Picking a pipeline data model - why PODS Spatial might be right for you
Posted by Tracy Thorleifson on Mon, Jul 26, 2010
In the previous post we examined the pros and cons of the APDM, comparing and contrasting it with PODS. Here we take a look at the ESRI incarnation of PODS Spatial. As of this writing, the PODS ESRI Spatial 5.0 geodatabase model is scheduled for official release by the PODS organization in early September, 2010.
The PODS Spatial effort undertaken over the past couple of years by the PODS organization is largely a response to the lack of standards for spatially enabling PODS. There are actually two flavors of PODS Spatial, one based on Oracle Spatial technology, and the second based on ESRI geodatabase technology. Only the latter is considered here.
PODS ESRI Spatial (hereafter referred to simply as PODS Spatial) has recently been released for comment by the PODS organization and is thus the latest incarnation of the PODS model. It is essentially an ESRI geodatabase implementation of PODS, as shown below.
The PODS Spatial geodatabase design borrows freely from APDM concepts; the PODS Spatial class hierarchy is a close cousin to the APDM class hierarchy. Unlike the APDM, PODS Spatial remains a standards-based model. The content of PODS Spatial in terms of feature classes is virtually identical to the event tables of the traditional PODS relational model. As such, PODS Spatial occupies an interesting middle ground between the traditional PODS relational model and the APDM.
PODS Spatial might be a good fit for your organization if:
- Your company already makes use of ESRI geodatabase technology
- Your company is willing to maintain relational data integrity via application logic
- Your company is already making use of SOA technology
- Your company views a standards-based data model as being important
- Your company is committed to ArcGIS as the GIS technology of choice
- Your company views being able to incorporate a wide variety of ESRI-based 3rd party tools as important
This post concludes our brief look at the world of pipeline data models. Again, there is no single "best" pipeline data model. What's important is picking a pipeline data model that best fits your organization.
In future posts we'll concentrate on manual techniques for loading and maintaining APDM / PODS Spatial geodatabases. We'll touch on topics such as enabling archiving, and the peculiarities of versioned editing with these geodatabases. We'll also visit techniques for implementing ESRI geometric networks with these data models.