Escape from PGeo

Scenario

There's spatial data you want in an "ESRI Personal Geodatabase" file, but you don't have any ESRI tools. How do you get it out?

One short answer

• Download and install Frank Warmerdam's FWTools
• Start the FWTools shell and invoke ogrinfo (to explore the content) and ogr2ogr (to extract it to other formats)

One how-to (steps verified on Windows Vista)

Explore the content with ogrinfo

C:\Users\Tom\Documents\itins>ogrinfo ItAntMapping.mdb
INFO: Open of `ItAntMapping.mdb'
     using driver `PGeo' successful.
1: whollyimprecise
2: placesAdded
3: placesEstimated
4: placesSolid
5: stretchesDangling
6: stretchesFloating
7: stretchesSolid
8: tpPoints
9: stretchesUnlocated

Extract a layer to an ESRI shapefile

C:\Users\Tom\Documents\itins>ogr2ogr -f "ESRI Shapefile" itant-solidplaces.shp I
tAntMapping.mdb placesSolid

Verify results

C:\Users\Tom\Documents\itins>dir itant-solidplaces.*
Volume in drive C has no label.
Volume Serial Number is 2C47-654D

Directory of C:\Users\Tom\Documents\itins

01/31/2008  04:00 PM         1,141,669 itant-solidplaces.dbf
01/31/2008  04:00 PM               147 itant-solidplaces.prj
01/31/2008  04:00 PM            85,780 itant-solidplaces.shp
01/31/2008  04:00 PM            24,580 itant-solidplaces.shx
              4 File(s)      1,252,176 bytes
              0 Dir(s)  172,586,586,112 bytes free

Coming soon

A sequel, wherein we write a python script to automate the extraction of multiple feature classes (layers, themes) with different geometries from a single geodatabase file to multiple shapefiles.

Thanks

Sean and Howard.