Track: New Technology and Technology Integration
Integrating GIS with Object-Oriented Technology
Pamela MastersonRobert Hofmann
Florida Power and Light, one of the nation's largest investor-owned utilities, is moving from a text-oriented IMS mainframe database that stores electric connectivity for facilities (transformers, conductors, etc.) to a graphical database called the Distribution Facilities Database (DFD). The DFD is a combination of an SDE/Oracle database (the core geographic data server), a gemstone object-oriented database (used to retrieve facility information), and a VisualAge Smalltalk front end. The DFD provides a spatially based graphical user interface for database maintenance (adding and removing facilities from the electrical network, etc.) contrasting with the old database whose maintenance process was textually based. Using this integrated GIS package will allow us to lay the foundation for our users to utilize one tool for creation, updates, and asset management so that FPL can provide more efficient customer support. The DFD presentation will provide details of interfacing SDE using C API calls from VisualAge Smalltalk in conjunction with the GemStone OODBMS and discuss challenges in seamlessly integrating these multiple persistent data stores under a functional user interface.
Pamela Masterson
Florida Power and Light
700 Universe Blvd.
Juno Beach, FL 33408
USA
Telephone: 561-691-2153
Fax: 561-694-3635
E-mail: pamela_masterson@email.fpl.com