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Geospatial functions

ST_MAKEPOLYGONORIENTED¶

Constructs a GEOGRAPHY object that represents a Polygon without holes. The function uses the specified LineString as the outer loop.

This function does not attempt to correct the orientation of the loop, thus allowing for the creation of Polygons that span more than half of the globe. In contrast, ST_MAKEPOLYGON inverts the orientation of those large shapes.

See also:

TO_GEOGRAPHY, ST_MAKEPOLYGON

Syntax¶

ST_MAKEPOLYGONORIENTED( <geography_expression> )
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Arguments¶

geography_expression

A GEOGRAPHY object that represents a LineString in which the last point is the same as the first (i.e. a loop).

Returns¶

The function returns a value of type GEOGRAPHY.

Usage notes¶

  • The lines of the Polygon must form a loop. In other words, the last Point in the sequence of Points defining the LineString must be the same Point as the first Point in the sequence.

  • As you follow along the loop, the inside of the Polygon should be on the left, and the outside of the Polygon should be on the right.

Examples¶

The following example demonstrates how to use the ST_MAKEPOLYGONORIENTED function. The sequence of Points below defines a geodesic rectangular area 1 degree wide and 2 degrees high. The lower left corner of the Polygon starts at the equator (latitude) and Greenwich (longitude). The last Point in the sequence is the same as the first Point, which completes the loop.

The example passes the GEOGRAPHY object for the Polygon to the ST_AREA function to return the area of the Polygon.

SELECT ST_AREA(
  ST_MAKEPOLYGONORIENTED(
    TO_GEOGRAPHY('LINESTRING(0.0 0.0, 1.0 0.0, 1.0 2.0, 0.0 2.0, 0.0 0.0)')
  )
) AS area_of_polygon;

+------------------+
|  AREA_OF_POLYGON |
|------------------|
| 24724306355.5504 |
+------------------+
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The following example is the same shape but has the opposite orientation. As indicated by the difference in the area of the Polygon, the Polygon represents the entire globe except for that previous shape.

SELECT ST_AREA(
  ST_MAKEPOLYGONORIENTED(
    TO_GEOGRAPHY('LINESTRING(0.0 0.0, 0.0 2.0, 1.0 2.0, 1.0 0.0, 0.0 0.0)')
  )
) AS area_of_polygon;

+-----------------+
| AREA_OF_POLYGON |
|-----------------|
| 510041348811633 |
+-----------------+
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