First Training in Middle East CGIS Hosts 'Spatial Database Engine' Class   In March, CGIS hosted an international training class for the Spatial Database Engine (SDE), a new, platform independent GIS software product. Developed by ESRI of The United States, SDE resides on top of the relational database management system (RDBMS) and provides extremely fast access to georeferenced data. Conducted by Richard Zetterberg, an SDE specialist from ESRI Sweden, this was the first class held in the Middle East for this new technology. 27 attendees came from 8 different countries for the week-long session. The students received comprehensive training, which included the use of ArcView, a desktop GIS software product from ESRI, as an SDE client for the viewing of spatial data, as well as the composition and production of customized hardcopy maps. Commenting on the software, Zetterberg explained, "With its Applications Programming Interface (API), SDE provides a very open architecture, allowing a significant increase in speed when accessing large spatial databases. It is an ideal product for organizations that have implemented enterprisewide solutions for spatial data management and we hope that it will become the de facto standard for storing spatial data." CGIS is in the process of developing strategies for implementing SDE. As a beta test site for the new product, it is developing a map production system using both SDE and ArcView as part of its evaluation procedures.   Concludes Satinath Sarkar class attendee and Head of Technology Services Section at CGIS, "SDE holds a lot of promise for our installation. It represents an investment for the future. Our database currently contains more than 1.3 million unique features, which can only continue to grow in number and though we use powerful hardware platforms on a very fast fiber optic network, bottlenecks do occur. SDE should resolve the access time issue." CONTENTS NEXT