ESRI Geometry Definition object.
Product Availability
Supported Platforms
Interfaces
| Interfaces | Description |
|---|---|
| IClone (esriSystem) | Provides access to members that control cloning of objects. |
| IGeometryDef | Provides access to members that return information about the geometry definition. |
| IGeometryDefEdit | Provides access to members that modify the geometry definition. |
| IPersist | Defines the single method GetClassID, which is designed to supply the CLSID of an object that can be stored persistently in the system. IPersist is the base interface for three other interfaces: IPersistStorage, IPersistStream, and IPersistFile. |
| IPersistStream (esriSystem) | |
| IXMLSerialize (esriSystem) | Provides access to members that XML serialize and deserialize an object to/from XML. |
Remarks
The GeometryDef object defines the spatial qualities of a feature class. The most fundmental spatial quality is the Geometry type, for example, point, line, and polygon. Other information necessary to define the feature class includes the spatial referencing system, whether the vertices have height or measure data, and, for geodatabases, the spatial index parameters.
The GeometryDef can be accessed from a shape field, that is a field of type esriFieldTypeGeometry. The actual geometry type is defined by the esriGeometryType enumeration, though currently only four values are acceptable with respect to GeometryDef objects: esriGeometryPoint, esriGeometryMultipoint, esriGeometryPolyline, and esriGeometryPolygon.
Beware of the confusion between the esriGeometryType enumeration and the similarly named esriFeatureType and esriShapeType. The following table shows the different roles of those enumerations.
| ArcObjects Enumeration | Values | Interfaces that use the enumeration |
|---|---|---|
| esriGeometryType Type of geometry in a geodatabase. Those in bold are valid for feature classes, others are component geometry objects. |
esriGeometryPoint esriGeometryMultipoint esriGeometryPolygon esriGeometryPolyline esriGeometryLine esriGeometryCircularArc esriGeometryEllipticArc esriGeometryBezier3Curve esriGeometryPath esriGeometryNull esriGeometryRing esriGeometryEnvelope esriGeometryAny esriGeometryBag esriGeometryMultiPatch esriGeometryTriangleStrip esriGeometryTriangleFan esriGeometryRay esriGeometrySphere esriGeometryTriangles |
IFeatureClass::ShapeType IGeometry::GeometryType IGeometryDef::GeometryType also IGeometryDefEdit, IGeometryFactory, IEditSketchExtension, IGridConversionOp, IDimensionConstructor |
| esriFeatureType Feature types defined by feature class extensions |
esriFTSimple esriFTSimpleJunction esriFTSimpleEdge esriFTComplexJunction esriFTComplexEdge esriFTAnnotation esriFTCoverageAnnotation esriFTDimension esriFTRasterCatalogItem |
IFeature::FeatureType IFeatureClass::FeatureType IFeatureClassDescription::FeatureType IFeatureWorkspace::CreateFeatureClass IFeatureDataset::CreateFeatureClass also, IGeometricNetwork and INetworkLoader |
| esriShapeType Type of geometry in a shapefile |
See the help for esriShapeType for a full list |
IFeature::FeatureType IFeatureClass::FeatureType IFeatureClassDescription::FeatureType IFeatureWorkspace::CreateFeatureClass IFeatureDataset::CreateFeatureClass also, IGeometricNetwork and INetworkLoader |