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Spatial Archive and Interchange Format (SAIF): Formal Definition, rel 3.2, Jan 95

by GeographicData BC, Government of BC; co-published with GeographicData BC, Government of BC

258 pages; spiral coil; catalogue #97-0056; ISBN 0-7726-2408-9; US$19.00, C$22.00, EUR15.50, £11.00

Spatial Archive and Interchange Format (SAIF): Formal Definition, rel 3.2, Jan 95

Spatial Archive and Interchange Format (SAIF): Formal Definition, rel 3.2, Jan 95

The Spatial Archive and Interchange Format (SAIF, pronounced "safe") is:

• a language for modelling geographic data, and
• a vendor-neutral format for archiving and distributing such data.

Developed as a means of sharing spatial and spatiotemporal information, SAIF is designed to facilitate interoperability, particularly in the context of data exchange. An overriding consideration with SAIF is to be able to treat geographic data as simply another kind of data; that is, the roots of SAIF are in the information sciences. SAIF follows a multiple inheritance, object oriented paradigm.

In 1991, the Spatial Archive and Interchange Format (SAIF) was accepted as a draft standard for the exchange of geographic data by the Canadian Standards Board, Committee on Geomatics. Since that time, several upgrades have been made, culminating in the current document. SAIF has been approved (1993) through the CGSB process as a national standard in Canada.