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.