12.16 Spatial Analysis Functions

MySQL provides functions to perform various operations on spatial data. These functions can be grouped into several major categories according to the type of operation they perform:

  • Functions that create geometries in various formats (WKT, WKB, internal)

  • Functions that convert geometries between formats

  • Functions that access qualitative or quantitative properties of a geometry

  • Functions that describe relations between two geometries

  • Functions that create new geometries from existing ones

For general background about MySQL support for using spatial data, see Section 11.4, “Spatial Data Types”.