Feature
Overview
Feature is a spatial object in a GIS that represents a real-world entity, such as a point, line, or polygon, along with its associated attributes. Features are the fundamental building blocks of vector GIS data and can represent anything from buildings and roads to administrative boundaries and natural phenomena.
Key Concepts
Geometry is the spatial representation of the feature (point, line, polygon). Attributes are descriptive properties stored in columns (name, population, area). Feature class is a collection of features with the same geometry type and attribute schema. Feature ID is a unique identifier for each feature. Spatial reference defines the coordinate system for feature geometry.
Feature Types
| Type | Geometry | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Point | Single coordinate | Address, POI, well |
| Line/Polyline | Ordered vertices | Road, river, trail |
| Polygon | Closed ring | Parcel, county, lake |
| Multi-* | Collection | Archipelago, highway system |
Appendix
Created: 2025-12-13 | Modified: 2025-12-13