Extracting Topological Information from Spatial Constraint Databases

This paper presents an efficient topology information extraction algorithm that is capable of extracting primary topological relations, such as, interior, boundary, and exterior from a single spatial or spatio-temporal object stored in a linear constraint database. Any non-spatial constraints will be preserved so that the input spatiotemporal object’s temporal constraints will not be sacrificed by the algorithm. Based on the three primary topological relations, more topological relations between regions, lines, and points can be defined in a constraint database for future spatial analysis.