Geographic use of vector search

The example loads a list of worldwide capitals with their coordinates
The coordinates are interpreted as vectors from geographic point 0°N/0 W
(some very wet spot in the Gulf of Guinea, >400 km from the African Coast)
Finding common directions from that spot is a quite theoretical case.
So adjustment to your preferred starting point is implemented.
Now finding similar directions for some target city makes sense.
It’s a methematical use of VECTOR_COSINE() function other than text search.
Because test Vectora ar just 2-dimensional it’s easy to follow the reults.
Though, you have to be aware that the calculation checks directions, not lenght.
So a vector from Paris to Bejing is SIMILAR by direction to Budapest or Tashkent.

Prerequisites

Make sure you have git and Docker desktop installed.

Installation

Clone/git pull the repo into any local directory

$ git clone https://github.com/rcemper/geo-vector-search.git

To build and start the container run:

$ docker compose up -d && docker compose logs -f

To open IRIS Terminal do:

$ docker-compose exec iris iris session iris
USER>

or using WebTerminal

http://localhost:42773/terminal/

To access IRIS System Management Portal

http://localhost:42773/csp/sys/UtilHome.csp

Test data have been copied from
https://www.fittotravel.net/index.php/international-data/257-coordinates-of-world-capitals
To add your own cities just append it to geo.txt with a suitable layout

How to use it from Console or WebTerminal

USER>do ^AG.Demo
  Use Geographc Vectors
=========================
     1 - Initialize Tables
     2 - Import Data
     3 - Set Base Location
     4 - Generate Vectors
     5 - Select Target Location
     6 - Show Best Matches
Select Function or * to exit : 1

for multiple retries, you always restart at
#3 set your starting location
#4 adjust coordinates to your selected base
#5 set your target location defining your base vector
#6 see what’s in between or in front of your vector
adjust tolerance from -1…+1
#2

Select Function or * to exit : 2
     200 records imported
     Location Vectors Updated: 200

#3

Select Function or * to exit : 3
Select Base CITY by name (): mad

ID      CAPITAL COUNTRY

171     Madrid  Spain

1 Rows(s) Affected
Select ID: 171

Vector Base set >> Madrid

Location Vectors Updated: 200

#4 implicit to #3
#5

Select Function or * to exit : 5
Select Target CITY by name (): Co

ID      CAPITAL COUNTRY

52      Copenhagen      Denmark

81      Conakry Guinea

2 Rows(s) Affected
Select ID: 52

Vector Target set >> Copenhagen

#6

Select Function or * to exit : 6
Similarity limit (.995) :

Similar Vectors from Madrid to Copenhagen
ID      VCOS    CAPITAL COUNTRY

52      1       Copenhagen      Denmark

110     .99999768522889842526   Luxembourg      Luxembourg

175     .99911210669970418329   Stockholm       Sweden

3 Rows(s) Affected

DemoServer Mgmt Portal
DemoServer WebTerminal

Article in DC #1
Article in DC #2

Video