Querying the GIS:

Interfaces which use the querying facility are available with the RDBMS. In the network-mapping environment, these give accurate and reliable information to the utility operational staff on the spatial and non-spatial attribute data of the network created in the GIS. Customised interfaces can be delivered and the staff can also be simply trained to design and create their own interfaces. The information could be in the nature of an inventory report of any type of network entity (poles, conductors, underground cable segments and etc.) or location information and etc.

For instance, consider an engineer who has to send a cable jointer in the field to access a certain underground cable joint. The engineer could take the digitized map file of the area, mark a little portion of that area in the neighbourhood of the joint, and print which small part on a piece of paper. This printed map of that little area will display, to the jointer, the location of the joint with proper distance and bearing references to the nearby identifiable objects. Along with these references so readily available with the jointer, his/her work will be simple and quick. There will be no required for him/her to resort to guesswork or to constantly contact the office for finding the joint location. Below figure shows another example of querying the GIS.

Figure: A Screen Shot Showing Query about Distribution Transformers Located in an Area with its Attribute Information