Abstract
Vector Product Format (VPF) based databases store geographical data in a relational framework, where individual VPF files are arranged hierarchically in a directory tree structure. Access and update of the VPF data can become difficult due to fragmentation of data among multiple tables. This paper presents an object-oriented model for the management of a VPF database, which provides easy access and automatic update for the VPF data, and is compatible with ESRI ArcView. This model has been successfully implemented in Java, for Digital Nautical Charts (DNC).