ABSTRACT
Databases are the foundation of GIS. A knowledge of the fundamental principles of databases is indispensable for understanding GIS technology. Most GIS are built upon general-purpose relational databases; certainly all GIS will connect with such systems in a distributed environment. This chapter introduces the reader to the main principles of databases. The general database approach is introduced in Section 2.1, with the principles of database development introduced in Section 2.2. The most common database model is the relational model, described in detail in Section 2.3. However, the graph database model is a markedly different approach to databases with growing significance for GIS, explored in Section 2.4.
