18.2.1. The Geometry Class Hierarchy
The geometry classes define a hierarchy as follows:
It is not possible to create objects in non-instantiable
classes. It is possible to create objects in instantiable
classes. All classes have properties, and instantiable classes
may also have assertions (rules that define valid class
instances).
Geometry is the base class. It is an abstract
class. The instantiable subclasses of
Geometry are restricted to zero-, one-, and
two-dimensional geometric objects that exist in two-dimensional
coordinate space. All instantiable geometry classes are defined
so that valid instances of a geometry class are topologically
closed (that is, all defined geometries include their boundary).
The base Geometry class has subclasses for
Point, Curve,
Surface, and
GeometryCollection:
Point represents zero-dimensional
objects.
Curve represents one-dimensional objects,
and has subclass LineString, with
sub-subclasses Line and
LinearRing.
Surface is designed for two-dimensional
objects and has subclass Polygon.
GeometryCollection has specialized zero-,
one-, and two-dimensional collection classes named
MultiPoint,
MultiLineString, and
MultiPolygon for modeling geometries
corresponding to collections of Points,
LineStrings, and
Polygons, respectively.
MultiCurve and
MultiSurface are introduced as abstract
superclasses that generalize the collection interfaces to
handle Curves and
Surfaces.
Geometry, Curve,
Surface, MultiCurve, and
MultiSurface are defined as non-instantiable
classes. They define a common set of methods for their
subclasses and are included for extensibility.
Point, LineString,
Polygon,
GeometryCollection,
MultiPoint,
MultiLineString, and
MultiPolygon are instantiable classes.
