This section contains technical descriptions of GIS formats supported by MAPublisher. Here you will find an overview of the structure of each format, as well as information on supported format versions and elements unique to each data type. Each file format will carry a checklist covering which core elements are supported by MAPublisher during its import. You can also refer to the Frequently Asked Questions section in this guide for information on any issues associated with the various file formats.
AutoCAD Drawing (dwg) and Drawing Exchange (dxf)
There are two formats used by AutoCAD: DXF and DWG. DXF is a CAD data file format, developed by Autodesk as their solution for enabling data interoperability between AutoCAD and other programs. The DWG format is used for storing two and three-dimensional design data and is the internal format for the AutoCAD Computer-Aided Design package. DWG is also the common name for AutoCAD proprietary DWG technology developed by Autodesk for their AutoCAD package.
Supported Elements
Typical File Extensions |
*.dwg, *.dxf |
Automated Translation |
YES |
User-Defined Attributes |
YES AutoCAD format only has RecordNum and ElementID attributes |
Coordinate System Support |
YES |
Generic Colour Support |
YES |
Spatial Index |
NEVER |
Schema Required |
YES |
Geometry Type |
autocad_entity |
Supported Geometry
Aggregate |
YES |
Circles |
YES |
Circular Arc |
YES |
Donut Polygon |
YES |
Ellipses |
YES |
Elliptical Arc |
YES |
Line |
YES |
Point |
YES |
Polygon |
YES |
Raster |
YES |
Text |
YES |
Z values |
YES |
Supported Versions
-
Windows: Releases vrs. R12 to 2007
-
Mac: Releases vrs. R12 to 2007
Prior to the import process, additional Settings can be made which will affect how the selected file will import. The following parameters can be applied to the import:
-
Group Entities - Group entities by Layer Name or Geometry
-
Hatches - Check this box if you want MAPublisher to read your hatch patterns upon import
-
White Lines and Fills - Enabling the ‘Import as is’ option will instruct MAPublisher to import the data true to the original colour settings contained in the file. Choose the ‘Change white lines/fills to black’ option to import black lines instead of the files' native white lines
Delimited XY Text Data (csv, tsv, txt)
Delimited XY Text Data is an ASCII file containing tabular data where delimiters separate the columns and rows. Common delimiters are commas, spaces, or tabs. Microsoft Excel and many other spreadsheet programs will export data in these formats.
Supported Elements
Typical File Extensions |
*.csv, *.tsv, *.txt |
Automated Translation |
YES |
User-Defined Attributes |
YES |
Coordinate System Support |
NO |
Generic Colour Support |
NO |
Spatial Index |
NEVER |
Schema Required |
YES |
Geometry Type |
csv_type |
Supported Geometry
Aggregate |
NO |
Circles |
NO |
Circular Arc |
NO |
Donut Polygon |
NO |
Ellipses |
NO |
Elliptical Arc |
NO |
Line |
NO |
Point |
YES |
Polygon |
NO |
Raster |
NO |
Text |
NO |
Z values |
YES |
Prior to the import process, additional Settings can be made which will affect how the selected file will import. The following parameters can be applied to the import:
-
Format - Choose the formatting type of the data you wish to import (e.g. Decimal Degrees, Delimited Degrees Minutes Seconds, Packed DMS)
-
Coordinate Columns - Specify which columns contain the x and y coordinates for the point data to be read in.
-
Use first line as header - This allows the user to enable the first line of the text file to be used as column headings
-
Separator - Choose which symbol is used as a separator for the selected file
-
Display Options - Choose which symbol to represent the points
Digital Line Graph (dlg, opt)
DLG is a fixed field record that may or may not have end-of-line markers. The DLG file structure was designed to accommodate all categories of spatial data represented on a conventional line map. DLG is a published ASCII format developed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Federal Agency and is intended to assist in data exchange with the National Digital Cartographic Data Base (NDCDB).
The DLG reader supports all three distinct types of DLG data:
-
Large-scale DLG data (1:24,000-scale)
-
Intermediate-scale DLG (1:100,000-scale)
-
Small-scale DLG data (1:2,000,000-scale)
The three scales of DLG data are physically formatted into files in one of these ways: standard, optional, and graphics formats. MAPublisher supports both the standard and the optional DLG distribution formats; however, the graphics format is not supported. Most DLG data is distributed in the optional format. The DLG file structure was designed to accommodate all categories of spatial data represented on a conventional line map. Node, line, and area data types are present within the DLG format, along with linkages and attribute codes. Linkages are references to other features within the same DLG data set, used in a variety of contexts. DLG files do not explicitly store attribute values but use a feature coding approach in which unique feature codes are assigned to the different types of features stored within the data set. MAPublisher will look for the extension .dlg or .opt for the input DLG files.
Supported Elements
Typical File Extensions |
*.dlg, *.opt |
Automated Translation |
YES |
User-Defined Attributes |
NO |
Coordinate System Support |
YES |
Generic Colour Support |
NO |
Spatial Index |
NEVER |
Schema Required |
NO |
Geometry Type |
dlg_type |
Supported Geometry
Aggregate |
NO |
Circles |
NO |
Circular Arc |
NO |
Donut Polygon |
YES |
Ellipses |
NO |
Elliptical Arc |
NO |
Line |
YES |
Point |
YES |
Polygon |
YES |
Raster |
NO |
Text |
NO |
Z values |
NO |
Esri ArcInfo Generate (gen)
Esri simple ASCII storage and interchange format. There are three different types of .gen files each with its own syntax - one for points, one for lines, and one for text geometries. This is the format exported by ArcInfo generate command. The *.gen files are used by ArcInfo to transfer coverages to other mapping systems.
Supported Elements
Typical File Extensions |
*.gen |
Automated Translation |
YES |
User-Defined Attributes |
NO |
Coordinate System Support |
NO |
Generic Colour Support |
NO |
Spatial Index |
NEVER |
Schema Required |
YES |
Geometry Type |
arcgen_geometry |
Supported Geometry
Aggregate |
NO |
Circles |
NO |
Circular Arc |
NO |
Donut Polygon |
NO |
Ellipses |
NO |
Elliptical Arc |
NO |
Line |
YES |
Point |
YES |
Polygon |
NO |
Raster |
NO |
Text |
YES |
Z values |
YES |
Esri Interchange File (e00)
An archive of files that describes a complete ArcInfo coverage. This is either ASCII or compressed into a binary and is used to transfer files between different versions of ArcInfo.
A single E00 file describes a complete ArcInfo coverage. The file itself is actually an archive of several smaller files, referred to as subfiles. Some of these subfiles have fixed names that do not vary from coverage to coverage and follow a predefined data format. The remainder of the subfiles contained within an E00 is the info files. These files may contain user-defined attributes and have names that vary from coverage to coverage.
Supported Elements
Typical File Extensions |
*.e00 (.e01, .e02, ...) |
Automated Translation |
YES |
User-Defined Attributes |
YES |
Coordinate System Support |
YES |
Generic Colour Support |
NO |
Spatial Index |
NEVER |
Schema Required |
YES |
Geometry Type |
e00_type |
Supported Geometry
Aggregate |
NO |
Circles |
NO |
Circular Arc |
NO |
Donut Polygon |
YES |
Ellipses |
NO |
Elliptical Arc |
NO |
Line |
YES |
Point |
YES |
Polygon |
YES |
Raster |
NO |
Text |
YES |
Z values |
N/A |
There are essentially four types of geometry defined in E00 files which will be reproduced as layers during import: Arcs (lines), Points, Polygons, and Text. Prior to the import process, additional Settings can be made which will affect how the selected file will import. The following parameter can be applied to the import:
-
Ignore TIC layer - Enabling this option allows you to suppress creation of a _tic_point layer. When disabled, it will create a layer holding the registration control points
Esri Shapefile (shp)
The Esri Shapefile is a geospatial vector data format for geographic information systems software. It is developed and regulated by Esri as a mostly open specification for data interoperability among Esri and other software products. A Shapefile is a digital vector storage format for storing geometric location and associated attribute information. This format lacks the capacity to store topological information. A single logical Shapefile consists of three physical files, each with one of the following file name extensions:
Extension |
Description |
*.shp |
Geometric data |
*.shx |
Index to the geometric data |
*.dbf |
Attributes for the geometric data |
These extensions are added to the base name of the Shapefile, creating separate physical files that must all reside in the same directory. You must select the *.shp file for import. Point, multipoint, polyline, and polygon geometric data can be stored in *.shp files. However, a single *.shp file can contain only one type of geometry. Each entity in a *.shp file has a corresponding entry in the *.shx index file and a corresponding row of attributes in the associated *.dbf file. The order of the entries in each of these files is synchronized. For example, the 3rd geometric entity in the *.shp file is pointed to by the 3rd entry in the *.shx index file and has the attributes held in the 3rd row of the *.dbf.
A single Shapefile may also consist of a number of additional files, with the following file name extensions:
Extension |
Description |
*.sbn, *.sbx |
Spatial index files for the geometric data. These two files are only generated by an Esri product; however, they are not required by MAPublisher for import and will not be generated when exporting data to the Shapefile format. |
*.prj |
Spatial coordinate system information. |
If a *.prj file exists in your Shapefile directory holding the coordinate system information of the Shapefile, this will automatically be read by MAPublisher on import. If your Shapefile folder does not contain a .prj file, you will be required to specify the coordinate system in order to fully utilize MAPublisher.
Supported Elements
Typical File Extensions |
*.shp (*.shx, *.dbf, *.sbn, *.sbx, *.atx, *.prj, *.cpg) *.shz |
Automated Translation |
YES |
User-Defined Attributes |
YES |
Coordinate System Support |
OPTIONAL (only if *.prj is present) |
Generic Colour Support |
NO |
Spatial Index |
OPTIONAL |
Schema Required |
YES |
Geometry Type |
shape_geometry |
Supported Geometry
Aggregate |
NO |
Circles |
NO |
Circular Arc |
NO |
Donut Polygon |
YES |
Ellipses |
NO |
Elliptical Arc |
NO |
Line |
YES |
Point |
YES |
Polygon |
YES |
Raster |
NO |
Text |
NO |
Z values |
YES |
File/Personal Geodatabases
A geodatabase is a native Esri ArcGIS data format for storing geographic data. It is a collection of geographic datasets of various types used in ArcGIS and managed in either a file folder or a relational database. There are two main types of geodatabases:
-
Single-User: Personal Geodatabases (extension *.mdb) and File Geodatabases (extension *.gdb)
Supported Elements
Typical File Extensions |
*.mdb (personal), *.gdb (file) |
Automated Translation |
YES |
User-Defined Attributes |
YES |
Coordinate System Support |
YES |
Generic Colour Support |
NO |
Spatial Index |
ALWAYS |
Schema Required |
YES |
Geometry Type |
geodb_type |
Supported Geometry
Aggregate |
NO |
Circles |
YES |
Circular Arc |
YES |
Donut Polygon |
YES |
Ellipses |
YES |
Elliptical Arc |
YES |
Line |
YES |
Point |
YES |
Polygon |
YES |
Raster |
YES |
Text |
YES |
Z values |
YES |
Geography Markup Language (gml)
The Geography Markup Language (GML) was designed as a geographic interface language for the Geo-Web. GML is an XML encoding in accordance with ISO 19118 for the transport and storage of geographic information modelled in accordance with the conceptual modelling framework used in the ISO 19100 series of International Standards and including both the spatial and non-spatial properties of geographic features. The goal of the format is to provide users with a set of abstract base objects that can be built into working real world datasets. It uses an XML base to store geometry and feature information that can easily be transported across the Internet.
The GML simple feature profile was created by the Open Geospatial Consortium as a restricted subset of the GML specification. It provides a reduced geometry and metadata profile that can be shared across many GIS tasks. This simple feature model can be used as a base to generate local application profiles for a specific work area. Since the GML models base abstract classes, these application profiles (schemas) are required for accessing and processing any GML datasets. Generally, GML data has a *.gml extension, and requires any application-specific schema files (*.xsd). For more information on GML, and the GML simple features profile, please visit Geography Markup Language | OGC.
Supported Elements
Typical File Extensions |
*.gml, *.xml |
Automated Translation |
YES |
User-Defined Attributes |
YES |
Coordinate System Support |
YES |
Generic Colour Support |
NO |
Spatial Index |
NEVER |
Schema Required |
YES (*.xsd) |
Geometry Type |
xml_type |
Supported Geometry
Aggregate |
YES |
Circles |
NO |
Circular Arc |
YES |
Donut Polygon |
YES |
Ellipses |
NO |
Elliptical Arc |
NO |
Line |
YES |
Point |
YES |
Polygon |
YES |
Raster |
NO |
Text |
NO |
Z values |
YES |
Prior to the import process, additional Settings can be made which will affect how the selected file will import. The following parameter can be applied to the import:
-
Coordinate order - Sets how MAPublisher interprets the order of X and Y coordinates
GeoJSON (geojson, json, topojson)
GeoJSON is a format for encoding a variety of geographic data structures. A GeoJSON object may represent a geometry, a feature, or a collection of features. GeoJSON supports the following geometry types: Point, LineString, Polygon, MultiPoint, MultiLineString, MultiPolygon, and GeometryCollection. Features in GeoJSON contain a geometry object and additional properties, and a feature collection represents a list of features. A complete GeoJSON data structure is always an object (in JSON terms). In GeoJSON, an object consists of a collection of name/value pairs -- also called members. For each member, the name is always a string. Member values are either a string, number, object, array or one of the literals: true, false, and null. An array consists of elements where each element is a value as described above. A TopoJSON file encodes topology information.,
Supported Elements
Typical File Extensions |
*.json |
Automated Translation |
YES |
User-Defined Attributes |
YES |
Coordinate System Support |
YES |
Generic Colour Support |
NO |
Spatial Index |
NEVER |
Schema Required |
NO |
Geometry Type |
json_type |
Supported Geometry
Aggregate |
YES |
Circles |
NO |
Circular Arc |
NO |
Donut Polygon |
YES |
Ellipses |
NO |
Elliptical Arc |
NO |
Line |
YES |
Point |
YES |
Polygon |
YES |
Raster |
NO |
Text |
NO |
Z values |
NO |
GeoPackage (gpkg)
A GeoPackage is an open, non-proprietary, platform-independent, and standards-based data format for a geographic information system implemented as an SQLite database container. GeoPackages contain a number of tables divided into two categories - user-defined data tables, and metadata tables. Features are stored in the user-defined data table. For features that contain spatial referencing, each row of data must contain a coordinate reference system.
Supported Elements
Typical File Extensions |
*.gpkg |
Automated Translation |
YES |
User-Defined Attributes |
YES |
Coordinate System Support |
YES |
Generic Colour Support |
NO |
Spatial Index |
YES |
Schema Required |
YES |
Geometry Type |
geopackage_type |
Supported Geometry
Aggregate |
YES |
Circles |
YES |
Circular Arc |
YES |
Donut Polygon |
YES |
Ellipses |
NO |
Elliptical Arc |
YES |
Line |
YES |
Point |
YES |
Polygon |
YES |
Raster |
NO |
Text |
NO |
Z values |
YES |
Google Earth (kml, kmz)
KML is an XML-based language for managing the display of three-dimensional geospatial data in the programs Google Earth, Google Maps, Google Mobile, ArcGIS Explorer, and WorldWind. The KML file specifies a set of features for display. Each feature always has a longitude and a latitude and can have other data, such as tilt, heading, and altitude. KML shares some of the same structural grammar as GML. KML files are very often distributed as KMZ files, which are zipped KML files with a .kmz extension. MAPublisher uses KML version 2.2 specifications for import and export.
Supported Elements
Typical File Extensions |
*.kml, *.kmz |
Automated Translation |
YES |
User-Defined Attributes |
YES |
Coordinate System Support |
YES |
Generic Colour Support |
YES |
Spatial Index |
NEVER |
Schema Required |
NO |
Geometry Type |
kml_type |
Supported Geometry
Aggregate |
YES |
Circles |
NO |
Circular Arc |
NO |
Donut Polygon |
YES |
Ellipses |
NO |
Elliptical Arc |
NO |
Line |
YES |
Point |
YES |
Polygon |
YES |
Raster |
YES |
Text |
YES |
Z values |
YES |
Prior to the import process, additional Settings can be made, which will affect how the selected KML file will import. The following parameters can be applied to the import:
-
Allow Random Colour Mode - This option allows Adobe Illustrator to generate random colour settings for the data
-
Expand Network Links - Checking this box will enable the use of network linked KML files
-
Automatically apply Symbols when possible - This automatically applies symbols to map features during import
-
KML Properties - A preference to whether import the KML Properties as visible or not, or not imported at all
GPS Exchange Format (gpx, xml)
GPX (the GPS Exchange Format) is a light-weight XML data format for the interchange of GPS data (waypoints, routes, and tracks) between applications and Web services on the Internet.
Supported Elements
Typical File Extensions |
*.gpx, *.xml |
Automated Translation |
YES |
User-Defined Attributes |
NO |
Coordinate System Support |
YES |
Generic Colour Support |
NO |
Spatial Index |
NEVER |
Schema Required |
YES |
Geometry Type |
xml_type |
Supported Geometry
Aggregate |
YES |
Circles |
NO |
Circular Arc |
NO |
Donut Polygon |
NO |
Ellipses |
NO |
Elliptical Arc |
NO |
Line |
YES |
Point |
YES |
Polygon |
NO |
Raster |
NO |
Text |
NO |
Z values |
YES |
MapInfo Interchange Format (mif)
MIF is a published ASCII storage format used by MapInfo. It is used as a file format for map and database exporting/importing in MapInfo software products. The MapInfo Reference Manual describes the MIF format and all constants it uses for colour, style, symbol, and fill patterns. MapInfo Interchange Format Files are often called MIF or MIF/MID files.
A single logical MIF file consists of two physical files, having the following filename extensions:
Extension |
Description |
*.mif |
Geometric data |
*.mid |
Attributes for the geometric data |
These extensions are added to the base name of the MIF file, creating separate physical files that must all reside in the same directory. You must select the *.mif file for import.
Each entity in a *.mif file has a row of attributes stored in an associated *.mid file. A single .mif file contains many different types of geometry however, the associated attribute in the *.mid file must have the same number and type of fields for each entity in the *.mif file. The order of the entries in the two files is synchronized. For example, the second geometric entity in the *.mif file has the attributes held in the second row of the *.mid file. The number and type of attributes associated with each entity is specified by the user. There must be at least one attribute field in the *.mid file.
Supported Elements
Typical File Extensions |
*.mif, *.mid |
Automated Translation |
YES |
User-Defined Attributes |
YES |
Coordinate System Support |
YES |
Generic Colour Support |
YES |
Spatial Index |
NEVER |
Schema Required |
YES |
Geometry Type |
mif_type |
Supported Geometry
Aggregate |
YES |
Circles |
YES |
Circular Arc |
YES |
Donut Polygon |
YES |
Ellipses |
YES |
Elliptical Arc |
YES |
Line |
YES |
Point |
YES |
Polygon |
YES |
Raster |
NO |
Text |
YES |
Z values |
NO |
Prior to the import process, additional Settings can be made, which will affect how the selected file will import. The following parameter can be applied to the import:
-
Automatically apply Graphic Styles when possible - Enable this option to apply graphic styles upon import
-
MIF Properties - A preference to whether import the MIF Properties as visible or not, or not imported at all
The MAPublisher MID/MIF importer supports the storage of point, line, polyline, arc, ellipse, rectangle, rounded rectangle, region (polygon), and text geometric data in *.mif files. Each geometric entity present in a *.mif file has display properties such as pen and brush-width, pattern, and colour. Supported MID/MIF properties are as follows:
MAPublisher supports the import of line weights (0-7), colours (24 bit RGB), strokes (1-71). It also supports fonts (family, style, justification) for text. In order to use line patterns and fill patterns, you must have opened or accessed the style library equivalents. Two library files have been created, MIF - Line Styles.ai and MIF - Area Styles.ai, which provide support for many of the standard MapInfo pen styles (stroke patterns) and brush styles (fill patterns). These files can be found in the Helpful Styles & Symbols folder installed with MAPublisher. Please refer to your Adobe Illustrator User Guide for details about how to add these libraries to your Adobe Illustrator Graphic Style panel.
MapInfo Table (tab)
TAB is a proprietary geospatial vector data format for geographic information systems software used by MapInfo mapping products. A minimum of two files is required for the tab format - the .DAT file which stores the attribute data and the .TAB ASCII file which is the link between all other files and holds information about the type of data file. The MapInfo TAB importer is closely patterned after the MapInfo MIF/MID reader and writer. This commonality makes it easy to support both MIF and MapInfo native formats in the same mapping file.
A single logical TAB file consists of a number of physical files having the following filename extensions:
Extension |
Description |
*.tab |
The main file for a MapInfo table, it is associated with the appropriate dat, map, id and ind files. |
*.dat |
Tabular data for a table in MapInfo native format |
*.id |
An index to a MapInfo graphical objects (MAP) file. |
*.map |
Contains geographic information describing map objects |
*.ind |
An index to a MapInfo tabular (DAT) file |
These extensions are added to the base name of the TAB file, creating separate physical files that must all reside in the same directory. You must select the *.tab file for import.
Supported Elements
Typical File Extensions |
*.tab (*.dat, *.id, *.map, *.ind) |
Automated Translation |
YES |
User-Defined Attributes |
YES |
Coordinate System Support |
YES |
Generic Colour Support |
YES |
Spatial Index |
ALWAYS |
Schema Required |
YES |
Geometry Type |
mapinfo_type |
Supported Geometry
Aggregate |
YES |
Circles |
YES |
Circular Arc |
YES |
Donut Polygon |
YES |
Ellipses |
YES |
Elliptical Arc |
YES |
Line |
YES |
Point |
YES |
Polygon |
YES |
Raster |
NO |
Text |
YES |
Z values |
YES |
Prior to the import process, additional Settings can be made, which will affect how the selected file will import. The following parameter can be applied to the import:
-
Automatically apply Graphic Styles when possible - Enable this option to apply graphic styles upon import
-
TAB Properties - A preference to whether import the TAB Properties as visible or not, or not imported at all
The MAPublisher TAB importer supports the storage of point, line, polyline, arc, ellipse, rectangle, rounded rectangle, region (polygon), and text geometric data in .tab files. Each geometric entity present in a *.tab file has display properties such as pen and brush-width, pattern, and colour. Supported TAB properties match those described for MID MIF files on the previous page.
Raster TAB files cannot be imported in MAPublisher.
Microsoft Excel (xls, xlsx)
Microsoft Excel format is read mainly as a text file containing tabular data where delimiters separate the columns and rows. Common delimiters are commas, spaces or tabs.
Supported Elements
Typical File Extensions |
*.xls, *.xlsx, *.xls, *.xlsb |
Automated Translation |
YES |
User-Defined Attributes |
YES |
Coordinate System Support |
NO |
Generic Colour Support |
NO |
Spatial Index |
NEVER |
Schema Required |
YES |
Geometry Type |
xlsx_none, xlsx_point |
Supported Geometry
Aggregate |
NO |
Circles |
NO |
Circular Arc |
NO |
Donut Polygon |
NO |
Ellipses |
NO |
Elliptical Arc |
NO |
Line |
NO |
Point |
NO |
Polygon |
NO |
Raster |
NO |
Text |
NO |
Z values |
NO |
MicroStation Design (dgn)
DGN are the native files created for Bentley Systems Inc. MicroStation product. These files consist of a header, followed by a series of elements. The header contains global information including the transformation equation from design units to user coordinates, as well as the dimension of the elements in the file. Each element contains standard display information, such as its colour, level, class, and style, as well as a number of attributes specific to its element type. For example, a text element has fields for font, size, and the text string in addition to the standard display attributes.
Supported Elements
Typical File Extensions |
*.dgn |
Automated Translation |
YES |
User-Defined Attributes |
NO |
Coordinate System Support |
YES |
Generic Colour Support |
YES |
Spatial Index |
NEVER |
Schema Required |
NO |
Geometry Type |
igds_type |
Supported Geometry
Aggregate |
NO |
Circles |
YES |
Circular Arc |
YES |
Donut Polygon |
YES |
Ellipses |
YES |
Elliptical Arc |
YES |
Line |
YES |
Point |
YES |
Polygon |
YES |
Raster |
NO |
Text |
YES |
Z values |
YES |
Supported Versions:
-
Windows: V7, V8. Mac: V7, V8
Prior to the import process, additional Settings can be made which will affect how the selected file will import. The following parameters can be applied to the import.
Versions V7 and V8 are supported for import but attached raster files are ignored.
-
Group Elements - Choose how you want to group the elements of the file on import. If you group the elements by level, it may result in a large number of output files. By Level is the default.
-
Coordinate Units - Choose Master or UOR (Units of Resolution) as the coordinate units. Master is the default.
-
Drop complex chains - Enable the option if you want each component of a complex chain to be returned as its own feature, otherwise all elements of the complex chain will be merged into a single linear feature
-
White Lines and Fills - Selecting the ‘Import as is’ is an option that will instruct MAPublisher to import the data true to the original colour settings contained in the file. Selecting the ‘Change white lines and fills to black’ will import black lines instead of the file's native white lines.
-
Create groups for like text- Text in the same graphic group or the same text node will be grouped in Illustrator (in the Layers panel)
Line weight in Microstation is an integer number only. As such, the MicroStation export will round the Adobe Illustrator stroke width. 0 is a valid line weight in MicroStation.
International Hydrographic Office S-57 format (000, 030)
The S-57 format is intended for the exchange of digital hydrographic data between national hydrographic offices and for its distribution to manufacturers, mariners, and other data users. It is used for the supply of ENC cells (Electronic Navigational Charts) to ECDIS (Electronic Chart Display and Information System).
The format is public, developed, and maintained by the IHO (International Hydrographic Office) CHRIS working committee (Committee on Hydrographic Requirements for Information Systems). The object's spatial geometry can be of Point, Line, or Area geometry, while object descriptions are categorized in object classes, organized in specific attributes schemas. For a full format description, please visit Standards and Specifications (Appendix A in particular). An online object catalog is also available on https://iho.int/uploads/user/pubs/standards/s-57/31ApAch1.pdf.
An S-57 base file has the extension *.000, while the update files have extensions like .001, .002, and so on. It can also be accompanied by other files:
Extension |
Description |
*.000 |
main file |
*.001 |
update file 1 |
*.002 |
update file 2 |
*.00n |
update file n |
files.TXT and files.JPG |
ancillary text and picture files indicated in the attribute definition |
Update files contain only the changed (new/deleted/modified) objects and are only used as a complement of a .000 file. Only the *.000 file is required for the import into MAPublisher. The update files will be applied at conversion, when present. However, text and image files linked to attributes will be ignored.
Supported Elements
Typical File Extensions |
*.000 (*.001 *.002...) |
Automated Translation |
YES |
User-Defined Attributes |
NO |
Coordinate System Support |
YES |
Generic Colour Support |
YES |
Spatial Index |
NEVER |
Schema Required |
N/A |
Geometry Type |
s57_type |
Supported Geometry
Aggregate |
NO |
Circles |
NO |
Circular Arc |
NO |
Donut Polygon |
YES |
Ellipses |
NO |
Elliptical Arc |
NO |
Line |
YES |
Point |
YES |
Polygon |
YES |
Raster |
NO |
Text |
NO |
Z values |
NO |
Most ENC producers (private and public) publish their .000 files in encrypted formats. Only non-encrypted files can be imported in MAPublisher (from NOAA or USACE for example).
Prior to the import process, additional Settings can be made, which will affect how the selected file will import. The following parameter can be applied to the import:
-
Automatically apply Graphic Styles and Symbols when possible - Enable this option to apply graphic styles and symbols upon import
OpenStreetMap (osm, pbf)
OpenStreetMap PBF is an open source transfer format for vector GIS data created by the OpenStreetMap community. PBF files are generally much smaller than OSM XML files, which they are designed to replace. Visit PBF Format - OpenStreetMap Wiki to read more about the PBF format from OSM.
Supported Elements
Typical File Extensions |
*.osm, *.pbf |
Automated Translation |
YES |
User-Defined Attributes |
NO |
Coordinate System Support |
YES |
Generic Colour Support |
NO |
Spatial Index |
NO |
Schema Required |
YES |
Geometry Type Attribute |
osmpbf_type |
Supported Geometry
Aggregate |
YES |
Circles |
NO |
Circular Arc |
NO |
Donut Polygon |
YES |
Ellipses |
NO |
Elliptical Arc |
NO |
Line |
YES |
Point |
YES |
Polygon |
YES |
Raster |
NO |
Text |
NO |
Z values |
NO |
Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS) (*catd.ddf)
SDTS is the USGS robust way of transferring Earth-referenced spatial data between dissimilar computer systems with the potential for no information loss. It is a transfer standard that embraces the philosophy of self-contained transfers, i.e. spatial data, attribute, georeferencing, data quality report, data dictionary, and other supporting metadata all included in the transfer. More info can be found at Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS). Files in the SDTS format will have the extension *.ddf.
A group of *.ddf files is normally identified by the catalog file or *CATD.DDF file, which relates the files of a single SDTS transfer, and binds together all the files with a common prefix. Always select the SDTS file which ends in CATD, i.e. HP01CATD.DDF.
Supported Elements
Typical File Extensions |
*.ddf |
Automated Translation |
YES |
User-Defined Attributes |
NO |
Coordinate System Support |
YES |
Generic Colour Support |
NO |
Spatial Index |
NEVER |
Schema Required |
N/A |
Transaction Support |
NO |
Geometry Type Attribute |
sdts_type |
Supported Geometry
Aggregate |
NO |
Circles |
NO |
Circular Arc |
NO |
Donut Polygon |
YES |
Ellipses |
NO |
Elliptical Arc |
NO |
Line |
YES |
Point |
YES |
Polygon |
YES |
Raster |
NO |
Text |
NO |
Z values |
YES |
TIGER/Line (rt1, bw1)
Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (TIGER). TIGER is the United States Census Bureau format for its digital database of geographic features. TIGER includes both land attributes such as roads, buildings, rivers, and lakes, as well as areas such as counties, ZIP codes, census tracts, and census blocks. Some of the geographic areas represented in TIGER are political areas, including counties, congressional districts, school districts, and ZIP codes. Others are statistical areas, including Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA), census tracts, census block groups, and census blocks. The database contains information about these features such as their location in latitude and longitude, the name, the type of feature, address ranges for most streets, the geographic relationship to other features, and other related information. More information on the TIGER/Line file format and data product can be found on the U.S. Census web page at TIGER/Line Shapefiles. This web site contains detailed descriptions of the current TIGER/Line format, with an explanation of field meaning for each feature type.
Supported Elements
Typical File Extensions |
*.rt1, *.bw1 |
Automated Translation |
YES |
User-Defined Attributes |
YES |
Coordinate System Support |
YES |
Generic Colour Support |
NO |
Spatial Index |
NEVER |
Schema Required |
YES |
Geometry Type Attribute |
tiger_type |
Supported Geometry
Aggregate |
NO |
Circles |
NO |
Circular Arc |
NO |
Donut Polygon |
YES |
Ellipses |
NO |
Elliptical Arc |
NO |
Line |
YES |
Point |
YES |
Polygon |
YES |
Raster |
NO |
Text |
NO |
Z values |
NO |
Supported Versions:
-
1992, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002
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