Summary of spatial functions by task type

The spatial data type functions do different types of tasks, such as generating different formats, manipulating or comparing data, and obtaining information about data.

The following table shows the spatial data type functions arranged by task type.

Table 1. Spatial functions by task type
This table has spanned cells in the first column that represent task types. The second and third columns have multiple rows of descriptions and functions names for each task type.
Function task type	Description	Function name
Generate a geometry from a well-known text representation.	Takes a well-known text representation and returns an ST_Geometry using SRID 0	The ST_WKTToSQL() function
	Takes a well-known text representation and returns an ST_Geometry	The ST_GeomFromText() function
	Takes a well-known text representation and returns an ST_Point	The ST_PointFromText() function
	Takes a well-known text representation and returns an ST_LineString	The ST_LineFromText() function
	Takes a well-known text representation and returns an ST_Polygon	The ST_PolyFromText() function
	Takes a well-known text representation and returns an ST_MultiLine	The ST_MLineFromText() function
	Takes a well-known text representation and returns an ST_MultiPoint	The ST_MPointFromText() function
	Takes a well-known text representation and returns an ST_MultiPolygon	The ST_MPolyFromText() function
Generate a geometry from a well-known binary representation.	Takes a well-known binary representation and returns an ST_Geometry using SRID 0	The ST_WKBToSQL() function
	Takes a well-known binary representation and returns an ST_Geometry	The ST_GeomFromWKB() function
	Takes a well-known binary representation and returns an ST_Point	The ST_PointFromWKB() function
	Takes a well-known binary representation and returns an ST_LineString	The ST_LineFromWKB() function
	Takes a well-known binary representation and returns an ST_Polygon	The ST_PolyFromWKB() function
	Takes a well-known binary representation and returns an ST_MultiLine	The ST_MLineFromWKB() function
	Takes a well-known binary representation and returns an ST_MultiPoint	The ST_MPointFromWKB() function
	Takes a well-known binary representation and returns an ST_MultiPolygon	The ST_MPolyFromWKB() function
Generate a geometry from an ESRI shape representation.	Takes an ESRI shape representation and returns an ST_Geometry using SRID 0	The SE_ShapeToSQL() function
	Takes an ESRI shape representation and returns an ST_Geometry	The SE_GeomFromShape() function
	Takes an ESRI shape representation and returns an ST_Point	The SE_PointFromShape() function
	Takes an ESRI shape representation and returns an ST_LineString	The SE_LineFromShape() function
	Takes an ESRI shape representation and returns an ST_Polygon	The SE_PolyFromShape() function
	Takes an ESRI shape representation and returns an ST_MultiLine	The SE_MLineFromShape() function
	Takes an ESRI shape representation and returns an ST_MultiPoint	The SE_MPointFromShape() function
	Takes an ESRI shape representation and returns an ST_MultiPolygon	The SE_MPolyFromShape() function
Generate a geometry from a GML representation.	Takes a GML2 or GML3 string representation of an envelope and returns an ST_Polygon	The ST_EnvelopeFromGML() function
	Takes a GML2 or GML3 string representation and returns an ST_Geometry	The ST_GeomFromGML() function
	Takes a GML2 or GML3 string representation and returns an ST_LineString	The ST_LineFromGML() function
	Takes a GML2 or GML3 string representation and returns an ST_MultiLineString	The ST_MLineFromGML() function
	Takes a GML2 or GML3 string representation and returns an ST_MultiPoint	The ST_MPointFromGML() function
	Takes a GML2 or GML3 string representation and returns an ST_MultiPolygon	The ST_MPolyFromGML() function
	Takes a GML2 or GML3 string representation and returns an ST_Point	The ST_PointFromGML() function
	Takes a GML2 or GML3 string representation and returns an ST_Polygon	The ST_PolyFromGML() function
Generate a geometry from a KML representation.	Takes a KML LatLonBox string representation and returns an ST_Polygon	The SE_EnvelopeFromKML() function
	Takes a KML fragment string representation and returns an ST_Geometry	The ST_GeomFromKML() function
	Takes a KML LineString string representation and returns an ST_LineString	The ST_LineFromKML() function
	Takes a KML MultiGeometry string representation and returns an ST_MultiLineString	The ST_MLineFromKML() function
	Takes a KML MultiGeometry and Point combination string representation and returns an ST_MultiPoint	The ST_MPointFromKML() function
	Takes a KML MultiGeometry and Polygon combination string representation and returns an ST_MultiPolygon	The ST_MPolyFromKML() function
	Takes a KML Point string representation and returns an ST_Point	The ST_PointFromKML() function
	Takes a KML Polygon string representation and returns an ST_Polygon	The ST_PolyFromKML() function
Convert a geometry to an external format.	Returns the well-known text representation of a geometry object	The ST_AsText() function
	Returns the well-known binary representation of a geometry object	The ST_AsBinary() function
	Returns a BSON representation in GeoJSON format of a geometry object	The SE_AsBSON() function
	Returns the ESRI shape representation of a geometry object	The SE_AsShape() function
	Returns the GML representation of a geometry object	The SE_AsGML() function or The ST_AsGML() function
	Returns the GML3 Envelope element of an ST_Envelope object	The ST_EnvelopeAsGML() function
	Returns the KML representation of a geometry object	The ST_AsKML() function or The SE_AsKML() function
	Returns the KML LatLonBox of an ST_Envelope object	The SE_EnvelopeAsKML() function
Manipulate the ST_Point data type.	Creates an ST_Point data type from an X and Y coordinate	The ST_Point() function
	Returns the X coordinate of a point	The ST_X() function
	Returns the Y coordinate of a point	The ST_Y() function
	Returns the Z coordinate of a point	The ST_Z function
	Returns the measure value of a point	The ST_M() function
Manipulate the ST_LineString and ST_MultiLineString data types.	Returns the first point	The ST_StartPoint() function
	Returns the midpoint	The SE_Midpoint() function
	Returns the last point	The ST_EndPoint() function
	Returns the `n`th point	The ST_PointN() function
	Returns the length	The ST_Length() function
	Creates an ST_Polygon from a ring (closed linestring)	The ST_Polygon() function
Manipulate the ST_Polygon and ST_MultiPolygon data types.	Calculates the area	The ST_Area() function
	Calculates the geometric center	The ST_Centroid() function
	Returns the exterior ring	The ST_ExteriorRing() function
	Counts the number of interior rings	The ST_NumInteriorRing() function
	Returns the `n`th interior ring	The ST_InteriorRingN() function
	Returns a point on the surface	The ST_PointOnSurface() function
	Returns the perimeter	The ST_Perimeter() function
Obtain parameters of a geometry.	Returns the dimensions of the coordinates	The ST_CoordDim() function
	Returns the dimension of the geometry	The ST_Dimension() function
	Returns the shortest distance to another geometry	The ST_Distance() function
	Returns the distance to a point	The ST_DistanceToPoint() function
	Returns the point at a specific distance	The ST_PointAtDistance() function
	Returns the data type	The ST_GeometryType() function
	Returns the number of points	The ST_NumPoints() function
	Returns the spatial reference ID	The ST_SRID() function
	Returns the maximum and minimum X coordinate	The ST_MaxX() and ST_MinX() functions
	Returns the maximum and minimum Y coordinate	The ST_MaxY() and ST_MinY() functions
	Returns the maximum and minimum Z coordinate	The ST_MaxZ() and ST_MinZ() functions
	Returns the maximum and minimum measure value	The ST_MaxM() and ST_MinM() functions
Determine the properties of a geometry.	Determines whether a linestring or multilinestring is closed	The ST_IsClosed() function
	Determines whether a geometry is empty (it has no points)	The ST_IsEmpty() function
	Determines whether a geometry has measures	The ST_IsMeasured() function
	Determines whether a linestring is a ring (it is closed and simple)	The ST_IsRing() function
	Determines whether a geometry is simple	The ST_IsSimple() function
	Determines whether a geometry is topologically valid	The ST_IsValid() function
	Determines whether an object has Z coordinates	The ST_Is3D() function
	Tests whether two geometries meet the conditions specified by a specified DE-91M pattern matrix	The ST_Relate() function
Determine whether a certain relationship exists between two geometries.	Determines whether one geometry completely contains another	The ST_Contains() function
	Determines whether a geometry crosses another	The ST_Crosses() function
	Determines whether two geometries are non-intersecting	The ST_Disjoint() function
	Determines whether the envelopes of two geometries intersect	The SE_EnvelopesIntersect() function
	Determines whether two geometries are spatially equal	The ST_Equals() function
	Determines whether two geometries intersect	The ST_Intersects() function
	Determines whether two geometries overlap	The ST_Overlaps() function
	Determines whether two geometries touch	The ST_Touches() function
	Determines whether one object is completely inside another	The ST_Within() function
Compare geometries and return a new geometry based on how the geometries are related.	An aggregate function that computes the union of geometries of the same dimension	The SE_Dissolve() function
	Returns the portion of the primary geometry that is not intersected by the secondary geometry	The ST_Difference() function
	Computes the intersection of two geometries	The ST_Intersection() function
	Returns the perpendicular projection of a point on the nearest segment of a linestring	The SE_PerpendicularPoint() function
	Returns an ST_Geometry object that is composed of the parts of the two source geometries that are not common to both	The ST_SymDifference() function
	Computes the union of two geometries	The ST_Union() function
Generate a new geometry from an existing geometry.	Generates a geometry that is the buffer that surrounds the source object	The ST_Buffer() function
	Generates the combined boundary of the geometry	The ST_Boundary() function
	Calculates the spatial extent of all geometries in a table column	The SE_BoundingBox() function
	Generates the convex hull of a geometry	The ST_ConvexHull() function
	Generates the bounding box of a geometry	The ST_Envelope() function
	Generates a geometry with fewer vertices but of the same general shape	The SE_Generalize() function
	Generates an ST_MultiPoint representing points that have the specified measure value	The ST_LocateAlong() function
	Generates an ST_MultiPoint or ST_MultiLineString representing points or paths that have measures in the specified range	The ST_LocateBetween() function
	Appends a vertex to a linestring	The SE_VertexAppend() function
	Deletes a vertex from a geometry	The SE_VertexDelete() function
	Updates a vertex in a geometry	The SE_VertexUpdate() function
Manage collections.	Returns the `n`th geometry	The ST_GeometryN() function
Manage collections.	Returns the number of geometries in the collection	The ST_NumGeometries() function
Nearest-neighbor queries.	Retrieves nearby geometries in increasing distance order. SE_NearestBbox() is similar to SE_Nearest(), but measures distances between bounding boxes of geometries.	The SE_Nearest() and SE_NearestBbox() functions
Assist in managing spatial reference systems.	Computes the false origin and system units for a data set and creates an entry in the spatial_references table	The SE_CreateSRID() function
	Returns the OGC well-known text representation of a spatial reference system	The SE_CreateSrtext() function
	Returns the text for all types of spatial reference systems that use the specified ID	The SE_CreateSrtextList() function
	Returns the number of spatial reference system types for a specified ID	The SE_CreateSrtextCount() function
	Returns the spatial reference ID for a geometry	The ST_SRID() function
	Returns the Authority Name and Authority SRID of a spatial reference ID	The SE_SRID_Authority() function
	Transforms a geometry from one spatial reference system to another	The ST_Transform() function
Administration	Returns the in-row, out-of-row, and total size of a geometry in bytes	The SE_InRowSize() function The SE_OutOfRowSize() function The SE_TotalSize() function
	Reinitializes the spatial reference system memory cache	The SE_MetadataInit() function
	Returns the value of a specified parameter or all parameters if called with no parameters	The SE_ParamGet() function
	Sets the specified parameter to a new value	The SE_ParamSet() function
	Returns usage information (if called with no parameters)	The SE_ParamSet() function
	Returns the version and release date of the spatial data extension	The SE_Release() function
	Generates a sort key for geometries	The SE_SpatialKey() function
	Controls tracing to assist in debugging	The SE_Trace() function