29:
1286:
must be limited to interspersing null shapes with the single shape type declared in the file's header. A shapefile must not contain both polyline and polygon data, for example, the descriptions for a well (point), a river (polyline), and a lake (polygon) would be stored in three separate datasets.
1285:
Because the shape type precedes each geometry record, a shapefile is technically capable of storing a mixture of different shape types. However, the specification states, "All the non-Null shapes in a shapefile are required to be of the same shape type." Therefore, this ability to mix shape types
183:
The shapefile format stores the geometry as primitive geometric shapes like points, lines, and polygons. These shapes, together with data attributes that are linked to each shape, create the representation of the geographic data. The term "shapefile" is quite common, but the format consists of a
1116:
Using this index, it is possible to seek backwards in the shapefile by, first, seeking backwards in the shape index (which is possible because it uses fixed-length records), then reading the record offset, and using that offset to seek to the correct position in the
1173:
file, which is used only by Esri software. The format is not documented by Esri. However it has been reverse-engineered and documented by the open source community. The 100-byte header is similar to the one in
1257:
values, ESRI software represents these values as zeros — a very serious issue for analyzing quantitative data, as it may skew representation and statistics if null quantities are represented as zero
271:
1230:
component files cannot exceed 2 GB (or 2 bytes) — around 70 million point features at best. The maximum number of feature for other geometry types varies depending on the number of vertices used.
1273:
Supported field types are: floating point (13 character storage), integer (4 or 9 character storage), date (no time storage; 8 character storage), and text (maximum 254 character storage)
1316:
803:
The variable-length record contents depend on the shape type, which must be either the shape type given in the file header or Null. The following are the possible shape types:
172:
The shapefile format is a digital vector storage format for storing geographic location and associated attribute information. This format lacks the capacity to store
1311:
480:. Each of the variable-length records includes a record-header component and a record-contents component. A detailed description of the file format is given in the
534:
The main file header is fixed at 100 bytes in length and contains 17 fields; nine 4-byte (32-bit signed integer or int32) integer fields followed by eight 8-byte (
1458:
180:
version 2 in the early 1990s. It is now possible to read and write geographical datasets using the shapefile format with a wide variety of software.
247:— shape index format; a positional index of the feature geometry to allow seeking forwards and backwards quickly {content-type: x-gis/x-shapefile}
1506:
Libraries – Open Source (Apache
License) Java libraries for reading/writing shapefiles and the associated dBase files (libraries are part of the
1475:
1305:
1528:
1404:
447:, so an implementer of the file formats must be very careful to respect the endianness of each field and treat it properly.
1295:
121:
84:
1157:
The names and values of attributes are not standardized, and will be different depending on the source of the shapefile.
696:
The file then contains any number of variable-length records. Each record is prefixed with a record header of 8 bytes:
500:
1128:
file. However, since a shapefile is supposed to always contain an index, doing so counts as repairing a corrupt file.
496:
1300:
654:
657:(MBR) of all shapes contained within the dataset; four doubles in the following order: min X, min Y, max X, max Y
477:
221:, legacy GIS software may expect that the filename prefix be limited to eight characters to conform to the DOS
1154:. The open-source shapefile C library, for example, calls its format "xBase" even though it's plain dBase IV.
512:
217:
file, but alone is incomplete for distribution as the other supporting files are required. In line with the
1503:
1499:
528:
91:
1523:
468:) contains the geometry data. Geometry of a given feature is stored as a set of vector coordinates. The
185:
153:
1065:
file, followed by any number of 8-byte fixed-length records which consist of the following two fields:
516:
423:
files, the shapes in each file correspond to each other in sequence (i.e., the first record in the
352:
173:
1253:(the main open source software library for reading and writing shapefile format datasets) support
1150:
IV format. The format is public knowledge, and has been implemented in many dBase clones known as
1121:
file. It is also possible to seek forwards an arbitrary number of records using the same method.
547:
520:
473:
378:
193:
39:
1061:
The index contains positional index of the feature geometry and the same 100-byte header as the
1347:
96:
535:
129:
109:
320:— a geocoding index for read-write datasets (ODB format) {content-type: x-gis/x-shapefile}
125:
503:, where the order is similarly (longitude latitude). Geometries may also support 3- or 4-
1186:
file contains all of the information necessary to successfully parse the spatial data.
519:. The user-defined M dimension can be used for one of many functions, such as storing
308:— an attribute index of the active fields in a table {content-type: x-gis/x-shapefile}
298:— a spatial index of the features that are read-only {content-type: x-gis/x-shapefile}
1517:
1207:
1170:
1039:: MBR, Number of parts, Number of points, Parts, Part types, Points, Z range, Z array
285:
117:
1411:
511:
and measure, respectively. A Z-dimension stores the elevation of each coordinate in
222:
1481:
499:, using the order (X Y) or (Easting Northing). This axis order is consistent for
1276:
Floating point numbers may contain rounding errors since they are stored as text
1211:
469:
225:
convention, though modern software applications accept files with longer names.
177:
28:
1254:
1077:
764:
708:
561:
444:
360:
238:
141:
59:
1459:"ArcGIS Desktop 9.3 Help – Geoprocessing considerations for shapefile output"
314:— a geocoding index for read-write datasets {content-type: x-gis/x-shapefile}
1492:
508:
504:
400:
370:
356:
515:, which can be used for analysis or for visualisation of geometries using
1495:– Open Source (MIT License) Python library for reading/writing shapefiles
1372:
1203:
923:: MBR, Number of parts, Number of points, Parts, Points, Z range, Z array
902:: MBR, Number of parts, Number of points, Parts, Points, Z range, Z array
396:
137:
133:
1507:
1261:
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standard. This database format inherently has a number of limitations:
485:
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collection of files with a common filename prefix, stored in the same
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254:
145:
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1390:
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It is possible to generate the complete index file given a lone
524:
404:
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IV format {content-type: application/octet-stream OR text/plain}
205:
149:
113:
74:
272:
well-known text representation of coordinate reference systems
685:
Range of M; two doubles in the following order: min M, max M
671:
Range of Z; two doubles in the following order: min Z, max Z
1146:
This file stores the attributes for each shape; it uses the
110:
data format for geographic information system (GIS) software
253:— attribute format; columnar attributes for each shape, in
1202:
The shapefile format does not have the ability to store
1178:. It is not currently implemented by other vendors. The
997:: MBR, Number of parts, Number of points, Parts, Points
976:: MBR, Number of parts, Number of points, Parts, Points
859:
MBR, Number of parts, Number of points, Parts, Points
848:
MBR, Number of parts, Number of points, Parts, Points
176:
information. The shapefile format was introduced with
1317:
Comparison of geographic information systems software
612:
File length (in 16-bit words, including the header)
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1194:The shapefile format has a number of limitations.
752:Following the record header is the actual record:
495:The 2D axis ordering of coordinate data assumes a
944:: MBR, Number of points, Points, Z range, Z array
288:of the features {content-type: x-gis/x-shapefile}
33:A vector map, with points, polylines and polygons
1489:– Free c library for reading/writing shapefiles
1312:List of geographic information systems software
1214:do have the ability to store feature topology.
1206:relationships between shapes. The ESRI ArcInfo
120:for data interoperability among Esri and other
1267:Maximum length of field names is 10 characters
484:. This format should not be confused with the
274:{content-type: text/plain OR application/text}
124:. The shapefile format can spatially describe
1453:
1451:
1377:Geographic Information Systems Stack Exchange
237:— shape format; the feature geometry itself {
8:
1482:Esri – Understanding Topology and Shapefiles
427:file corresponds to the first record in the
21:
488:shape font source format, which shares the
1478:– Esri Webhelp docs for ArcGIS 10.0 (2010)
1182:file is not strictly necessary, since the
407:software {content-type: x-gis/x-shapefile}
443:files have various fields with different
1338:
1336:
1334:
1332:
1067:
805:
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698:
545:
476:followed by one or more variable-length
1328:
1348:"ESRI Shapefile Technical Description"
1233:The attribute database format for the
20:
7:
1373:"qgis - Creating missing .shx file?"
1237:component file is based on an older
482:ESRI Shapefile Technical Description
363:{content-type: application/fgdc+xml}
341:(ArcGIS 8 and later) {content-type:
219:ESRI Shapefile Technical Description
112:. It is developed and regulated by
472:consists of a single fixed-length
270:— projection description, using a
14:
1306:Open Source Geospatial Foundation
1198:Topology and the shapefile format
783:Shape type (see reference below)
640:Shape type (see reference below)
1510:but could be used independently)
1410:. 4 October 2011. Archived from
1161:Shapefile spatial index format (
1110:Record length (in 16-bit words)
1096:Record offset (in 16-bit words)
741:Record length (in 16-bit words)
538:) signed floating point fields:
27:
1270:Maximum number of fields is 255
1018:: MBR, Number of points, Points
97:Shapefile Technical Description
1053:Shapefile shape index format (
870:MBR, Number of points, Points
108:format is a geospatial vector
1:
1296:Geographic information system
501:Geographic coordinate systems
326:— an attribute index for the
140:, representing, for example,
18:Geospatial vector data format
1264:field names or field storage
1132:Shapefile attribute format (
580:File code (always hex value
213:relates specifically to the
497:Cartesian coordinate system
1545:
1391:"Shapefile C Library V1.2"
1301:Open Geospatial Consortium
1139:
655:Minimum bounding rectangle
381:to be used {content-type:
156:that describe it, such as
1476:Shapefile file extensions
507:Z and M coordinates, for
26:
1493:Python Shapefile Library
1436:Cepicky, Jachym (2017).
727:Record number (1-based)
692:Shapefile record headers
456:Shapefile shape format (
152:. Each item usually has
60:Internet media type
1529:GIS vector file formats
1442:switchfromshapefile.org
1438:"Switch from Shapefile"
355:in XML format, such as
1461:. Esri. 24 April 2009.
550:of a .shp file format
399:spatial index used by
377:) for identifying the
369:— used to specify the
1487:shapelib.maptools.org
523:measures or relative
122:GIS software products
598:Unused; five uint32
517:3D computer graphics
330:file in the form of
241:: x-gis/x-shapefile}
1045:: M range, M array
1024:: M range, M array
1003:: M range, M array
982:: M range, M array
950:: M range, M array
929:: M range, M array
908:: M range, M array
551:
353:geospatial metadata
194:filename extensions
23:
1281:Mixing shape types
1245:While the current
546:
521:linear referencing
435:files, etc.). The
379:character encoding
118:open specification
40:Filename extension
1417:on 13 August 2016
1260:Poor support for
1222:The size of both
1169:This is a binary
1114:
1113:
1050:
1049:
801:
800:
748:Shapefile records
745:
744:
689:
688:
542:Shapefile headers
395:— an alternative
387:x-gis/x-shapefile
343:x-gis/x-shapefile
102:
101:
71:Developed by
65:x-gis/x-shapefile
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464:The main file (
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411:In each of the
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229:Mandatory files
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1470:External links
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1524:Open formats
1441:
1431:
1419:. Retrieved
1412:the original
1405:"SBN Format"
1399:
1385:
1376:
1366:
1354:. Retrieved
1284:
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1218:Data storage
1212:geodatabases
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451:File formats
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239:content-type
223:8.3 filename
218:
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189:
188:. The three
182:
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116:as a mostly
105:
103:
15:
1508:AFC Library
1204:topological
1190:Limitations
1033:MultiPatch
867:MultiPoint
505:dimensional
492:extension.
470:binary file
262:Other files
192:files have
178:ArcView GIS
174:topological
162:temperature
142:water wells
1518:Categories
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