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Is the polygon pictured below compliant with the OGC Simple Feature standard?

There are two interior boundaries that share a segment so intuitively I would say it is not but I have not been able to find any confirmation in the documentation (in the 1.2.1 version, polygon is described on pages 26-28).

There are "rules that define a valid polygon" and I don't see there anything that would exclude polygons whose interior boundaries touch, but I also don't understand why, based on those rules, are some of the example polygons in Figure 12 invalid so I must be missing something.

Polygon

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    6.1.11.1(c) rejects this configuration ("nearby points cannot be common")
    – Vince
    Nov 7, 2018 at 5:07
  • Ok, so according to this, they could share a vertex because then the nearby points would not be common? So, how come in the figure 12, the first example shows a polygon where boundaries only touch (but cannot be represented as a polygon)? Thanks!
    – Jan Pisl
    Nov 7, 2018 at 7:38

1 Answer 1

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I would say that rings which share a segment are denied by the rule 6.1.11 c)

No two Rings in the boundary cross and the Rings in the boundary of a Polygon may intersect at a Point but only as a tangent.

Inner rings which touch at one point (intersect as a tangent) is OK.

POLYGON (( 0 0, 0 5, 6 5, 6 0, 0 0 ), ( 2 2, 3 2, 3 4, 2 4, 2 2 ), ( 3 2, 3 1, 4 1, 4 2, 3 2 ))

enter image description here

Case when inner rings intersect along a line and thus have an infinite number of common points is not OK.

POLYGON (( 0 0, 0 5, 6 5, 6 0, 0 0 ), ( 2 2, 3 2, 3 4, 2 4, 2 2 ), ( 3 3, 3 1, 4 1, 4 3, 3 3))

enter image description here

The right way to express the above is to combine the inner rings

POLYGON (( 0 0, 0 5, 6 5, 6 0, 0 0 ), ( 2 2, 3 2, 3 1, 4 1, 4 3, 3 3, 3 4, 2 4, 2 2 ))

enter image description here

Test with PostGIS and rings touching at one point:

select ST_IsValidReason(ST_GeomFromText('POLYGON (( 0 0, 0 5, 6 5, 6 0, 0 0 ), ( 2 2, 3 2, 3 4, 2 4, 2 2 ), ( 3 2, 3 1, 4 1, 4 2, 3 2 ))'));
    Result: Valid geometry

Test with PostGIS and rings intersecting along a line:

select ST_IsValidReason(ST_GeomFromText('POLYGON (( 0 0, 0 5, 6 5, 6 0, 0 0 ), ( 2 2, 3 2, 3 4, 2 4, 2 2 ), ( 3 3, 3 1, 4 1, 4 3, 3 3))'));
Result:
"Self-intersection[3 2]"
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  • Awesome, thanks! But I have the same question as above - how come in the figure 12, the first example (of features that are not compliant} is a polygon where boundaries only touch? I know in this case they are exterior and interior boundaries that touch, but still - why this is not possible?
    – Jan Pisl
    Nov 7, 2018 at 8:38
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    That case breaks the rule The interior of every Polygon is a connected point set. The hole in the example cuts the polygon into two pieces. The geometry must be expressed as a multipolygon with two members.
    – user30184
    Nov 7, 2018 at 9:39

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