MySQL 8.0 was a huge step in terms of spatial support — a step up from flat Cartesian coordinate systems to ellipsoidal geography. This presentation gives you a quick tour of the spatial support in MySQL, covering data types, functions, indexes, coordinate reference systems and other core topics. Presented at FOSS4G Bucharest on August 30, 2019.

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Spatial Support in MySQL
Norvald H. Ryeng
Software Development Senior Manager
August 30, 2019

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Program Agenda
A brief history of GIS in MySQL
Data types
Spatial reference systems
Storage and indexing
Functions on geometries
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A Brief History of GIS in MySQL
MySQL ≤5.5: EOL — please upgrade
MySQL 5.6: Homegrown algorithms — please upgrade
MySQL 5.7: A "reboot" of GIS in MySQL
– Aim for standard compliance
● OGC, SQL/MM, etc.
– Use Boost Geometry instead of homegrown algorithms
● Contribute back to Boost
– Cartesian only
MySQL 8.0: Geography (ellipsoids)
– Spatial reference systems

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Spatial Support is Built In
● No plugin, it works out of the box
● First class citizen
● Fully integrated with other functionality
– Data dictionary tables
– INFORMATION_SCHEMA views
– Libraries
● GeoJSON parsed with general JSON parser
– Etc.

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Data Types
● Geometry
– Point
– Linestring
– Polygon
– GeometryCollection
● MultiPoint
● MultiLinestring
● MultiPolygon
● Same types for Cartesian and geographic data
– SRID decides interpretation
● Only 2d for now

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Spatial Reference Systems
SRID 0 Projected SRS Geographic SRS
Cartesian SRS
5.7 8.0

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Spatial Reference Systems
● 5151 predefined 2d SRSs from the EPSG Dataset 9.3 (MySQL 8.0.17)
– 4668 projected
– 483 geographic
● CREATE/DROP SPATIAL REFERENCE SYSTEM statements to create your
own
– Stored in data dictionary
– Viewable through INFORMATION_SCHEMA.ST_SPATIAL_REFERENCE_SYSTEMS
● Axis order is defined by the SRS definition
– EPSG SRSs are always lat-long

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Geography
● Ellipsoidal SRSs
– Full freedom: Arbitrary semi-major and semi-minor axes, any unit, any
axis direction and axis order
– ST_Transform between different ellipsoids
● All geometries are supported
– Line segments follow geodesics (shortest path)

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Storage and Indexing
● Each geometry type can be a column type
● A column can be restricted to a single SRID
● Currently stored as SRID + WKB-ish (X-Y or long-lat)
● R-tree indexes
– Cartesian or geographic
– Indexed columns must be SRID restricted and NOT NULL

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CREATE TABLE t (
id INTEGER AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
pt POINT SRID 4326 NOT NULL
);
CREATE INDEX pt_idx ON t(pt);
INSERT INTO t VALUES (pt)
(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(44.4355 26.1025)', 4326));
INSERT INTO t VALUES (pt)
(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(26.1025 44.4355)', 4326,
'axis-order=long-lat'));

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SELECT id, ST_AsText(pt) FROM t;
SELECT id, ST_AsText(pt, 'axis-order=lat-long') FROM t;
SELECT id, ST_AsText(pt, 'axis-order=long-lat') FROM t;

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Functions on Geometries
● Import
– ST_GeomCollFromTxt/ST_GeomCollFromText, ST_GeomCollFromWKB,
ST_GeomFromGeoJSON, ST_GeomFromText, ST_GeomFromWKB,
ST_LineFromText, ST_LineFromWKB, ST_MLineFromText,
ST_MLineFromWKB, ST_MPointFromText, ST_MPointFromWKB,
ST_MPolyFromText, ST_MPolyFromWKB, ST_PointFromGeohash,
ST_PolyFromText, ST_PolyFromWKB
● Export
– ST_AsBinary, ST_AsGeoJSON, ST_AsText, ST_Geohash

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Functions on Geometries
● Comparison
– ST_Contains, ST_Crosses, ST_Disjoint, ST_Equals, ST_Intersects,
ST_Overlaps, ST_Touches, ST_Within
– MBRContains, MBRCoveredBy, MBRCovers, MBRDisjoint, MBREquals,
MBRIntersects, MBROverlaps, MBRTouches, MBRWithin
● Produce new geometries
– ST_Buffer, ST_Centroid, ST_ConvexHull, ST_Envelope,
ST_MakeEnvelope, ST_Simplify, ST_Difference, ST_Intersection,
ST_SymDifference, ST_Union

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Functions on Geometries
● Measures
– ST_Area, ST_Distance, ST_Distance_Sphere, ST_Length
● Extract/modify properties
– ST_Dimension, ST_EndPoint, ST_ExteriorRing, ST_GeometryN,
ST_GeometryType, ST_InteriorRingN, ST_IsClosed, ST_IsEmpty,
ST_IsSimple, ST_IsValid, ST_PointN, ST_SRID, ST_StartPoint, ST_X, ST_Y,
ST_Latitude, ST_Longitude
● Helper functions
– ST_LatFromGeohash, ST_LongFromGeohash, ST_Validate, ST_SwapXY

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Functions on Geometries
● Same functions for Cartesian and geographic data
● General rule/goal: All functions support all geometries and
SRIDs
– Some exceptions where it doesn't make sense or we're waiting for
Boost Geometry
● Many functions already support geography
– Geography support is added piece by piece, function by function
● Added to Boost Geometry first, then to MySQL
● Your favorite function may be next

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Contributions Wanted
● We'd love to see MySQL support in all GIS applications
● A lot of the software already has some level of MySQL support
– Often unmaintained or lacking in functionality
– Not utilizing MySQL 8.0 improvements
● Please contribute patches to your favorite applications!
– Ask us for help if needed
– Tell us what is missing on the MySQL side
– Let us know what you've done, and we'll help you spread the good news!

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Feature descriptions and design details
directly from the source.
http://mysqlserverteam.com/

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