[postgis-users] shp2pgsql: Where are x,y-coordinates stored?

[H.Lekin]

Seems rather impossible to reply properly to the all-in-one digest; hope
it looks OK:


> well, does your shapefile contain coordinates? If it doesn't, then you
> will have to create them. See the postgis documentation for the syntax
> for retrieving geometry.

The shapefile contains coordinates, as does PostgreSQL/PostGIS after
importing the shapefile. I can access the latter via QGIS and it is
displayed correctly.

For GRASS' v.in.db I have to specify the x,y column names, what QGIS
seems to do automatically. I listed the geometry_colums attributes. The
table looks exactly like stated in the PostGIS Manual (which I do not
find too helpful yet), but does not contain x,y coordinates.
Meanwhile I found the OpenGIS Simple Features Specification For SQL Rev
1.1 - http://www.opengeospatial.org/docs/99-049.pdf -, where Chapters
2.2 and 3.1.4.2 look promising as well as really complicated.

It would be very helpful and time saving, if s.b. could roughly outline
the basic steps how to access x,y coordinates.

Many thanks,
H.L.