Shape files as a GIS interface

Shape files are a data format for geodata, which are used in most GIS. The data format is especially suitable for the data exchange between Visum and GIS. With Visum you can both open and save shape files .(User Manual: The Shapefiles interface).

Note: To save shape files , you need the add-on GIS interface shape.

A shape file is not an individual file, but is made up of three files:

• File *.shp for saving geometry data
• File *.shx contains the geometry index to link to the attribute data
• File *.dbf contains attribute data in dBase data format. You can assign the attributes contained here a Visum attribute, when reading the shape file (User Manual: Reading an attribute file).

Shape files can contain points, lines or polygons (surfaces). Only one type of element can be contained in a shape file.

Note: A technical description of the data format can be found on the Internet at www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/shapefile.pdf.