I have an oracle database namely xe which I have spatially enabled. using the Create Enterprise Geodatabase geoprocessing tool.
The application I am going to implement has an already created database/schema containing entitities which have gps data. For example it contains stations that I Have to project on the map.
I want my the application to use, through the arcSDE, this non spatial information, as well as spatial information, layers, geometries, etc.
I have also created an sde and one schema-user (owner of a geodatabase).
How will I integrate these two schemas? should I create my non spatial enterprise schema inside of the schema-user schema and connect them with a sort of foreign keys?
Or use the CREATE DATABASE LINK, CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW, and CREATE VIEW privildges provided to the schema-user?
I am trying to understand the mentality behind the use of a geodatabase in accordance with a non spatial database.
Best Answer
I think your proposed solution may be too complicated. I don't think there really is any such thing as a "non-spatial database". In my view, there's just data, some of which happens to have geometry, and some of which doesn't happen to have direct relationship to geometry (in the end, most data is at least somewhat spatial).
Best practice for integration is to actually integrate the data. This means doing a full database design that lets geometry columns fall where they logically belong, avoiding trivial joins to parallel tables for the sole purpose keeping the data apart.
The principal issue with doing cross-database (and even cross-user) joins is that they're slow. I had the misfortune to have an application where we needed to join a million rows across instances and the performance was hideous. The impact is not as great with small tables, but it is still measurable.