scaling is always done on a copy of the input GeoRaster object, and the result is a new GeoRaster object.

These procedures are documented in Chapter 4.

Enhanced GeoRaster Tools

The GeoRaster viewer, loader, and exporter tools have been enhanced as follows:

The viewer interface provides more features yet is easier to use.
In the viewer, you can connect to multiple databases simultaneously. The GeoRaster objects from each database are listed in the left pane. You can also display image files (such as exported GeoRaster objects).
In the viewer, you can quickly switch among views at various resolutions, from the original image (pyramid level 0) to the overview (highest pyramid level).
The viewer includes new image enhancement features, such as linear stretch (automatic, manual, or piecewise), normalization, equalization, and controls for brightness, contrast, and threshold. These image enhancement features enable you to visualize GeoRaster objects of any cell depth and any cell data range.
The viewer supports window selection on the GeoRaster object in the image panel, enabling you to export the selected window to image files.
In the viewer, you can call the GeoRaster loader and exporter tools, thus enabling you to use a single tool as an interface to the capabilities of all the GeoRaster tools.
The loader can compress raster data and directly store the data into JPEG or DEFLATE compressed GeoRaster objects.
The loader supports loading of an ESRI world file into an existing GeoRaster object, georeferencing it without reloading the raster data. You can also specify a SRID with a world file, and optionally generate its spatial extent.
The exporter gives you the option of exporting just the world file instead of both the world file and its associated image file.

The new loader tool features are also available with the SDO_GEOR.importFrom procedure. The new exporter tool feature is also available with the SDO_GEOR.exportTo procedure

The GeoRaster tools are briefly described in Section 1.10.