Neil Havermale wrote: > ... Is a retarded .SHP format just the millstone we, as MapInfo users, must > carry?
I imagine that ArcGIS users must have the same problem. If there's no coordinate system info associated with a SHP file, how do they get it georegistered correctly when loaded into an ESRI product? IMHO, it's a mistake not to include coordinate system information with spatial data. As to the lack of font, symbol, pen and brush styles, I think ESRI is correct about separating those from the geographic elements. A geographical entity logically has a one to many relationship with graphic styles, so it makes sense to me that graphic style is not a fixed part of the SHP file data. Information about that probably belongs in a data file as one or more attributes so it can be readily accessed by the DBMS query engine. These same data could be accessed in a similar fashion by a thematic mapping function to apply graphic styles. Externalizing graphic information makes legend creation more modular as well. Portability issues are simplified too when style information is not buried inside a map object's definition. Regarding the SHP file's becoming the de-facto data interchange standard, all I can say is that I'm glad ESRI published the specs. It makes a good point about open standards. They were savvy about that too. Now all the government agencies that provide data to the public and use ESRI's software have no ethical or political problems providing data only as SHP files -- that format is an open standard. This provides govt. agencies with less reason to develop their own open standards (note the USGS has even abandoned their ill-fated SDTS standard in favor of using ESRI's ArcGrid format in distributing NED data), and they become increasing dependent on ESRI software, because that's the only one that easily produces the de-facto standard. This bias cascades through the industry and ESRI multiplies their advantage. Soon the govt. agencies will no longer have the people and resources to maintain independent standards, and they'll just buy their solutions -- from ESRI. -- - Bill Thoen ------------------------------------------------------------ GISnet, 1401 Walnut St., Suite C, Boulder, CO 80302 tel: 303-786-9961, fax: 303-443-4856 http://www.gisnet.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------- List hosting provided by Directions Magazine | www.directionsmag.com | To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message number: 7817
