[OZAPRS] All about Shapefiles

[Dave Ingram]

Tony Hunt wrote:
> The Shapefiles have me stumped. I know nothing about shapefiles really.
> This is the problem.

"Shapefiles" are a vector file format originally designed by Xerox, but
mainly 
used by GIS programs made by ESRI (ArcView and ArcGIS are common ones).
The 
file format is well defined and is 'open' (no royalties needed) so plenty
of 
GIS programs use them as well. ESRI have ArcExplorer as a free download
    http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/explorer/index.html
and the TatukGIS Viewer is also very nice
    http://www.tatukgis.com/products/viewer/viewer.aspx
A shapefile can represent points, lines or polygons.  A nice explanation
is at 
Wikipedia (where else!):
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shapefile

I've used TatukGIS at home (for the GeoscienceAustralia shapefiles), but
use 
ArcGIS at work.

For APRS I use 'scans' of a common street directory (the overview pages
are 
good). 1:250000 tops are good, but can be a little too details for APRS. 
Scanning a motoring directory and defining the extents might work too.


Dave.
-- 
David Ingram (VK4TDI)
Real email: dave at ingramtech dot com
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
http://www.ingramtech.com/
MGRS: 56J MQ 991583    Maidenhead Grid Square: QG62lm
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