On the basis of raster DEM data in the Laohahe River Basin,a comparison is made in the aspects of identification and treatment of depression area,generation of drainage network,sub -catchments and topological relationship amongst three methods of building digital basin with the extracting drainage network,viz.Digital Elevation Drainage Network Model(DEDNM),River network analysis Tools(RiverTools)and geographic information system software(Arcview).As a result,DEDNM has the advantage of better modification,while RiverTools performs better on convenience,strong practicality,and visualization in drawing and topographical analysis.And Arcview would be a better choice for the second or further development.