GeoConverter

GeoConverter - Free Online Geospatial Data Converter. Reads and writes several GIS vector file formats based on the famous OGR tools.

Homepage: http://geoconverter.hsr.ch

About

GeoConverter is a static ('1:1') geospatial file data format converter and coordinate transformer. It is running as a webapplication and designed to be used by technical users who casually have to convert GIS and GPS data.

Possible source GIS vector file formats are mostly the same as the target file formats (see the FAQ below).

GeoConverter is based on the FWTools (GDAL 1.5.0b1, FWTools 2.0.2, released 2007/12/05), especially on OGR2OGR as documented in the OGR pages.

It's possible that in the near future GeoConverter get's an additional machine-machine interface and this would be a typical Web Processing Service (WPS).

Rules for uploading files

This section explains the rules for uploading files to GeoConverter:

• Let 'source file format' be the file(s) to be uploaded and let 'target file format' be the file you will download.
• We assume that you deliver one dataset at a time.
• There are formats, like Shapefile, Mapinfo or INTERLIS 2, which consist of more than one file. Before uploading, they must be packed into a zip file (use e.g. gzip or PKZIP).
• You may zip your file before uploading for those formats which consist of a single file, like GPX and KML.
• If you choose CSV as source file format to upload follow the special formatting described below.
• If you convert data to INTERLIS 2 (.xml), make sure you provide also an INTERLIS (target) model file (.ili).

If no coordinate reference system (CRS) parameters are given the conversion maintains it. Note that KML always defaults to WGS84 - EPSG 4326, the GPS system - which means that if a source dataset in a local CRS is given you must indicate the source CRS and set the target CRS to (EPSG:) 4326.

FAQ

These are Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for the GeoConverter documentation Wiki.

When conversion fails...

What to do when SHP conversion fails?

Make sure you provided an accompanying .DBF and .SHX files and make a ZIP file with all three.

What to do when MIF convert fails?

Make sure you provided an accompanying .MID file and make a ZIP file with both.

GML or GPX fail to convert, what to do?

These formats are XML file formats. XML is a human readable ASCII format with a very rigid structure and encoding. There are readers which validate the input and even complain about the character encoding. Often when there is an encoding called 'UTF-8' but the file comes as Windows 'ANSI'; so you have to look for an editor or a tool which writes a proper UTF-8 encoded file.

What to do when converting to KML succeeds but Google Earth displays nothing?

First, KML is an XML dialect so check the question about GML and GPX above. Second, KML assumes a GPS coordinate system. So check if you have filled in the right numbers in the fields "Source EPSG no.:" and "Target EPSG no.:". Search for these EPSG numbers in spatialreference.org.

What to do in general when the conversion fails?

1. Check the log file provided with the error.
2. Check, if your input file is not bigger than 100 MB. If you have not uploaded a zip file, zip it and try again.
3. Read the FAQ and check the rules given here.
4. Try out some sample files (see below)
5. Finally, if the problem persists consider dropping us a mail.

Where can one submit bugs and feature requests?

Here at the bottom of the Wiki discussion page.

How To...

Which file formats are supported by this webapplication?

These formats are supported for writing and also for reading. Try them out with the sample data below:

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

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.

How do I create an INTERLIS file (.ili) 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).

About Background / Terms of Use

What is a layer and a dataset?

An OGR feature object encapsulates the values of a whole feature, that is a geometry and a set of attributes. A layer object is a collection of features (objects) of the same feature class. A data source represents a file or a database containing one or more layer objects. Note that 'layer' definition and 'feature class' definition are essentially the same. Layers have a reference to a spatial coordinate reference system (CRS). See also OGR for an explanation in german.

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

GPS file formats like NMEA or Garmin (.gdb) are converted best through existing software. See GPS-Software for more information about 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!

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 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 not meant as a competition but as an enabler of GIS and geospatial data!

Who runs this webapplication?

This user 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.

Can these conversions also be run on a local PC?

Yes, if you can install some software on your PC: We use OGR2OGR which is delivered among others as FWTools and you can run most conversions locally as it was designed for initially. See OGR for more information about this.

CSV source format used in GeoConverter

GeoConverter uses the 'Comma Separated Values' (CSV) reader/writer from OGR. The OGR CSV reader/writer allows to encode geometry by using WKT as attribute values. Unfortunately, CSV leaves many decisions open and most annoying is that the (german) MS Excel is a non-conformant CSV writer. When trying to upload CSV from MS Excel some re-formatting is needed before hand, e.g. replacing semi-colons with colons, removing double quotes etc.

These are the rules in order to successfully upload CSV file with geometry:

• Use comma as field separator/delimiter
• The first line must be a column header (upper or lower case).
• The column header must contain one of two possibilities as column names:
  • "LON" followed by "LAT" and a "NAME" attribute. LON/LAT are floating point values (e.g. 47.355). Attribute values may (but must not) be enclosed in paratheses.
  • "LAT" followed by "LON" and a "NAME" attribute. LAT/LON are floating point values (e.g. 47.355). Attribute values may (but must not) be enclosed in paratheses.
  • "longitude" followed by "latitude" and a "NAME" attribute. longitude/latitude are floating point values (e.g. 47.355). Attribute values may (but must not) be enclosed in paratheses.
  • "latitude" followed by "longitude" and a "NAME" attribute. latitude /longitude are floating point values (e.g. 47.355). Attribute values may (but must not) be enclosed in paratheses.
  • "ID, NAME, THEGEOM". THEGEOM attributes (alternate name 'OGR_GEOM_WKT') have to be formatted as WKT, i.e. with no comma but including the parantheses.
• There can be more attributes than these three.

Examples (see HowTo_OGR2OGR for more):

 lon, lat, name
 12.375, 49.618, Wert 1
 16.198, 50.431, Wert 2
 19.628, 51.389, Wert 3

 ID, NAME, OGR_GEOM_WKT
 1, Wert 1, "POINT(12.375 49.618)"
 2, Wert 2, "POINT(16.198 50.431)"
 3, Wert 3, "POINT(19.628 51.389)"

Download sample files

Get your sample files by clicking to the links below. The data is about Swiss train stations and its of geometry type POINT (see WKT).

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

Feature requests, bug reports and suggestions

Do you have any feature requests, bug reports and suggestions? We appreciate every feedback!

Please go to the "discussion" ("Diskussion") tab of this Wiki page and put it there by adding (+) your feedback on the bottom.

Weblinks

Look also at alternatives

• here at GIS-Konverter (de),
• especially at OpenLayers-Online
• and GPS-Software.

GeoConverter in the press:

• http://freegeographytools.com/2008/two-online-vector-gisgpskml-conversion-utilities