Geographic Information Systems: An Introduction, 3rd Edition

19.3 Standard Transfer Formats

It is still commonplace for different GISs and DBMSs to store data in their own internal formats. The exchange of data often requires the transformation of formats and is therefore no trivial task, as a wide range of different formats are available. Were a common standard transfer format available, all system suppliers would be able to relate to this and develop regular export and import routines (Figure 19.3). Naturally, both users and producers of data have realized this, and that is why many countries have initiated the process of developing such standard formats.

The transfer format should provide transfer of geographical data sets that include metadata, spatial data, and attribute data. In general, a minimum of additional programming should be necessary for creating a standard data set (from GIS-A) or reading a standard data set (to GIS-B). Data exchange between the most common GISs and CAD systems could also be included. A standard transfer format for files should include rules for:

• Transfer of geometry
• Transfer of links between geometry and attribute data
• Attribute data transfer
• Transfer of metadata

Figure 19.3

By means of standardized exchange formats, digital data can be exchanged between different GISs. A standard exchange format considerably reduces the need for translators—in this example from 15 (a) to 6 (b).

Encoding

Encoding rules ...