Spatial Functions

Coordinate Reference Systems

POINT and POINT3D values carry a coordinate reference system (CRS), identified by an integer SRID. Four CRSs are supported:

The CRS determines how distance() is computed. Two points must share the same CRS to be compared.

Example Graph

GQL
INSERT (paris:City {name: "Paris", location: point(2.4, 48.9), landmark: point3d(100, 25.3, 652.1)}),
       (newYork:City {name: "New York", location: point(-74.0, 40.7), landmark: point3d(95, 23, 54)}),
       (london:City {name: "London", location: point(-0.13, 51.5), landmark: point3d(5.2, 66, 3.2)}),
       (newYork)-[:Connects]->(paris),
       (newYork)-[:Connects]->(london),
       (paris)-[:Connects]->(london)

point()

Creates a POINT (2D) or POINT3D (3D when a z/altitude/height key is present in the map form) value.

Map form rules:

• Coordinate keys (aliases are interchangeable):
  • 1st: x / longitude / lng
  • 2nd: y / latitude / lat
  • 3rd (optional, promotes to POINT3D): z / altitude / height
• CRS inference (when neither crs nor srid is given):
  • Any geographic key (longitude/latitude/lng/lat/height) → wgs-84 (or wgs-84-3d if 3D).
  • Otherwise → cartesian (or cartesian-3d if 3D).
• Explicit override: crs: '<name>' or srid: <number>. CRS must match the dimensionality of the coordinates.

GQL
-- Positional: WGS-84 by default
RETURN point(116.3, 39.9)

-- Map form, WGS-84 inferred from key names
RETURN point({longitude: 116.3, latitude: 39.9})

-- Map form, cartesian inferred from x/y
RETURN point({x: 1.5, y: 2.5})

-- Map form with z promotes to POINT3D (cartesian-3d)
RETURN point({x: 1, y: 2, z: 3})

-- Map form with height promotes to POINT3D (wgs-84-3d)
RETURN point({longitude: 116.3, latitude: 39.9, height: 100})

-- Explicit CRS override
RETURN point({x: 1.5, y: 2.5, crs: 'wgs-84'})
RETURN point({x: 1.5, y: 2.5, srid: 4326})

point3d()

Creates a POINT3D value. Same map-form rules as point(); the map argument must include the third coordinate.

GQL
-- Positional: cartesian-3d by default
RETURN point3d(10, 15, 5)

-- Map form, cartesian-3d inferred from x/y/z
RETURN point3d({x: 10, y: 15, z: 5})

-- Map form, wgs-84-3d inferred from longitude/latitude/height
RETURN point3d({longitude: 116.3, latitude: 39.9, height: 100})

-- Explicit CRS override
RETURN point3d({x: 1, y: 2, z: 3, crs: 'wgs-84-3d'})

distance()

Computes the distance between two points. The formula is chosen by the CRS the points carry (not by Go type):

• Geographic (wgs-84, wgs-84-3d) — great-circle (haversine) distance in meters. The 3D form adds the height difference (Pythagoras).
• Cartesian (cartesian, cartesian-3d) — Euclidean distance in the raw coordinate units.

Both points must share the same CRS, otherwise the call errors.

GQL
MATCH (n1:City {name: 'New York'})
MATCH (n2:City {name: 'London'})
RETURN distance(n1.location, n2.location)

Result: 5570833.653336142 (meters)

point_get()

Extracts a coordinate value from a POINT or POINT3D value by index.

GQL
MATCH (n {name: "New York"})
RETURN point_get(n.location, 0) AS longitude, point_get(n.location, 1) AS latitude

Result: