GeoConverter

GeoConverter - Free Online Geospatial Data Converter. Reads and writes several GIS vector file formats as a static ('1:1') format converter. It is based on the FWTools, especially on OGR2GR documented in the OGR page.

See also:

• Homepage: http://gis.hsr.ch/geoconverter/
• OGR
• Datenkonverter

Rules

• There are formats like Shapefiles or INTERLIS 2 which consist of more than one file. Before uploading they must be packed together in a zip file.
• If you upload a zip file then each file inside must have the same name as the zip file itself. Example: myfile.zip may contain myfile.mif and myfile.mid.
• If you convert data to INTERLIS 2 (.xml) make sure you provide also an INTERLIS model file (.ili).
• If you convert from CSV to any other format it is not allowed to provide a zip file (except INTERLIS 2 where a target .ili file is required).
• In addition, if you convert from CSV to any other format make sure your CSV file contains a column header with either the column names “LON, LAT, VALUE” or “ID,VALUE,THEGEOM”. THEGEOM has to be formatted as WKT (see FAQ).

FAQ

These are Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) as a section in the GeoConverter documentation Wiki.

What to do when conversion fails?

(1) Check the log file provided with the error. (2) Check if your input file isn’t bigger than 10MB. If you have not uploaded a zip file, zip it and try again. Finally (3) read the FAQ and check the rules above.

How do I create an ili file when converting to INTERLIS 2?

See documentation and/or contact us. Future INTERLIS 2 drivers won’t need this parameter for simple cases whereas professional conversion will need a full-fledged and configurable converter (see documentation page).

What is WKT?

Well Known Text, i.e. geometry values in string representation. Typical examples are POINT(1 1), LINESTRING(1 1, 2 2, 3 3) and POLYGON((1 1, 2 2), (2 2, 3 3), (1 1)). See WKT for more information.

Why do I have to register before using this service? What are you doing with my personal information like my e-mail?

We ask for your e-mail and name mainly because of the tedious fight against spam! As a side effect you become part of the GISpunkt HSR community where we send information mails sometimes. These mails are currently sent every other month and will never exceed once a week. Your e-mail will never be used for other purposes whatsoever and we will never give away your personal data.

What does GeoConverter mean?

GeoConverter means "Online Geospatial Data Format Converter".

Is this webapplication service free?

Yes, GeoConverter is a free webapplication and it will remain free as long as this service is not abused by daily business cases (e.g. as long as bandwidth remains low).

Is GeoConverter a competitor to other converter software?

There are quite some professional products around like FME, igtools or InterlisStudio. These products offer more than a straight forward and static 1:1 conversion. They can be manually configured and often support more file formats. So: No! GeoConverter is meant as an enabler of GIS and geospatial data, nothing more!

Who runs this webapplication?

This service is brought to you by GISpunkt HSR. It is an experimental project without any warranty.

What are the Terms of Service of the GeoConverter?

See here.

Where can one submit Bugs and Feature Requests?

Here in the 'Diskussion' page.

Can these conversions also be run on a local PC?

Yes: We use OGR2OGR which is delivered among others as FWTools and you can run it locally as it was designed for initially. See OGR for more innformation about this.

Which file formats are supported by this webapplication?

These GIS vector file formats are supported for writing and also for reading except KML:

• Comma Separated Value (.csv)
• GPX (.gpx)
• Geographic Markup Language (.gml)
• INTERLIS 1-Transfer Format (.itf)
• INTERLIS 2-XML Transfer Format (.xml)
• Keyhole Markup Language (.kml)
• Mapinfo File (.mif)
• Shapefile (.shp)

I see GPX but can't find any other GPS file formats?

GPS file formats like NMEA or Garmin are converted best through exiting software. See our article GPS-Software for more information on this topic.

I miss DXF and other CAD file formats?

Microstation's DGN (up to version 7) is supported by OGR but not implemeted yet in GeoConverter. DXF unfortunately does not yet exist as a suitable driver for OGR altough some free libraries exist - so, sponsors are welcome!

More FAQ entries...

will be added here.