File Format Chart

There are a number of important distinctions that can be made for different file types because each file format uses a unique set of characteristics. The important file format characteristics are outlined in the following table:

 

File Format

File Name

Import

Export

Coordinate Type1

Drawing Properties2

Text Blocks3

Content Type4

ACCDB

Microsoft Access

X 10

 

 

 

 

D

AN?

ACR-NEMA Medical Image

X 9

 

P

 

 

R

ASCII Data

ASCII Data Files

X 10

X 7

R

 

 

D

BLN

Golden Software Blanking

X 9, 10

X 7, 8

R

 

 

V

BMP

Windows Bitmap

X 9

X 8

P

 

 

 

BNA

Atlas Boundary

X 9, 10

X 7, 8

R

   

V, D

BW

SGI-RGB Image

X 9

 

P

 

 

G

CLP

Windows Clipboard

Paste

Copy

O

X

X

R and V

CSV

Comma Separated Variable

X 10

X 7,8

 

   

D

DAT

Data

X 10

X 7,8

 

 

 

D

DBF

Database

X 10

 

 

 

 

D

DCM

DICOM 3 Medical Image

X 9

 

P

 

 

 

DDF

SDTS Topological Vector Profile

X 9

 

R

 

 

V

DIC

DICOM3 Medical Image

X 9

 

P

 

 

R and V

DLG

USGS Digital Line Graph

X 9

 

R

 

 

V

DXF

AutoCAD DXF

X 9

X 8

R O

some

some

V

E006

ESRI ArcInfo Export Format

X 9

 

R

 

X

V

ECW

ER Mapper

X 9

 

R

 

 

R

EMF

Windows Enhanced Metafile

X 9

X 8

O

X

X

R and V

EPS

Encapsulated Postscript

 

X 8

P

X

 

R

GIF

Image

X 9

X 8

P

 

 

R

GSB

Golden Software Boundary

X 9,10

X 8

R

 

 

V

GSI

Golden Software Interchange

X 9,10

X 8

R

X

X

R and V

GPX

GPS Exchange

X 9

 

R

   

 

HTM

HTML Image Map

 

X 8

P

   

 

HTML

HTML Image Map

 

X 8

P

     

JPG

JPG Compressed Bitmap

X 9

X 8

P, R

   

R

JP2

JPEG2000 Compressed Bitmap

X 9

X 8

P, R

   

R

KML

Google Earth KML

X 9

X 8

P, R

X

 

 

KMZ

Google Earth KMZ

X 9

X 8

P, R

X

 

 

LAS

LiDAR LAS Binary Data

X 10

 

R

   

D

LGO

USGS Digital Line Graph

X 9

 

R

 

 

V

LGS

USGS Digital Line Graph

X 9

 

R

 

 

V

MDB

Microsoft Access

X 10

 

 

 

 

D

MIF

MapInfo Interchange

X 9

X 8

R

some

 

V

PBM

Image

X 9

 

P

 

 

R

PDF

Portable Document File (Raster)

X 9

X 8

P

 

 

R

PDF

Portable Document File (Vector)

 

X 8

O, R

   

V

PGM

Image

X 9

 

P

 

 

 

PLT

Golden Software PlotCall

X 9

 

O

 

X

V

PLY

Stanford Polygon

X 9

 

R

 

 

V

PNG

Portable Network Graphics

X 9

X 8

P

 

 

 

PNM

Image

X 9

X 8

P

 

 

 

PPM

Image

X 9

 

P

 

 

 

RAS

Sun Raster Image

X 9

X 8

P

 

 

R and V

RGB

SGI-RGB Image

X 9

X 8

P

 

 

 

RGBA

SGI-RGB Image

X 9

X 8

P

 

 

 

SEG

SEG-P1 Exchange Format

X 9, 10

 

 

R

 

 

D V

SHP

ESRI Shapefile

X 9

X 5, 8

R

 

 

V

SID

LizardTech MrSID Image

X 9

 

P, R

 

 

 

SLK

Sylk Spreadsheet

X 10

X 7

R

 

 

D

SP1

SEG-P1 Exchange Format

X 9, 10

 

R

   

D V

SUN

Sun Raster Image

X 9

 

P

 

 

R

SVG

Scalable Vector Graphics

 

X 8

R

X

 

R and V

TAR

SDTS Topological Vector Profile

X 9

 

R

   

V

TAR.GZ

SDTS Topological Vector Profile

X 9

 

R

   

V

TGA

Targa (TrueVision)

X 9

X 8

P

 

 

 

TGZ

SDTS Topological Vector Profile

X 9

 

R

   

V

TIF

Tagged Image

X 9

X 8

P, R

 

 

 

TXT

Text Data

X 10

X 7

 

 

 

D, G

WK#

Lotus 123

X 10

 

 

 

 

D

WMF

Windows Metafile

X 9

X 8

O

X

X

R and V

WRK

Lotus Symphony

X 10

       

D

X

AVS X-Image

X 9

X 8

P

 

 

R

XIMG

AVS X-Image

X 9

X 8

P

   

R

XLS

Excel Spreadsheet

X 10

X 7

 

 

 

D

XLSM

Excel Spreadsheet 2007

X 10

 

     

D

XLSX

Excel Spreadsheet 2007

X 10

X 7

 

 

 

D

ZIP

SDTS Topological Vector Profile

X 9

 

R

   

V

 

1  When imported with Map | Base Map (Import column above must contain 12) or when exported (Export column above must contain 11):

R = real world coordinates such as latitude/longitude, UTM, etc.

P = pixel coordinates

O = other (i.e. page coordinates, metafile coordinates, etc.)

2  Contains properties such as line color, fill, etc.

3  Text blocks are editable. (When the All text as lines option is chosen in the export options, the text is not editable.)

4  Files can contain raster (image) information, vector (lines) information, or both. There is no raster to vector conversion in MapViewer. If you have an image on screen and try to export it as a vector format, such as a DXF, the resulting file will be blank. If you have an image on the screen and have drawn polylines or polygons and export as a vector format, only the drawing objects are included in the file.

V = contains vector information only

R = contains raster information only

R and V = contains raster and vector information

D = contains data information

G = contains grid information

5  Each .SHP file is usually accompanied by files with the same name, but with the .SHX and .DBF extensions. These files are not used in MapViewer.

6  The .E00 file format is not publicly documented by ESRI. Although Golden Software has tested this .E00 import filter software with a number of publicly available .E00 files, it may not be compatible with all .E00 files created by all versions of ESRI application programs. Golden Software is not affiliated with ESRI, and this import filter software is not a product of, nor endorsed by, ESRI.

7  The File | Save As command in the worksheet can be used to save this format.

8  The File | Export command in the plot window can be used to save this format.

9  The File | Import command in the plot window or Import dialog (i.e. Map | New | Base Map) can be used to open this format.

10  The File | Open command in the plot window or worksheet can be used to open this format.

 

 

See Also

Import

Export

Save

Save As

Data File Formats

Color Spectrum File Format