AN ALTERNATIVE TECHNIQUE FOR UPDATING DIGITAL MAP DATA WITHIN A PILOT PROJECT IN EGYPT

摘要

The updating of digital maps has always been a time consuming task, one that many organizations either have avoided or deferred for years. Digital mapping technology offers the promise of easier-- and therefore, the potential for more frequent updating. Improvements have been made in creating interactive graphic editing and updating capabilities, yet not all updating scenarios have lent themselves to make such updating from the database management system (DBMS). We have tested non-graphic updating procedures in a pilot area of 1.5 square kilometers in Giza city in Egypt using ESRI'S ARC/INFO on Micro-Vax computers. The Users recognize that coverage's graphics are maintained separatly from the user-accesable attibute database (INFO files). This is done for good reasons which are not questioned here. What we have tested here is an alternative technique for allowing updating to coordinates and topologies through INFO DBMS without low-level binary management of the graphic files. The proposed technique uses ARC AMLs only and allows linkage to be managed entirely by high-level arc routines. The primary advantage of such technique is that it allows the updating to be expressed as automatic coordinates changes with topologies and vise versa. In addition, the developed technique will have significant potential in improving the interfaces between existing digital maps and any external non-graphic database or digital information from external updating sources such as total station, remotely sensed imagery,..etc.