These functions create geometry objects from various textual or binary formats.

# Geometry Input

## Well-Known Text (WKT)

ST_BdPolyFromText

Construct a Polygon given an arbitrary collection of closed linestrings as a MultiLineString Well-Known text representation.

    				geometry ST_BdPolyFromText
    				text  WKT
    				integer  srid

#### Description

Construct a Polygon given an arbitrary collection of closed linestrings as a MultiLineString Well-Known text representation.

Throws an error if WKT is not a MULTILINESTRING. Throws an error if output is a MULTIPOLYGON; use ST_BdMPolyFromText in that case, or see ST_BuildArea() for a postgis-specific approach.

&sfs_compliant; s3.2.6.2

Performed by the GEOS module.

Availability: 1.1.0

#### Examples

    Forthcoming

-->

#### See Also

ST_BuildArea, ST_BdMPolyFromText

ST_BdMPolyFromText

Construct a MultiPolygon given an arbitrary collection of closed linestrings as a MultiLineString text representation Well-Known text representation.

    					geometry ST_BdMPolyFromText
    					text  WKT
    					integer  srid

#### Description

Construct a Polygon given an arbitrary collection of closed linestrings, polygons, MultiLineStrings as Well-Known text representation.

Throws an error if WKT is not a MULTILINESTRING. Forces MULTIPOLYGON output even when result is really only composed by a single POLYGON; use ST_BdPolyFromText if you're sure a single POLYGON will result from operation, or see ST_BuildArea() for a postgis-specific approach.

&sfs_compliant; s3.2.6.2

Performed by the GEOS module.

Availability: 1.1.0

#### See Also

ST_BuildArea, ST_BdPolyFromText

ST_GeogFromText

Return a specified geography value from Well-Known Text representation or extended (WKT).

    				geography ST_GeogFromText
    				text  EWKT

#### Description

Returns a geography object from the well-known text or extended well-known representation. SRID 4326 is assumed if unspecified. This is an alias for ST_GeographyFromText. Points are always expressed in long lat form.

#### Examples

    --- converting lon lat coords to geography
    ALTER TABLE sometable ADD COLUMN geog geography(POINT,4326);
    UPDATE sometable SET geog = ST_GeogFromText('SRID=4326;POINT(' || lon || ' ' || lat || ')');

    --- specify a geography point using EPSG:4267, NAD27
    SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_GeogFromText('SRID=4267;POINT(-77.0092 38.889588)'));

#### See Also

ST_AsText, ST_GeographyFromText

ST_GeographyFromText

Return a specified geography value from Well-Known Text representation or extended (WKT).

    				geography ST_GeographyFromText
    				text  EWKT

#### Description

Returns a geography object from the well-known text representation. SRID 4326 is assumed if unspecified.

#### See Also

ST_GeogFromText, ST_AsText

ST_GeomCollFromText

Makes a collection Geometry from collection WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to 0.

    			geometry ST_GeomCollFromText
    			text  WKT
    			integer  srid

    			geometry ST_GeomCollFromText
    			text  WKT

#### Description

Makes a collection Geometry from the Well-Known-Text (WKT) representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to 0.

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite

Returns null if the WKT is not a GEOMETRYCOLLECTION

If you are absolutely sure all your WKT geometries are collections, don't use this function. It is slower than ST_GeomFromText since it adds an additional validation step.

&sfs_compliant; s3.2.6.2

&sqlmm_compliant;

#### Examples

    SELECT ST_GeomCollFromText('GEOMETRYCOLLECTION(POINT(1 2),LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4))');

#### See Also

ST_GeomFromText, ST_SRID

ST_GeomFromEWKT

Return a specified ST_Geometry value from Extended Well-Known Text representation (EWKT).

    			geometry ST_GeomFromEWKT
    			text  EWKT

#### Description

Constructs a PostGIS ST_Geometry object from the OGC Extended Well-Known text (EWKT) representation.

The EWKT format is not an OGC standard, but an PostGIS specific format that includes the spatial reference system (SRID) identifier

Enhanced: 2.0.0 support for Polyhedral surfaces and TIN was introduced.

&Z_support;

&curve_support;

&P_support;

&T_support;

#### Examples

    SELECT ST_GeomFromEWKT('SRID=4269;LINESTRING(-71.160281 42.258729,-71.160837 42.259113,-71.161144 42.25932)');
    SELECT ST_GeomFromEWKT('SRID=4269;MULTILINESTRING((-71.160281 42.258729,-71.160837 42.259113,-71.161144 42.25932))');

    SELECT ST_GeomFromEWKT('SRID=4269;POINT(-71.064544 42.28787)');

    SELECT ST_GeomFromEWKT('SRID=4269;POLYGON((-71.1776585052917 42.3902909739571,-71.1776820268866 42.3903701743239,
    -71.1776063012595 42.3903825660754,-71.1775826583081 42.3903033653531,-71.1776585052917 42.3902909739571))');

    SELECT ST_GeomFromEWKT('SRID=4269;MULTIPOLYGON(((-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236,
    -71.1031627617667 42.3152960829043,-71.102923838298 42.3149156848307,
    -71.1023097974109 42.3151969047397,-71.1019285062273 42.3147384934248,
    -71.102505233663 42.3144722937587,-71.10277487471 42.3141658254797,
    -71.103113945163 42.3142739188902,-71.10324876416 42.31402489987,
    -71.1033002961013 42.3140393340215,-71.1033488797549 42.3139495090772,
    -71.103396240451 42.3138632439557,-71.1041521907712 42.3141153348029,
    -71.1041411411543 42.3141545014533,-71.1041287795912 42.3142114839058,
    -71.1041188134329 42.3142693656241,-71.1041112482575 42.3143272556118,
    -71.1041072845732 42.3143851580048,-71.1041057218871 42.3144430686681,
    -71.1041065602059 42.3145009876017,-71.1041097995362 42.3145589148055,
    -71.1041166403905 42.3146168544148,-71.1041258822717 42.3146748022936,
    -71.1041375307579 42.3147318674446,-71.1041492906949 42.3147711126569,
    -71.1041598612795 42.314808571739,-71.1042515013869 42.3151287620809,
    -71.1041173835118 42.3150739481917,-71.1040809891419 42.3151344119048,
    -71.1040438678912 42.3151191367447,-71.1040194562988 42.3151832057859,
    -71.1038734225584 42.3151140942995,-71.1038446938243 42.3151006300338,
    -71.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
    -71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
    -71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
    -71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
    ((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
    -71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))');

    --3d circular string
    SELECT ST_GeomFromEWKT('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415 1,220227 150505 2,220227 150406 3)');

    --Polyhedral Surface example
    SELECT ST_GeomFromEWKT('POLYHEDRALSURFACE(
    	((0 0 0, 0 0 1, 0 1 1, 0 1 0, 0 0 0)),
    	((0 0 0, 0 1 0, 1 1 0, 1 0 0, 0 0 0)),
    	((0 0 0, 1 0 0, 1 0 1, 0 0 1, 0 0 0)),
    	((1 1 0, 1 1 1, 1 0 1, 1 0 0, 1 1 0)),
    	((0 1 0, 0 1 1, 1 1 1, 1 1 0, 0 1 0)),
    	((0 0 1, 1 0 1, 1 1 1, 0 1 1, 0 0 1))
    )');

#### See Also

ST_AsEWKT, ST_GeomFromText, ST_GeomFromEWKT

ST_GeometryFromText

Return a specified ST_Geometry value from Well-Known Text representation (WKT). This is an alias name for ST_GeomFromText

    				geometry ST_GeometryFromText
    				text  WKT

    				geometry ST_GeometryFromText
    				text  WKT
    				integer  srid

#### Description

&sfs_compliant;

&sqlmm_compliant; SQL-MM 3: 5.1.40

#### See Also

ST_GeomFromText

ST_GeomFromText

Return a specified ST_Geometry value from Well-Known Text representation (WKT).

    				geometry ST_GeomFromText
    				text  WKT

    				geometry ST_GeomFromText
    				text  WKT
    				integer  srid

#### Description

Constructs a PostGIS ST_Geometry object from the OGC Well-Known text representation.

There are two variants of ST_GeomFromText function. The first takes no SRID and returns a geometry with no defined spatial reference system (SRID=0). The second takes a SRID as the second argument and returns a geometry that includes this SRID as part of its metadata.

&sfs_compliant; s3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

&sqlmm_compliant; SQL-MM 3: 5.1.40

&curve_support;

While not OGC-compliant, ST_MakePoint is faster than ST_GeomFromText and ST_PointFromText. It is also easier to use for numeric coordinate values. ST_Point is another option similar in speed to ST_MakePoint and is OGC-compliant, but doesn't support anything but 2D points.

Changed: 2.0.0 In prior versions of PostGIS ST_GeomFromText('GEOMETRYCOLLECTION(EMPTY)') was allowed. This is now illegal in PostGIS 2.0.0 to better conform with SQL/MM standards. This should now be written as ST_GeomFromText('GEOMETRYCOLLECTION EMPTY')

#### Examples

    SELECT ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(-71.160281 42.258729,-71.160837 42.259113,-71.161144 42.25932)');
    SELECT ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(-71.160281 42.258729,-71.160837 42.259113,-71.161144 42.25932)',4269);

    SELECT ST_GeomFromText('MULTILINESTRING((-71.160281 42.258729,-71.160837 42.259113,-71.161144 42.25932))');

    SELECT ST_GeomFromText('POINT(-71.064544 42.28787)');

    SELECT ST_GeomFromText('POLYGON((-71.1776585052917 42.3902909739571,-71.1776820268866 42.3903701743239,
    -71.1776063012595 42.3903825660754,-71.1775826583081 42.3903033653531,-71.1776585052917 42.3902909739571))');

    SELECT ST_GeomFromText('MULTIPOLYGON(((-71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236,
    -71.1031627617667 42.3152960829043,-71.102923838298 42.3149156848307,
    -71.1023097974109 42.3151969047397,-71.1019285062273 42.3147384934248,
    -71.102505233663 42.3144722937587,-71.10277487471 42.3141658254797,
    -71.103113945163 42.3142739188902,-71.10324876416 42.31402489987,
    -71.1033002961013 42.3140393340215,-71.1033488797549 42.3139495090772,
    -71.103396240451 42.3138632439557,-71.1041521907712 42.3141153348029,
    -71.1041411411543 42.3141545014533,-71.1041287795912 42.3142114839058,
    -71.1041188134329 42.3142693656241,-71.1041112482575 42.3143272556118,
    -71.1041072845732 42.3143851580048,-71.1041057218871 42.3144430686681,
    -71.1041065602059 42.3145009876017,-71.1041097995362 42.3145589148055,
    -71.1041166403905 42.3146168544148,-71.1041258822717 42.3146748022936,
    -71.1041375307579 42.3147318674446,-71.1041492906949 42.3147711126569,
    -71.1041598612795 42.314808571739,-71.1042515013869 42.3151287620809,
    -71.1041173835118 42.3150739481917,-71.1040809891419 42.3151344119048,
    -71.1040438678912 42.3151191367447,-71.1040194562988 42.3151832057859,
    -71.1038734225584 42.3151140942995,-71.1038446938243 42.3151006300338,
    -71.1038315271889 42.315094347535,-71.1037393329282 42.315054824985,
    -71.1035447555574 42.3152608696313,-71.1033436658644 42.3151648370544,
    -71.1032580383161 42.3152269126061,-71.103223066939 42.3152517403219,
    -71.1031880899493 42.3152774590236)),
    ((-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546,-71.1043583974082 42.3151211109857,
    -71.1043443253471 42.3150676015829,-71.1043850704575 42.3150793250568,-71.1043632495873 42.315113108546)))',4326);

    SELECT ST_GeomFromText('CIRCULARSTRING(220268 150415,220227 150505,220227 150406)');

#### See Also

ST_GeomFromEWKT, ST_GeomFromWKB, ST_SRID

ST_LineFromText

Makes a Geometry from WKT representation with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to 0.

    			geometry ST_LineFromText
    			text  WKT

    			geometry ST_LineFromText
    			text  WKT
    			integer  srid

#### Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to 0. If WKT passed in is not a LINESTRING, then null is returned.

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

If you know all your geometries are LINESTRINGS, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromText. This just calls ST_GeomFromText and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

&sfs_compliant; s3.2.6.2

&sqlmm_compliant; SQL-MM 3: 7.2.8

#### Examples

    SELECT ST_LineFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)') AS aline, ST_LineFromText('POINT(1 2)') AS null_return;
    aline                            | null_return
    ------------------------------------------------
    010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

#### See Also

ST_GeomFromText

ST_MLineFromText

Return a specified ST_MultiLineString value from WKT representation.

    			geometry ST_MLineFromText
    			text  WKT
    			integer  srid

    			geometry ST_MLineFromText
    			text  WKT

#### Description

Makes a Geometry from Well-Known-Text (WKT) with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to 0.

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite

Returns null if the WKT is not a MULTILINESTRING

If you are absolutely sure all your WKT geometries are points, don't use this function. It is slower than ST_GeomFromText since it adds an additional validation step.

&sfs_compliant; s3.2.6.2

&sqlmm_compliant;SQL-MM 3: 9.4.4

#### Examples

    SELECT ST_MLineFromText('MULTILINESTRING((1 2, 3 4), (4 5, 6 7))');

#### See Also

ST_GeomFromText

ST_MPointFromText

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to 0.

    			geometry ST_MPointFromText
    			text  WKT
    			integer  srid

    			geometry ST_MPointFromText
    			text  WKT

#### Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to 0.

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite

Returns null if the WKT is not a MULTIPOINT

If you are absolutely sure all your WKT geometries are points, don't use this function. It is slower than ST_GeomFromText since it adds an additional validation step.

&sfs_compliant; 3.2.6.2

&sqlmm_compliant; SQL-MM 3: 9.2.4

#### Examples

    SELECT ST_MPointFromText('MULTIPOINT((1 2),(3 4))');
    SELECT ST_MPointFromText('MULTIPOINT((-70.9590 42.1180),(-70.9611 42.1223))', 4326);

#### See Also

ST_GeomFromText

ST_MPolyFromText

Makes a MultiPolygon Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to 0.

    			geometry ST_MPolyFromText
    			text  WKT
    			integer  srid

    			geometry ST_MPolyFromText
    			text  WKT

#### Description

Makes a MultiPolygon from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to 0.

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite

Throws an error if the WKT is not a MULTIPOLYGON

If you are absolutely sure all your WKT geometries are multipolygons, don't use this function. It is slower than ST_GeomFromText since it adds an additional validation step.

&sfs_compliant; s3.2.6.2

&sqlmm_compliant; SQL-MM 3: 9.6.4

#### Examples

    SELECT ST_MPolyFromText('MULTIPOLYGON(((0 0 1,20 0 1,20 20 1,0 20 1,0 0 1),(5 5 3,5 7 3,7 7 3,7 5 3,5 5 3)))');
    SELECt ST_MPolyFromText('MULTIPOLYGON(((-70.916 42.1002,-70.9468 42.0946,-70.9765 42.0872,-70.9754 42.0875,-70.9749 42.0879,-70.9752 42.0881,-70.9754 42.0891,-70.9758 42.0894,-70.9759 42.0897,-70.9759 42.0899,-70.9754 42.0902,-70.9756 42.0906,-70.9753 42.0907,-70.9753 42.0917,-70.9757 42.0924,-70.9755 42.0928,-70.9755 42.0942,-70.9751 42.0948,-70.9755 42.0953,-70.9751 42.0958,-70.9751 42.0962,-70.9759 42.0983,-70.9767 42.0987,-70.9768 42.0991,-70.9771 42.0997,-70.9771 42.1003,-70.9768 42.1005,-70.977 42.1011,-70.9766 42.1019,-70.9768 42.1026,-70.9769 42.1033,-70.9775 42.1042,-70.9773 42.1043,-70.9776 42.1043,-70.9778 42.1048,-70.9773 42.1058,-70.9774 42.1061,-70.9779 42.1065,-70.9782 42.1078,-70.9788 42.1085,-70.9798 42.1087,-70.9806 42.109,-70.9807 42.1093,-70.9806 42.1099,-70.9809 42.1109,-70.9808 42.1112,-70.9798 42.1116,-70.9792 42.1127,-70.979 42.1129,-70.9787 42.1134,-70.979 42.1139,-70.9791 42.1141,-70.9987 42.1116,-71.0022 42.1273,
    	-70.9408 42.1513,-70.9315 42.1165,-70.916 42.1002)))',4326);

#### See Also

ST_GeomFromText, ST_SRID

ST_PointFromText

Makes a point Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to unknown.

    				geometry ST_PointFromText
    				text  WKT

    				geometry ST_PointFromText
    				text  WKT
    				integer  srid

#### Description

Constructs a PostGIS ST_Geometry point object from the OGC Well-Known text representation. If SRID is not given, it defaults to unknown (currently 0). If geometry is not a WKT point representation, returns null. If completely invalid WKT, then throws an error.

There are 2 variants of ST_PointFromText function, the first takes no SRID and returns a geometry with no defined spatial reference system. The second takes a spatial reference id as the second argument and returns an ST_Geometry that includes this srid as part of its meta-data. The srid must be defined in the spatial_ref_sys table.

If you are absolutely sure all your WKT geometries are points, don't use this function. It is slower than ST_GeomFromText since it adds an additional validation step. If you are building points from long lat coordinates and care more about performance and accuracy than OGC compliance, use ST_MakePoint or OGC compliant alias ST_Point.

&sfs_compliant; s3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

&sqlmm_compliant; SQL-MM 3: 6.1.8

#### Examples

    SELECT ST_PointFromText('POINT(-71.064544 42.28787)');
    SELECT ST_PointFromText('POINT(-71.064544 42.28787)', 4326);

#### See Also

ST_GeomFromText, ST_MakePoint, ST_Point, ST_SRID

ST_PolygonFromText

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to 0.

    			geometry ST_PolygonFromText
    			text  WKT

    			geometry ST_PolygonFromText
    			text  WKT
    			integer  srid

#### Description

Makes a Geometry from WKT with the given SRID. If SRID is not given, it defaults to 0. Returns null if WKT is not a polygon.

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite

If you are absolutely sure all your WKT geometries are polygons, don't use this function. It is slower than ST_GeomFromText since it adds an additional validation step.

&sfs_compliant; s3.2.6.2

&sqlmm_compliant; SQL-MM 3: 8.3.6

#### Examples

    SELECT ST_PolygonFromText('POLYGON((-71.1776585052917 42.3902909739571,-71.1776820268866 42.3903701743239,
    -71.1776063012595 42.3903825660754,-71.1775826583081 42.3903033653531,-71.1776585052917 42.3902909739571))');
    st_polygonfromtext
    ------------------
    010300000001000000050000006...

    SELECT ST_PolygonFromText('POINT(1 2)') IS NULL as point_is_notpoly;

    point_is_not_poly
    ----------
    t

#### See Also

ST_GeomFromText

ST_WKTToSQL

Return a specified ST_Geometry value from Well-Known Text representation (WKT). This is an alias name for ST_GeomFromText

    				geometry ST_WKTToSQL
    				text  WKT

#### Description

&sqlmm_compliant; SQL-MM 3: 5.1.34

#### See Also

ST_GeomFromText

## Well-Known Binary (WKB)

ST_GeogFromWKB

Creates a geography instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) or extended Well Known Binary (EWKB).

    			geography ST_GeogFromWKB
    			bytea  wkb

#### Description

The `ST_GeogFromWKB` function, takes a well-known binary representation (WKB) of a geometry or PostGIS Extended WKB and creates an instance of the appropriate geography type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to 4326 (WGS 84 long lat).

&curve_support;

#### Examples

    --Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
    SELECT ST_AsText(
    ST_GeogFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@')
    );
    					  st_astext
    ------------------------------------------------------
     LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
    (1 row)

#### See Also

ST_GeogFromText, ST_AsBinary

ST_GeomFromEWKB

Return a specified ST_Geometry value from Extended Well-Known Binary representation (EWKB).

    			geometry ST_GeomFromEWKB
    			bytea  EWKB

#### Description

Constructs a PostGIS ST_Geometry object from the OGC Extended Well-Known binary (EWKT) representation.

The EWKB format is not an OGC standard, but a PostGIS specific format that includes the spatial reference system (SRID) identifier

Enhanced: 2.0.0 support for Polyhedral surfaces and TIN was introduced.

&Z_support;

&curve_support;

&P_support;

&T_support;

#### Examples

line string binary rep 0f LINESTRING(-71.160281 42.258729,-71.160837 42.259113,-71.161144 42.25932) in NAD 83 long lat (4269).

NOTE: Even though byte arrays are delimited with \ and may have ', we need to escape both out with \ and '' if standard_conforming_strings is off. So it does not look exactly like its AsEWKB representation.

    SELECT ST_GeomFromEWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000 \\255\\020\\000\\000\\003\\000\\000\\000\\344J=
    \\013B\\312Q\\300n\\303(\\010\\036!E@''\\277E''K
    \\312Q\\300\\366{b\\235*!E@\\225|\\354.P\\312Q
    \\300p\\231\\323e1!E@');

In PostgreSQL 9.1+ - standard_conforming_strings is set to on by default, where as in past versions it was set to off. You can change defaults as needed for a single query or at the database or server level. Below is how you would do it with standard_conforming_strings = on. In this case we escape the ' with standard ansi ', but slashes are not escaped

    	    set standard_conforming_strings = on;
    SELECT ST_GeomFromEWKB('\001\002\000\000 \255\020\000\000\003\000\000\000\344J=\012\013B
        \312Q\300n\303(\010\036!E@''\277E''K\012\312Q\300\366{b\235*!E@\225|\354.P\312Q\012\300p\231\323e1')

#### See Also

ST_AsBinary, ST_AsEWKB, ST_GeomFromWKB

ST_GeomFromWKB

Creates a geometry instance from a Well-Known Binary geometry representation (WKB) and optional SRID.

    			geometry ST_GeomFromWKB
    			bytea  geom

    			geometry ST_GeomFromWKB
    			bytea  geom
    			integer  srid

#### Description

The `ST_GeomFromWKB` function, takes a well-known binary representation of a geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (`SRID`) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL. This is an alternate name for ST_WKBToSQL.

If SRID is not specified, it defaults to 0 (Unknown).

&sfs_compliant; s3.2.7.2 - the optional SRID is from the conformance suite

&sqlmm_compliant; SQL-MM 3: 5.1.41

&curve_support;

#### Examples

    --Although bytea rep contains single \, these need to be escaped when inserting into a table
    		-- unless standard_conforming_strings is set to on.
    SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
    ST_GeomFromWKB(E'\\001\\002\\000\\000\\000\\002\\000\\000\\000\\037\\205\\353Q\\270~\\\\\\300\\323Mb\\020X\\231C@\\020X9\\264\\310~\\\\\\300)\\\\\\217\\302\\365\\230C@',4326)
    );
    					  st_asewkt
    ------------------------------------------------------
     SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
    (1 row)

    SELECT
      ST_AsText(
    	ST_GeomFromWKB(
    	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
    	)
      );
     st_astext
    ------------
     POINT(2 5)
    (1 row)

#### See Also

ST_WKBToSQL, ST_AsBinary, ST_GeomFromEWKB

ST_LineFromWKB

Makes a `LINESTRING` from WKB with the given SRID

    			geometry ST_LineFromWKB
    			bytea  WKB

    			geometry ST_LineFromWKB
    			bytea  WKB
    			integer  srid

#### Description

The `ST_LineFromWKB` function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (`SRID`) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a `LINESTRING` geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to 0. `NULL` is returned if the input `bytea` does not represent a `LINESTRING`.

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - option SRID is from the conformance suite.

If you know all your geometries are `LINESTRING`s, its more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a linestring.

&sfs_compliant; s3.2.6.2

&sqlmm_compliant; SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

#### Examples

    SELECT ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))) AS aline,
    		ST_LineFromWKB(ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))) IS NULL AS null_return;
    aline                            | null_return
    ------------------------------------------------
    010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

#### See Also

ST_GeomFromWKB, ST_LinestringFromWKB

ST_LinestringFromWKB

Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID.

    			geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB
    			bytea  WKB

    			geometry ST_LinestringFromWKB
    			bytea  WKB
    			integer  srid

#### Description

The `ST_LinestringFromWKB` function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (`SRID`) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a `LINESTRING` geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to 0. `NULL` is returned if the input `bytea` does not represent a `LINESTRING` geometry. This an alias for ST_LineFromWKB.

OGC SPEC 3.2.6.2 - optional SRID is from the conformance suite.

If you know all your geometries are `LINESTRING`s, it's more efficient to just use ST_GeomFromWKB. This function just calls ST_GeomFromWKB and adds additional validation that it returns a `LINESTRING`.

&sfs_compliant; s3.2.6.2

&sqlmm_compliant; SQL-MM 3: 7.2.9

#### Examples

    SELECT
      ST_LineStringFromWKB(
    	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('LINESTRING(1 2, 3 4)'))
      ) AS aline,
      ST_LinestringFromWKB(
    	ST_AsBinary(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(1 2)'))
      ) IS NULL AS null_return;
       aline                            | null_return
    ------------------------------------------------
    010200000002000000000000000000F ... | t

#### See Also

ST_GeomFromWKB, ST_LineFromWKB

ST_PointFromWKB

Makes a geometry from WKB with the given SRID

    			geometry ST_GeomFromWKB
    			bytea  geom

    			geometry ST_GeomFromWKB
    			bytea  geom
    			integer  srid

#### Description

The `ST_PointFromWKB` function, takes a well-known binary representation of geometry and a Spatial Reference System ID (`SRID`) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type - in this case, a `POINT` geometry. This function plays the role of the Geometry Factory in SQL.

If an SRID is not specified, it defaults to 0. `NULL` is returned if the input `bytea` does not represent a `POINT` geometry.

&sfs_compliant; s3.2.7.2

&sqlmm_compliant; SQL-MM 3: 6.1.9

&Z_support;

&curve_support;

#### Examples

    SELECT
      ST_AsText(
    	ST_PointFromWKB(
    	  ST_AsEWKB('POINT(2 5)'::geometry)
    	)
      );
     st_astext
    ------------
     POINT(2 5)
    (1 row)

    SELECT
      ST_AsText(
    	ST_PointFromWKB(
    	  ST_AsEWKB('LINESTRING(2 5, 2 6)'::geometry)
    	)
      );
     st_astext
    -----------

    (1 row)

#### See Also

ST_GeomFromWKB, ST_LineFromWKB

ST_WKBToSQL

Return a specified ST_Geometry value from Well-Known Binary representation (WKB). This is an alias name for ST_GeomFromWKB that takes no srid

    				geometry ST_WKBToSQL
    				bytea  WKB

#### Description

&sqlmm_compliant; SQL-MM 3: 5.1.36

#### See Also

ST_GeomFromWKB

## Other Formats

ST_Box2dFromGeoHash

Return a BOX2D from a GeoHash string.

    				box2d ST_Box2dFromGeoHash
    				text  geohash
    				integer  precision=full_precision_of_geohash

#### Description

Return a BOX2D from a GeoHash string.

If no `precision` is specified ST_Box2dFromGeoHash returns a BOX2D based on full precision of the input GeoHash string.

If `precision` is specified ST_Box2dFromGeoHash will use that many characters from the GeoHash to create the BOX2D. Lower precision values results in larger BOX2Ds and larger values increase the precision.

Availability: 2.1.0

#### Examples

    SELECT ST_Box2dFromGeoHash('9qqj7nmxncgyy4d0dbxqz0');

                    st_geomfromgeohash
    --------------------------------------------------
     BOX(-115.172816 36.114646,-115.172816 36.114646)

    SELECT ST_Box2dFromGeoHash('9qqj7nmxncgyy4d0dbxqz0', 0);

     st_box2dfromgeohash
    ----------------------
     BOX(-180 -90,180 90)

     SELECT ST_Box2dFromGeoHash('9qqj7nmxncgyy4d0dbxqz0', 10);
                                st_box2dfromgeohash
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     BOX(-115.17282128334 36.1146408319473,-115.172810554504 36.1146461963654)

#### See Also

ST_GeoHash, ST_GeomFromGeoHash, ST_PointFromGeoHash

ST_GeomFromGeoHash

Return a geometry from a GeoHash string.

    				geometry ST_GeomFromGeoHash
    				text  geohash
    				integer  precision=full_precision_of_geohash

#### Description

Return a geometry from a GeoHash string. The geometry will be a polygon representing the GeoHash bounds.

If no `precision` is specified ST_GeomFromGeoHash returns a polygon based on full precision of the input GeoHash string.

If `precision` is specified ST_GeomFromGeoHash will use that many characters from the GeoHash to create the polygon.

Availability: 2.1.0

#### Examples

    SELECT ST_AsText(ST_GeomFromGeoHash('9qqj7nmxncgyy4d0dbxqz0'));
                                                            st_astext
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     POLYGON((-115.172816 36.114646,-115.172816 36.114646,-115.172816 36.114646,-115.172816 36.114646,-115.172816 36.114646))

    SELECT ST_AsText(ST_GeomFromGeoHash('9qqj7nmxncgyy4d0dbxqz0', 4));
                                                              st_astext
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     POLYGON((-115.3125 36.03515625,-115.3125 36.2109375,-114.9609375 36.2109375,-114.9609375 36.03515625,-115.3125 36.03515625))

    SELECT ST_AsText(ST_GeomFromGeoHash('9qqj7nmxncgyy4d0dbxqz0', 10));
                                                                                           st_astext
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     POLYGON((-115.17282128334 36.1146408319473,-115.17282128334 36.1146461963654,-115.172810554504 36.1146461963654,-115.172810554504 36.1146408319473,-115.17282128334 36.1146408319473))

#### See Also

ST_GeoHash,ST_Box2dFromGeoHash, ST_PointFromGeoHash

ST_GeomFromGML

Takes as input GML representation of geometry and outputs a PostGIS geometry object

    			geometry ST_GeomFromGML
    			text  geomgml

    			geometry ST_GeomFromGML
    			text  geomgml
    			integer  srid

#### Description

Constructs a PostGIS ST_Geometry object from the OGC GML representation.

ST_GeomFromGML works only for GML Geometry fragments. It throws an error if you try to use it on a whole GML document.

OGC GML versions supported:

- GML 3.2.1 Namespace

- GML 3.1.1 Simple Features profile SF-2 (with GML 3.1.0 and 3.0.0 backward compatibility)

- GML 2.1.2

OGC GML standards, cf: http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/gml:

Availability: 1.5, requires libxml2 1.6+

Enhanced: 2.0.0 support for Polyhedral surfaces and TIN was introduced.

Enhanced: 2.0.0 default srid optional parameter added.

&Z_support;

&P_support;

&T_support;

GML allow mixed dimensions (2D and 3D inside the same MultiGeometry for instance). As PostGIS geometries don't, ST_GeomFromGML convert the whole geometry to 2D if a missing Z dimension is found once.

GML support mixed SRS inside the same MultiGeometry. As PostGIS geometries don't, ST_GeomFromGML, in this case, reproject all subgeometries to the SRS root node. If no srsName attribute available for the GML root node, the function throw an error.

ST_GeomFromGML function is not pedantic about an explicit GML namespace. You could avoid to mention it explicitly for common usages. But you need it if you want to use XLink feature inside GML.

ST_GeomFromGML function not support SQL/MM curves geometries.

#### Examples - A single geometry with srsName

    SELECT ST_GeomFromGML('
    		<gml:LineString srsName="EPSG:4269">
    			<gml:coordinates>
    				-71.16028,42.258729 -71.160837,42.259112 -71.161143,42.25932
    			</gml:coordinates>
    		</gml:LineString>');

#### Examples - XLink usage

    SELECT ST_GeomFromGML('
    		<gml:LineString xmlns:gml="http://www.opengis.net/gml"
    				xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
    				srsName="urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::4269">
    			<gml:pointProperty>
    				<gml:Point gml:id="p1"><gml:pos>42.258729 -71.16028</gml:pos></gml:Point>
    			</gml:pointProperty>
    			<gml:pos>42.259112 -71.160837</gml:pos>
    			<gml:pointProperty>
    				<gml:Point xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="#p1"/>
    			</gml:pointProperty>
    		</gml:LineString>'););

#### Examples - Polyhedral Surface

    SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_GeomFromGML('
    <gml:PolyhedralSurface>
    <gml:polygonPatches>
      <gml:PolygonPatch>
        <gml:exterior>
          <gml:LinearRing><gml:posList srsDimension="3">0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0</gml:posList></gml:LinearRing>
        </gml:exterior>
      </gml:PolygonPatch>
      <gml:PolygonPatch>
        <gml:exterior>
    	<gml:LinearRing><gml:posList srsDimension="3">0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0</gml:posList></gml:LinearRing>
        </gml:exterior>
      </gml:PolygonPatch>
      <gml:PolygonPatch>
        <gml:exterior>
    	<gml:LinearRing><gml:posList srsDimension="3">0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0</gml:posList></gml:LinearRing>
        </gml:exterior>
      </gml:PolygonPatch>
      <gml:PolygonPatch>
        <gml:exterior>
    	<gml:LinearRing><gml:posList srsDimension="3">1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0</gml:posList></gml:LinearRing>
        </gml:exterior>
      </gml:PolygonPatch>
      <gml:PolygonPatch>
        <gml:exterior>
    	<gml:LinearRing><gml:posList srsDimension="3">0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0</gml:posList></gml:LinearRing>
        </gml:exterior>
      </gml:PolygonPatch>
      <gml:PolygonPatch>
        <gml:exterior>
    	<gml:LinearRing><gml:posList srsDimension="3">0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1</gml:posList></gml:LinearRing>
        </gml:exterior>
      </gml:PolygonPatch>
    </gml:polygonPatches>
    </gml:PolyhedralSurface>'));

    -- result --
     POLYHEDRALSURFACE(((0 0 0,0 0 1,0 1 1,0 1 0,0 0 0)),
     ((0 0 0,0 1 0,1 1 0,1 0 0,0 0 0)),
     ((0 0 0,1 0 0,1 0 1,0 0 1,0 0 0)),
     ((1 1 0,1 1 1,1 0 1,1 0 0,1 1 0)),
     ((0 1 0,0 1 1,1 1 1,1 1 0,0 1 0)),
     ((0 0 1,1 0 1,1 1 1,0 1 1,0 0 1)))

#### See Also

installation_configuration, ST_AsGML, ST_GMLToSQL

ST_GeomFromGeoJSON

Takes as input a geojson representation of a geometry and outputs a PostGIS geometry object

    			geometry ST_GeomFromGeoJSON
    			text  geomjson

    			geometry ST_GeomFromGeoJSON
    			json  geomjson

    			geometry ST_GeomFromGeoJSON
    			jsonb  geomjson

#### Description

Constructs a PostGIS geometry object from the GeoJSON representation.

ST_GeomFromGeoJSON works only for JSON Geometry fragments. It throws an error if you try to use it on a whole JSON document.

Enhanced: 3.0.0 parsed geometry defaults to SRID=4326 if not specified otherwise.

Enhanced: 2.5.0 can now accept json and jsonb as inputs.

Availability: 2.0.0 requires - JSON-C >= 0.9

If you do not have JSON-C enabled, support you will get an error notice instead of seeing an output. To enable JSON-C, run configure --with-jsondir=/path/to/json-c. See installation_configuration for details.

&Z_support;

#### Examples

    SELECT ST_AsText(ST_GeomFromGeoJSON('{"type":"Point","coordinates":[-48.23456,20.12345]}')) As wkt;
    wkt
    ------
    POINT(-48.23456 20.12345)

    -- a 3D linestring
    SELECT ST_AsText(ST_GeomFromGeoJSON('{"type":"LineString","coordinates":[[1,2,3],[4,5,6],[7,8,9]]}')) As wkt;

    wkt
    -------------------
    LINESTRING(1 2,4 5,7 8)

#### See Also

ST_AsText, ST_AsGeoJSON, installation_configuration

ST_GeomFromKML

Takes as input KML representation of geometry and outputs a PostGIS geometry object

    			geometry ST_GeomFromKML
    			text  geomkml

#### Description

Constructs a PostGIS ST_Geometry object from the OGC KML representation.

ST_GeomFromKML works only for KML Geometry fragments. It throws an error if you try to use it on a whole KML document.

OGC KML versions supported:

- KML 2.2.0 Namespace

OGC KML standards, cf: http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/kml:

Availability: 1.5, requires libxml2 2.6+

&Z_support;

ST_GeomFromKML function not support SQL/MM curves geometries.

#### Examples - A single geometry with srsName

    SELECT ST_GeomFromKML('
    		<LineString>
    			<coordinates>-71.1663,42.2614
    				-71.1667,42.2616</coordinates>
    		</LineString>');

#### See Also

installation_configuration, ST_AsKML

ST_GeomFromTWKB

Creates a geometry instance from a TWKB ("Tiny Well-Known Binary") geometry representation.

    			geometry ST_GeomFromTWKB
    			bytea  twkb

#### Description

The `ST_GeomFromTWKB` function, takes a a TWKB ("Tiny Well-Known Binary") geometry representation (WKB) and creates an instance of the appropriate geometry type.

#### Examples

    SELECT ST_AsText(ST_GeomFromTWKB(ST_AsTWKB('LINESTRING(126 34, 127 35)'::geometry)));

             st_astext
    -----------------------------
     LINESTRING(126 34, 127 35)
    (1 row)

    SELECT ST_AsEWKT(
      ST_GeomFromTWKB(E'\\x620002f7f40dbce4040105')
    );
    					  st_asewkt
    ------------------------------------------------------
    LINESTRING(-113.98 39.198,-113.981 39.195)
    (1 row)

#### See Also

ST_AsTWKB

ST_GMLToSQL

Return a specified ST_Geometry value from GML representation. This is an alias name for ST_GeomFromGML

    				geometry ST_GMLToSQL
    				text  geomgml

    				geometry ST_GMLToSQL
    				text  geomgml
    				integer  srid

#### Description

&sqlmm_compliant; SQL-MM 3: 5.1.50 (except for curves support).

Availability: 1.5, requires libxml2 1.6+

Enhanced: 2.0.0 support for Polyhedral surfaces and TIN was introduced.

Enhanced: 2.0.0 default srid optional parameter added.

#### See Also

installation_configuration, ST_GeomFromGML, ST_AsGML

ST_LineFromEncodedPolyline

Creates a LineString from an Encoded Polyline.

          geometry ST_LineFromEncodedPolyline
          text  polyline
          integer  precision=5

#### Description

Creates a LineString from an Encoded Polyline string.

Optional `precision` specifies how many decimal places will be preserved in Encoded Polyline. Value should be the same on encoding and decoding, or coordinates will be incorrect.

See http://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/utilities/polylinealgorithm

Availability: 2.2.0

#### Examples

    -- Create a line string from a polyline
    SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromEncodedPolyline('_p~iF~ps|U_ulLnnqC_mqNvxq`@'));
    -- result --
    SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-120.2 38.5,-120.95 40.7,-126.453 43.252)

    -- Select different precision that was used for polyline encoding
    SELECT ST_AsEWKT(ST_LineFromEncodedPolyline('_p~iF~ps|U_ulLnnqC_mqNvxq`@',6));
    -- result --
    SRID=4326;LINESTRING(-12.02 3.85,-12.095 4.07,-12.6453 4.3252)

#### See Also

ST_AsEncodedPolyline

ST_PointFromGeoHash

Return a point from a GeoHash string.

    				point ST_PointFromGeoHash
    				text  geohash
    				integer  precision=full_precision_of_geohash

#### Description

Return a point from a GeoHash string. The point represents the center point of the GeoHash.

If no `precision` is specified ST_PointFromGeoHash returns a point based on full precision of the input GeoHash string.

If `precision` is specified ST_PointFromGeoHash will use that many characters from the GeoHash to create the point.

Availability: 2.1.0

#### Examples

    SELECT ST_AsText(ST_PointFromGeoHash('9qqj7nmxncgyy4d0dbxqz0'));
              st_astext
    ------------------------------
     POINT(-115.172816 36.114646)

    SELECT ST_AsText(ST_PointFromGeoHash('9qqj7nmxncgyy4d0dbxqz0', 4));
                 st_astext
    -----------------------------------
     POINT(-115.13671875 36.123046875)

    SELECT ST_AsText(ST_PointFromGeoHash('9qqj7nmxncgyy4d0dbxqz0', 10));
                     st_astext
    -------------------------------------------
     POINT(-115.172815918922 36.1146435141563)

#### See Also

ST_GeoHash, ST_Box2dFromGeoHash, ST_GeomFromGeoHash

ST_FromFlatGeobufToTable

Creates a table based on the structure of FlatGeobuf data.

    				void ST_FromFlatGeobufToTable
    				text  schemaname
    				text  tablename
    				bytea  FlatGeobuf input data

#### Description

Creates a table based on the structure of FlatGeobuf data. (http://flatgeobuf.org).

`schema` Schema name.

`table` Table name.

`data` Input FlatGeobuf data.

Availability: 3.2.0

ST_FromFlatGeobuf

Reads FlatGeobuf data.

    				setof anyelement ST_FromFlatGeobuf
    				anyelement  Table reference
    				bytea  FlatGeobuf input data

#### Description

Reads FlatGeobuf data (http://flatgeobuf.org). NOTE: PostgreSQL bytea cannot exceed 1GB.

`tabletype` reference to a table type.

`data` input FlatGeobuf data.

Availability: 3.2.0