Tagged Questions

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.

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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?
41
votes
6answers
988 views

Are there any attempts to replace the shapefile?

Recently I've been spending a lot of time converting perfectly good field names like "Percent of citizens age 25 and over with a bachelor's degree or higher" into things like "edbchogtr" to meet the ...
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 ...
22
votes
6answers
749 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 ...
19
votes
2answers
1k views

Python Efficiency — Need suggestions about how to use OGR and Shapely in more efficient way

I'm looking for some suggestions about how to make my python code more efficient. Normally efficiency doesn't matter for me but I am now working with a text file of US locations with over 1.5 million ...
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 ...
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?
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
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' - ...
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 ...
16
votes
3answers
812 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 ...
15
votes
3answers
2k views

How to bypass 10 character limit of field name in ShapeFiles?

I'm exporting geometry with attached text attributes from oracle database to esri shapefile format (.shp) with Java and Geotools library. Attribute columns in our database have names with more than ...
14
votes
6answers
806 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 ...
13
votes
5answers
310 views

What in-depth spatial database systems tutorials exist?

Is there a good tutorial that explains in depth the internals of a GIS and a spatial database system such as PostGIS with examples and without any background assumption? I'm specifically looking for ...
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?
13
votes
10answers
9k views

Best way to add Attribute data to a shape file

Hei GISers!! Thanks for your help with my previous question. My apology if this may be too simple a question for this site, but I am still learning the various aspects of GIS. Now that I can ...
13
votes
4answers
4k views

How to open a Shapefile in R?

I need to open a shape file from ArcMap in R to use it for further geostatical analysis. I've converted it into ASCII text file, but in R it is recognized as data.frame. Coordinates function doesn't ...
12
votes
4answers
616 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 ...
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 ...
12
votes
3answers
788 views

Centralizing shapefile data into database

I've got hundreds of shapefiles from various different GIS projects that I want to start consolidating into a single database platform, currently attempting this with Postgres / PostGIS. Hardly any ...
12
votes
3answers
189 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. ...
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 ...
12
votes
4answers
171 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 - ...
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 ...
11
votes
7answers
2k views

Free tool to simplify parcel shapefiles?

Is there any tool available which let's me run millions of parcel shapefiles and simplify them?
11
votes
6answers
623 views

how to improve rendering performance of very large shapefile?

I have a polygon shapefile that has a 100MB .dbf and 500MB .shp file component. The reason it is so large is it is a landbase classification for a whole district. Everytime I am viewing the file in ...
11
votes
2answers
238 views

Is there a public shapefile with the London Underground stations and lines?

Is there a public shapefile containing the stations and lines of the London Underground? I've been doing some intensive searching but I can only find the coordinates of the stations, or the lines in ...
11
votes
1answer
236 views

The next big thing in standardized spatial data exchange format?

I remember reading something a few months back, in the latter half of 2012, about a coordinated group effort to design a new standard for sharing geographic / spatial data. It has or aims to have the ...
11
votes
2answers
355 views

How to clean such a bad shapefile for routing ?

I am trying to clean a shapefile to make it usable for routing with pgrouting, postgis, postgresql. Here an intersection, it seems to be connected but when we zoom …. It is not: Same here : ...
11
votes
2answers
3k views

Free tool to convert .lpk to .shp file

I have a .lpk file from ESRI that I would like to convert to a shapefile. How can I do this, using only free software?
10
votes
5answers
495 views

Should I use File Geodatabase (*.gdb), Personal Geodatabase (*.mdb) or shapefiles?

I am a bit confused on the topic of databases. For me, this far, I have used databases as an easy way to keep all files together rather than having dozens of shapefiles all over the place. And it's ...
10
votes
5answers
499 views

Database versus Files for Solo Developer

I'm just getting started in GIS and am interested in using it to create maps of mountain biking trails in my area and nearby. I've been learning QGIS and have made enough progress to generate a decent ...
10
votes
7answers
4k views

Where can I find Canadian postal code geometries?

Where can I find the shapefiles for Canadian postal codes?
10
votes
2answers
3k views

Point (of a linestring) within Polygon using ogr and Python

I'm currently working on a project in which I need to build a topological network out of the geometry features I find in shapefiles. So far using Ben Reilly's open source project I've managed to ...
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?
10
votes
2answers
762 views

Using R to calculate the area of multiple polygons on a map that intersect with another overlaid polygon

I have a shapefile downloaded from the Ordnance Survey that gives electoral ward (division) boundaries for a county of the United Kingdom. I have successfully used R to load the shapefile and plotted ...
10
votes
2answers
1k views

How to add custom Feature attributes to ESRI Shapefile with Python?

I am seeking a way to take an existing ESRI Shapefile that has a Feature set of 200 countries. Each country Feature has an attribute of "NAME." My objective is to create a Python script that adds an ...
10
votes
2answers
2k views

How do dissolve polygons from shapefile using open source tools?

In my current project I'm visualizing data on a map representing some values for each administrative areas of a country. I'm given a shapefile of this country, which I'm converting to GeoJSON for use ...
10
votes
2answers
729 views

Which Windows GIS editors support the creation of 3D shapefiles besides ArcGIS with 3D Analyst?

I need to find and easy and affordable way to generate 3D linear shapefiles in Windows so one of our users can inspect our tool. We incorrectly assumed that he had 3D shapefile source data available ...
9
votes
2answers
7k views

How do I add a shapefile in ArcGIS via Python?

I am trying to automate various tasks in ArcGIS Desktop (using ArcMap generally) with Python, and I keep needing a way to add a shape file to the current map. (And then do stuff to it, but that's ...
9
votes
4answers
624 views

How to reproject spatial data using free libraries?

How can I use free libraries to transform spatial data? For example, I want to change the projection of a Shapefile within the code of my C# web application. How do I do that?
9
votes
3answers
3k views

Where can I find a shapefile of city boundaries in the US?

Where can I find a shapefile that contains boundaries for the major cities in the United States? I have tried the census website but could not find anything.
9
votes
4answers
4k views

using shapely: translating between Polygons and MultiPolygons

[EDIT: the solution to this was simply to use OGR to read shapefiles. See geographika's example.] In an ESRI shapefile, there is no distinction between Polygons and MultiPolygons. Furthermore, there ...
9
votes
5answers
3k views

ArcGIS 10 creating a shape file from current dataframe extents in layout view

Where is the tool for this? Have looked around and the closet thing i can find is Toolbox's Grid/Strip Map Index tools under Data Drive Pages. I just want to be able to create a single polygon ...
9
votes
2answers
1k views

API documentation for Gdal/Ogr with C#

I want to assign projection to shapefile in my web C# application, for this i am using Gdal/OGR/OSR C# bindings and add osr_csharp.dll and ogr_csharp.dll references. But i am facing some difficulty ...
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 ...
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 ...
9
votes
1answer
431 views

Conflate (merge) private shapefile data with OSM data

Background Downloaded Alberta OSM data from Geofabrik and have it running on a private Linux server using PostgreSQL 9.1, PostGIS 2.0, Mapnik 2.1.0, osm2pgsql, Apache 2, mod_tile, renderd, and ...
8
votes
4answers
668 views

Fastest spatial storage format?

I am wondering what storage method will result in the fastest reading of the map vectors for rendering. SHP? PostGres? SQLite? (They do not change often and I do not need spatial functions for these ...
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 ...

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