Summary
This chapter has been an introduction to the basics of programming new functionality based on the SDO_GEOMETRY data type's attributes and methods. New functions were created that showed you how to interpret and manipulate the SDO_ELEM_INFO and SDO_ORDINATES attributes both alone and together using SQL and PL/SQL.
New functionality is often built on top of existing or new functions. Such functionality needs to be organized so that it is understandable, maintainable, and accessible. This chapter therefore introduced different methods for packaging such functionality with an emphasis on the use of an object type called T_GEOMETRY. The chapter concluded with some practical functions for sorting and vectorizing geometries.
In Chapter 7, Editing, TransForming, and Constructing Geometries, everything learned in this chapter will be used when building more advanced functions For editing, converting, and transforming the SDO_GEOMETRY data.
