Default configuration keywords specific to SQL Server

In addition to the default DBTUNE keywords common to all DBMSs that were listed in the topic Types of configuration keywords, there are nine SQL Server-specific configuration keywords present by default in the SDE_dbtune table. They all specify geometry storage.

Geometry storage keywords

The following three keywords contain two parameters: the GEOMETRY_STORAGE parameter to set the feature class geometry storage type and the UI_TEXT parameter to allow the keyword to be used when creating data in ArcCatalog and other ArcObjects applications.

• SDEBINARY—When this keyword is specified at feature class creation, the storage type for the geometry column is set to the ArcSDE-compressed binary storage type.

  The following text shows the SDEBINARY keyword and parameter list:

  ##SDEBINARY
  GEOMETRY_STORAGE        "SDEBINARY"
  UI_TEXT		"User interface text"

  This storage type is compressed by ArcGIS and sent to the database for storage in a feature table (f table). Compressing the geometry on the client unloads the task from the server and reduces the transmission time to send the geometry. It also reduces the space required to store the data by as much as 40 percent.

• GEOMETRY—When specified at feature class creation, this keyword sets the storage type for the geometry column to use the Microsoft Geometry type. This can only be used with SQL Server 2008 databases.

  This is the GEOMETRY keyword and parameter list:

  ##GEOMETRY
  GEOMETRY_STORAGE	"GEOMETRY"
  UI_TEXT		"User interface text"

  The Microsoft Geometry type is an SQL-compliant spatial data type used for data that uses planar spatial reference systems.

• GEOGRAPHY—When specified at feature class creation, this keyword sets the storage type for the geometry column to use the Microsoft Geography type. This can only be used with SQL Server 2008 databases.

  This is the GEOGRAPHY keyword and parameter list:

  ##GEOGRAPHY
  GEOMETRY_STORAGE	"GEOGRAPHY"
  UI_TEXT		"User interface text"

  The Microsoft Geography type is an SQL-compliant spatial data type used for geodetic spatial data. See ArcSDE and the Microsoft spatial types for more information.

• If you create feature classes using the SDEBINARY or GEOGRAPHY keywords, then create a topology, terrain, or geometric network that contains those feature classes, you must use keywords that contain a GEOMETRY_STORAGE parameter that is set to the same storage type as the feature class. Composite keywords present in the SDE_dbtune table by default that contain GEOMETRY_STORAGE parameters are as follows:
  • NETWORK_GEOGRAPHY
  • TERRAIN_GEOGRAPHY
  • TOPOLOGY_GEOGRAPHY
  • NETWORK_GEOMETRY
  • TERRAIN_GEOMETRY
  • TOPOLOGY_GEOMETRY
  • NETWORK_SDEBINARY
  • TERRAIN_SDEBINARY
  • TOPOLOGY_SDEBINARY

  The first three contain a GEOMETRY_STORAGE parameter set to GEOGRAPHY. For example, if you create a feature class, gasmains, using the GEOGRAPHY keyword, you must use the NETWORK_GEOGRAPHY keyword when you create a geometric network involving the gasmains feature class. The next three keywords contain a GEOMETRY_STORAGE parameter set to GEOMETRY, to be used if you change your DEFAULTS GEOMETRY_STORAGE setting. The last three have a GEOMETRY_STORAGE parameter set to SDEBINARY.

As mentioned in the topic Types of configuration keywords, if you specify a keyword that only has a few parameters, the rest of the parameters are read from the DEFAULTS configuration keyword. Therefore, if you specify SDEBINARY when you create a feature class in a geodatabase in SQL Server, the software uses the values for the GEOMETRY_STORAGE parameter from the SDEBINARY keyword, then goes to the DEFAULTS keyword for values for all the other parameters, such as B_STORAGE.

See Composite keywords and geometry storage for details on setting up network, terrain, and topology keywords for nondefault geometry types.