Access Oracle Spatial from BentleyMap

The following is an example of the functionalities that can be performed using Microstation BentleyMap to manage information from an OracleSpatial database.

Install Oracle Client

It is not necessary to have Oracle installed on the computer. Only the Client, in this case I am using 11g R2. Unlike when it was used Microsation Geographics, it is not necessary to define a connection string on the client, because there it worked more efficiently using an ODBC connector. In the case of BentleyMap, the connection string is defined in a VBA so that it is not being entered, it is saved in an xml file or it is entered in the panel when making the connection.

Connect to the database

For this you have to do:

File> map interperability

This creates a tab in the side panel, which is what allows us to make connections to data from different sources. In the case of BentleyMap, you can access Oracle connections, SQL Server and WFS services from here.

Too bad that there is no connection to PostGIS.

In the Connections folder, right-click and select New Oracle Connection ...

This appears a panel, where we must enter the user, key and the service address.

In case of access via a port, which is usually the 1521, as well as the host and remote service where it is published.

The properties of a connection can be saved as an xml file of extension orax, sqlx or wfsx to call without having to enter the fields.

View and edit information

Once the connection is created, the layers available in the project are displayed, which can be viewed in an orderly manner by type, or by attribute category defined in Geospatial Administrator.

To consult data, the icon is used in the form of glasses, this allows to display the information in tabular form or as an xml structure.

In the right button of the mouse the same functionalities of the bar are displayed spatial tools:

• Querry is used to make a data query, either from the View (View) or from a specific query, or from all the existing data in the spatial schema.
• Post is used to save changes made to the geometry.
• Lock / unlock to enable the possibility of making changes.
• Erase Cached Instances cleans view data

In case you want to make a specific query, you can place it in the field Where Clause, according to the information that the object contains. In this case, I only want the cadastral parcels, which are in an active state and which belong to sector 0006 of Department 08 and Municipality 01. The query would be:

DELETED = 0 AND CODDEPARTAMENTO = 08 AND CODMUNICIPIO = 01 AND SECTOR = 0006

It is important to understand that BentleyMap edits natively, so the possibility of disaster is in the lack of security controls. It is necessary to clearly establish the roles of the users, in control of versioning and options for recovering information deleted by mistake. Generally people are mischievous and confuse what is lock with unlock.

Otherwise, it is wonderful, considering that it has all the capabilities of CAD software. Practice says you have to Make use of VBA For better management of the tools and for a transactional management.