Identify Points Inside a Defined Bounding Box

Find Locations within a Bounding Box

Write a MySQL query to find all locations that fall within a specified bounding box using the MBRContains function.

Solution:

-- Retrieve locations from the Locations table that are within a defined bounding box.
SELECT 

    -- Select the 'name' column to display the name of the location.
    name

-- Retrieve data from the Locations table.
FROM Locations

    -- Use the MBRContains function to check if the 'location' column (a POINT) is contained within 
    -- the bounding box defined by the specified POLYGON. Only rows where the condition is true are returned.
    WHERE MBRContains(
        ST_GeomFromText('POLYGON((-74 40, -74 41, -73 41, -73 40, -74 40))'),  -- Define the bounding box as a POLYGON.
        location  -- Check if the 'location' column falls within this bounding box.
    );

Explanation:

• Purpose of the Query:
• The goal is to filter records based on whether they lie within a rectangular bounding box.
• This demonstrates using MBRContains to perform fast spatial bounding box queries.
• Key Components:
• MBRContains(geometry, location) : Checks if the bounding box contains the point.
• Real-World Application:
• Common in map applications for quickly narrowing down geographic data.

Notes:

• The bounding box is defined in WKT; ensure coordinates match your spatial data’s SRID.

For more Practice: Solve these Related Problems:

• Write a MySQL query to retrieve all records from the "Locations" table where the spatial point lies within a specified bounding box using MBRContains.
• Write a MySQL query to select all points from "GeoLocations" that fall inside a rectangular area defined by a polygon using MBRContains.
• Write a MySQL query to filter records in "MapPoints" based on whether their spatial data is contained within a bounding box defined by ST_GeomFromText and MBRContains.
• Write a MySQL query to identify locations in the "Locations" table that are within a user-specified bounding box using MBRContains.

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Previous MySQL Exercise: Insert a Point with a Specific SRID.
Next MySQL Exercise: Retrieve the SRID of a Geometry.