Simple Features (officially Simple Feature Access) is a set of standards that specify a common storage and access model of geographic features made of mostly two-dimensional geometries (point, line, polygon, multi-point, multi-line, etc.) used by geographic databases and geographic information systems. It is formalized by both the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
The ISO 19125 standard comes in two parts. Part 1, ISO 19125-1 (SFA-CA for "common architecture"), defines a model for two-dimensional simple features, with linear interpolation between vertices, defined in a hierarchy of classes; this part also defines representation of geometry in text and binary forms. Part 2 of the standard, ISO 19125-2 (SFA-SQL), defines a "SQL/MM" language binding API for SQL under the prefix "ST_".[1] The open access OGC standards cover additionally APIs for CORBA and OLE/COM, although these have lagged behind the SQL one and are not standardized by ISO. There are also adaptations to other languages covered below.
The ISO/IEC 13249-3 SQL/MM Spatial extends the Simple Features data model, originally based on straight-line segments, adding circular interpolations (e.g. circular arcs) and other features like coordinate transformations and methods for validating geometries, as well as Geography Markup Language support.[1]