Creating an XY Table

Spatial Manager allows you to create a named table that points to a JDBC database table which has columns representing longitude (X) and latitude (Y) values.

To create an XY table in Spatial Manager:

  1. From the Create drop-down located in the toolbar, select XY Table.
    Note: This is disabled if you do not have sufficient permissions.
    The Create XY Table page appears.
  2. In the Choose a Datasource section, select a connection from the Connection list. Because XY Tables can only be created from database tables, you must select a database connection.
    Information about the connection appears to the right (its location in the repository and its URL).
  3. From the Datasource list, select the source of the data for the XY table.
    Information about the datasource appears to the right.
    Note: If a table has a spatial column already defined in the map catalog, it is not an XY table and therefore you cannot specify columns. If the table already has X and Y columns defined in the map catalog, it is already considered an XY table. If the table does not have two numeric columns to represent X and Y values, you cannot create an XY table. In all cases, proceed to step 7 to complete the Repository Info section and create a non-XY named table.
  4. In the Settings section:
    1. Choose whether to change the Volatile flag or use the default.

      The Volatile flag is enabled by default. This setting is appropriate for data sources that are frequently updated. Spectrum Spatial checks with the data source to see if the table schema can change, and if so, empties the cache and reloads the table, although at some expense to performance. Disable the Volatile setting only for tables that you know are not going to change over time or change infrequently. Disabling volatility aids in data access performance, especially for batch operations such as map tile generation. See Data Source Volatility for more information.

    2. Choose whether to set the table to be read-only. This is applicable only to MapInfo native TAB and extended native TAB (NativeX) files in a Windows operating system. For more information, see MapInfo Native TAB.
    3. Choose whether to enable spatial aggregation (applicable only to MS SQL Server data sources). For more information, see Support for Spatial Aggregation.
  5. In the Create Points section, select X (longitude) and Y (latitude) columns if default values are not provided or if you want to change them. Then specify the coordinate system you would like to use. Numeric longitude and latitude columns as well as a coordinate system are all required to create an XY table.
  6. In the Display Style section, the MI_STYLE column is selected by default if it is present. Select a styling option if a default option is either not selected or you want to change it:
    Use style information from selected datasource
    Choose a style column from the selected datasource.
    Use a named style
    Specify an existing named style in the repository. If you are using a named style, you must include the entire path from the root (for example, /NamedStyles/PointStylePin).
    None
  7. In the Repository Info section, the New Table Name field uses the name of the chosen datasource as the default. You can accept the default name or change it. Spatial Manager will warn you if another named table exists with that name. Names are case sensitive and cannot contain the following characters: / \ : [ ] | * { } "
  8. The Repository Folder field defaults to the location you were at in the repository when you selected Create > Table. You can accept the default path or change it.
  9. Click Create.
    The details page for the new XY table appears.