Spatial data type support limitations

Vertica does not support all types of GEOMETRY and GEOGRAPHY objects.

Vertica does not support all types of GEOMETRY and GEOGRAPHY objects. See the respective function page for a list of objects that function supports. Spherical geometry is generally more complex than Euclidean geometry. Thus, there are fewer spatial functions that support the GEOGRAPHY data type.

Limitations of spatial data type support:

  • A non-WGS84 GEOGRAPHY object is a spatial object defined on the surface of a perfect sphere of radius 6371 kilometers. This sphere approximates the shape of the earth. Other spatial programs may use an ellipsoid to model the earth, resulting in slightly different data.

  • You cannot modify the size or data type of a GEOMETRY or GEOGRAPHY column after creation.

  • You cannot import data to or export data from tables that contain spatial data from another Vertica database.

  • You can only use the STV_Intersect functions with points and polygons.

  • GEOGRAPHY objects of type GEOMETRYCOLLECTION are not supported.

  • Values for longitude must be between -180 and +180 degrees. Values for latitude must be between –90 and +90 degrees. The Vertica geospatial functions do not validate these values.

  • GEOMETRYCOLLECTION objects cannot contain empty objects. For example, you cannot specify GEOMETRYCOLLECTION (LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4), POINT(5 6), POINT EMPTY).

  • If you pass a spatial function a NULL geometry, the function returns NULL, unless otherwise specified. A result of NULL has no value.

  • Polymorphic functions, such as NVL and GREATEST, do not accept GEOMETRY and GEOGRAPHY arguments.