Coordinate

Summary

Coordinates are OsidPrimitives that represent a spatial position.

OSID Package

Coordinates are defined in the osid.mapping package.

Coordinates

Coordinate Types

Coordinates are used to communicate positions on any kind of map or spatial system. Coordinates across spatial systems differ in meaning as well as the number of dimensions in play. The Coordinate Type identifies the spatial system and indirectly identifies the format of the coordinate data.

Coordinate Data

Coordinates have a set of coordinate values. Each value corresponds to a dimension. The number of dimensions is likely dependent upon the Coordinate Type.

Coordinate Type	Dimensions	Example Values
line	1	{6}
Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)	2	{43.642567, 79.387139}
Earth-Centered, Earth Fixed (ECEF)	3	{-1787.072, -4513.034, 128.622}
Equatorial Coordinate System (ECS)	2	{18.61564898611111, 38.78368894444444}

Uncertainty

As a measurement, Coordinates may also include the amount of uncertainty. Uncertainties are communicated in both the positive and negative direction. If defined, an uncertainty exists for each dimension for how much above and below the value is in the uncertainty range.

osid