Managing geospatial information is an important part of geographical information system(GIS). Database system can help GIS designers separate data management task from the huge systems. However

different database systems

such as relational database(RDB)

object relational database(ORDB) and object oriented database(OODB)

have their native advantages and pitfalls. This paper firstly discussed why database system but not file system is chosen to manage geospatial information

and now there are three major kinds of database systems can be used to manage geospatial data. Then

three typical models--pure relational model

spatial extension model and wrapped model

are introduced

analyzed and compared. The key implementation issues and technologies of wrapped model

which is the most competitive solution

are discussed in details. As a result

ORDB is thought as a more practical way due to current databased technologies

and OODB still remains in prototype step.