[postgis-users] choosing the "smallest set" of points

Øyvind Vestavik oyvindve at idi.ntnu.no
Mon Dec 4 06:14:26 PST 2006


Hi, 

I'm fairly new to GIS/Postgis and I have a problem I'n not sure how to
solve. In a Geographic Information Retrieval Application I locate
placenames in text. Since several places/locations can have the same
place name, I have to disambiguate the name/find their
referent/location. 

For each placename there is a set of 1-M locations in the database, and
one of these locations/points is the correct one. To determine which one
it is I want to find the point in the set which is closest to the points
in the other sets. Problem is that I have to choose one of many points
in the other sets as well. 

So my problem is how to choose one point in each set so that the
distances between the points are as low as possible. 

Is there any way of doing this as one operation in the database, or will
I have to write a function for this?

Any hints appreciated .. 

-- 
Kind Regards
Øyvind Vestavik




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