A vector data storage format for storing the location, shape, and attributes of geographic features. Often referred to as 'an ESRI shapefile', as ESRI developed it.
18
votes
8answers
4k views
Best practices for identifying the unknown coordinate system of a Shapefile
I got a Shapefile but it's coordinate system is unknown and there is no .prj file.
How I can identify it now? Are there any tools that could help?
16
votes
5answers
2k views
Bulk load multiple shapefiles into PostGIS
I've got over a hundred data layers in shapefile format that I want to upload into a PostGIS database. They are all in the same projection, but represent different data layers so they do not have the ...
18
votes
10answers
23k views
How do I convert MapInfo TAB and/or MIF to SHP?
How do I convert MapInfo TAB and/or MIF files to SHP using only free tools or ArcGIS itself? I've not had much luck trying to do this in the past and I don't want to have to shell out for the ArcGIS ...
13
votes
12answers
6k views
Shapefiles to Text
How can I convert a shape file (GIS) to text?
or, How can I extract the information in a shape file?
4
votes
3answers
1k views
How do I include a variable in the where clause of arcpy.Select_analysis?
I am trying to loop through a shapefile, selecting each feature in turn and copying it to a temporary shapefile to by included in a union analysis. I'm using a cursor to find the ID name for each ...
48
votes
19answers
33k views
How can I convert between KML and ESRI's shapefile format?
My users are sending me point data that were digitized using GoogleEarth. How can I convert their KML to a shapefile?
11
votes
8answers
4k views
How can I convert an excel file with x, y columns to a shapefile?
How can I convert an excel file with x, y columns to a point shapefile?
There are some somewhat optional requirements in addition to the correct creation of a shapefile:
Column types (as per ...
10
votes
2answers
7k views
How to calculate polygon areas in QGIS?
Hi I would like to simply calculate areas of a area-shape file in square meters or in acres (ha).
I didn't find that functionality in the vector tools.
Could anyone here help me with that?
23
votes
18answers
17k views
Are there any free administrative boundaries available as shapefiles?
After learning about the US Census's TIGERLines datasets I'm addicted to GIS :)
I've working with the following layers, from the USA data
Country boundaries
State boundaries
County boundaries
City ...
12
votes
4answers
4k views
How to add an attribute field to an existing Shapefile via Python
I have a Python script that adds an attribute field to a Shapefile if doesn't exist. This is easy to do with ArcGIS (graphically or via Python), but I'm looking for something that doesn't depend on ...
6
votes
3answers
731 views
How to read Greek fonts (ISO-8859-7) in shapefile attributes within QGIS 1.8.0?
I'd like to ask whether there is a way to read greek fonts in a shapefile's attribute table within QGIS 1.8.0.
8
votes
1answer
1k views
How to convert .shp into .gpx using QGIS?
I'm newbie using QGIS. I would like to convert .shp into .gpx. So, using Qgis, I open my shapefile and I tried to "save as" gpx but it gives an OGR error:
creation of field ObjectId failed (OGR ...
12
votes
4answers
624 views
Python module to delete SHP features (without Desktop GIS installed)
I have a piece of software (not Arc) that runs nightly on a non-production machine which updates shapefile features from an external database. Periodically I would like to delete all of the features ...
8
votes
3answers
6k views
How to convert .shp to .csv including attributes AND geometry?
I have a .shp file with 60k+ entries, all of which are polygons with corresponding attributes (acreage totals, landowner names, tax ID #s, etc.). What I ultimately need is a .csv file with all of ...
4
votes
6answers
2k views
ogr2ogr convert all shapefiles in a directory
I have a directory with several shapefiles. How can convert all these shapefiles to MapInfo with ogr2ogr. I know how I can convert one file. And I can make a batch script writing a line for each file. ...
8
votes
3answers
4k views
How to create a shapefile in ArcGIS 10 using arcpy?
How can I create a shapefile using Python in ArcGIS 10?
I have lat & long. From this I need Python code which will create a shapefile and display it in ArcGIS 10.
Thanks.
4
votes
3answers
619 views
How can i transfer data from a spreadsheet into a shapefile?
I am looking at Deprivation in the UK and there is some good data in the form of spreadsheets on this website http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/indices2010
I would like ...
3
votes
4answers
3k views
Change order of features in a shapefile
I have a shapefile and I want to change the order of the features.
Is that possible using ArcMap?
Thank you!
2
votes
1answer
113 views
QGIS rounds up the coordinates to six decimals when saving layer changes
I have the problem that when I create a new point (in a point layer) or a new line (in a line layer of course) and I save the changes to the layer (so NOT the project save) then QGIS rounds up the ...
1
vote
2answers
333 views
Why does ESRI make me store my DBF doubles as strings?
As far as I can tell I have to store all numeric values in a shapefile's associated DBF file as strings (yes, the N type is essentially a string).
Can anyone confirm that ESRI does not support the use ...
14
votes
6answers
808 views
Creating simple image from vector data
Can anyone suggest a quick (and preferably open source) way to create an image from a shapefile. For example, I have a shapefile containing parcel boundaries, I want to create a png file depicting ...
18
votes
6answers
3k views
How to convert image of map into vector format?
What is the best way of converting a gif of a map into a vector format, such as a shapefile?
The only relevant parts that I am interested in are the outline of the island so I realize some manual ...
16
votes
3answers
840 views
How to easily edit attribute data using Regular Expressions?
I am writing a tutorial for MSc students that uses QGIS.
One of the tasks requires the attribute data to be modified
(see pdf draft of tutorial here if interested ).
The question is how to get them ...
12
votes
4answers
173 views
Are long lines in shapefiles to be considered geodesics or straight lines in the 2D latlong space?
Is there a definition on how lines connect vertices in the shapefile format?
In the simplest case, imagine a line with only 2 points, from 40,-118 to 40,-112 - that's somewhere random in the US - ...
7
votes
1answer
200 views
Removing rows in shapefile in R
I've imported a shapefile into R, and joined it to a table. My shapefile contains all the census ids, while my table only contains selected census ids. I'm now trying delete all the rows didn't get a ...
12
votes
3answers
193 views
How can I represent distance using the dashes or markers of a vector line?
I am a very basic user and dont know the lingo to get to the gist of my question so some background might help.
Ive volunteered to create a pre-incident planning system for my rural fire department. ...
8
votes
2answers
386 views
Which data format typically displays fastest? (ArcMap)
My organization is working on an application running on ArcGIS Engine. Previous versions of the application used primarily Shapefiles for displaying roads, parcels, buildings, etc. Since I was taught ...
22
votes
6answers
754 views
“Oddities” in the Shapefile technical specification
I've been writing a shapefile parsing library, and have encountered a couple of design decisions in the specification that I don't immediately understand. I'm hoping there's a wizened old ESRI ...
16
votes
4answers
5k views
Which character encoding is used by the DBF file in shapefiles?
Which character-encoding is used by the dbf-file in Shape-files? It seems it is handled different, based on the program and the local encoding-settings of the machine. Which encoding is 'right' - ...
9
votes
3answers
2k views
Divide a complex shape file into a grid
I have a decently detailed shapefile with polygon/multipolygon features (the file is about 500mb). It's actually a shapefile of the entire world, with the features representing coastlines. I need to ...
5
votes
1answer
5k views
QGIS - Change unit of measure from degrees to meters
I am running QGIS 1.7.0 on windows, and I donwloaded a shapefile of census block group boundaries from TIGER. This file appears to be in the WGS 84 coordinate system, and when I open it in QGIS the ...
8
votes
3answers
3k views
How to get all the lat/long coords that define a shapefile
I have a Shapefile with several shapes inside it.
Using MapWindow I have been able to determine that the shape I need is the one with shapeId 19.
As you can probably tell I have very little ...
6
votes
1answer
273 views
overlay county shapefiles for 2 different years
I have county-level shapefile for South Caroline in 1880 and one for 1940. I would like to overlay these two files so that they do the union and indicate the percentage of the land in 1880 that went ...
4
votes
1answer
474 views
Write out a WKT file from a loaded shapefile
We are looking to load and display a shapefile, simple polygons, then write out a WKT string of that shapefile and have the user save it somewhere.
Does anyone have some code snippets of that very ...
3
votes
3answers
1k views
Postcode Shape Files for the UK
I am trying to find the shape files for postcode sector and districts in the UK. Specifically inside London. I know I can go and pay for these but I only really need to use them once. I want to ...
2
votes
1answer
3k views
How to import shape file into SQL Server 2008 R2 using only SQL scripts?
I am trying to import some shape files into SQL Server 2008 R2. I found this useful tool called Shape2SQL however I am not sure how I can import shape file directly using only SQL scripts as this is ...
1
vote
1answer
1k views
Looking for vector data for the country Turkey
specifically roads, railroads, and rivers shape files.... no cost would be nice, but it needs to be more detailed and accurate than mapcruzin's free data. Something under $500 would also be ...
12
votes
4answers
1k views
Does Re-Projecting an ESRI ShapeFile only update the content of the .prj file?
if i wish to change the projection of some shapefiles from .. lets say NAD83 (4269) to WGS84 (4326) ... and by using some 3rd party app .... does this mean the .prj file is only updated .. and not the ...
7
votes
1answer
1k views
Instantiating spatial polygon without using a shape file in R
So, the usual way we read a shapefile in R is via the maptools package, like this:
sfdata <- readShapeSpatial("/path/to/my/shapefile.shp", proj4string=CRS("+proj=longlat"))
However, I have a use ...
6
votes
2answers
364 views
reorder a polygon shape file (not sort)
I've written a script which produces a polygon shape file of the extents of all the thousands of rasters in our library. I want to organise the FID so that the files with the largest extents are on ...
4
votes
1answer
919 views
Using the python shape library: pyshp - how to convert .csv file to .shp
I am trying to understand how I can use the csv module in python to open a csv file in the same folder as the python script, and then create a shapefile using the shapefile module pyshp.
The csv file ...
4
votes
3answers
3k views
How to convert coverage (.adf) to shapefile?
Is there any tool or software except ArcGIS which I can use for converting coverage (.adf) files to shapefiles?
3
votes
2answers
636 views
How to edit Shapefile Attributes?
How might I go about exporting a polygon shapefile (e.g. CSV) so that attributes (not geometry) are editable by others, and importing it with the changed attributes (of which there are several columns ...
2
votes
4answers
300 views
ArcInfo Grid ASCII to ESRI Shapefile conversion
I have an ArcGIS grid ascii file (Ramankutty Cropland at 5 minute resolution) that begins as follows:
ncols 4320
nrows 2160
xllcorner -180
yllcorner -90
cellsize ...
1
vote
3answers
408 views
Qgis: How to display special characters German “ÄÜÖß” in a Map?
I have a shape file with names for Regions. These don't seem to contain special characters but ugly hyroglyphes. What can I do do display them correctly. If I import the shape as UTF-8 it doesn't ...
9
votes
2answers
1k views
Shapefile to SVG with ArcMap (while retaining country attributes)
Does anybody know how to export the Natural Earth 1:110m shapefile to SVG with ArcMap while retaining the country attributes?
From SVG I'm gonna try to convert it again over to RaphaelJS to achieve ...
6
votes
1answer
826 views
How to split non-contiguous feature in QGIS?
I have a shapefile with a feature that is non-contiguous. I want to split the areas on the left from the area on the right. However, QGIS's Split Features tool requires you to draw a line over the ...
5
votes
2answers
765 views
Retain ESRI symbology in Mapinfo TAB
Is there anyway to retain/easily transfer symbology from ESRI to Mapinfo? The only process I found was posted in 2010 - https://groups.google.com/group/mapinfo-l/browse_thread/thread/883223ff4ae56809 ...
4
votes
4answers
2k views
Tool for converting .shp file to .tab file?
I am searching for any free tool which can convert ShapeFile (.shp) to MapInfo (.tab) file.
3
votes
1answer
783 views
C# Library for converting Shapefile Projection
Is there any C# library which can take a shapefile as an input with projection information defined (e.g, EPSG 3011) and return a new shapefile with user specified projection (e.g, EPSG 4326) ?
