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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=698562021-23032006><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>That's good to hear.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=698562021-23032006><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=698562021-23032006><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>I believe that the SDF format has real potential as a
generic file-based storage and exchange format. SHP has been used as
a de facto standard because it is pervasive and "open" (sort-of) but it has many
problems such as field width limitations, multiple files, platform-dependant
spatial indexes, etc. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=698562021-23032006><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=698562021-23032006><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>SDF is superior in these areas, is open, and has full
single-user geodatabase capabilities.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=698562021-23032006><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=698562021-23032006><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>While the idea is for everyone to be using a spatial
database like PostGIS, I hope that the open source community embraces the SDF
format as a mechanism to provide high quality file-based data stores. I
also hope that the FDO abstraction layer is utilized by multiple
tools in the same way that OGR and GeoTools are, reducing the amount of effort
that is expended on developing data access and update
mechanisms.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=698562021-23032006><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=698562021-23032006><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Jason</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=698562021-23032006><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
</DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> Traian Stanev
[mailto:traian.stanev@autodesk.com] <BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, March 23, 2006
13:19<BR><B>To:</B> users@mapguide.osgeo.org<BR><B>Subject:</B> RE:
[mapguide-users] SDF Question<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=184441821-23032006><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Yes it's open, I meant to say "native", not
"proprietary".</FONT></SPAN></DIV><BR>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> Jason Birch
[mailto:Jason.Birch@nanaimo.ca] <BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, March 23, 2006 4:18
PM<BR><B>To:</B> users@mapguide.osgeo.org<BR><B>Subject:</B> RE:
[mapguide-users] SDF Question<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=706171721-23032006><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Did you say proprietary? Is the SDF format itself not
open?</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=706171721-23032006><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=706171721-23032006><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Jason</FONT></SPAN></DIV><BR>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> Traian Stanev
[mailto:traian.stanev@autodesk.com] <BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, March 23, 2006
13:17<BR><B>To:</B> users@mapguide.osgeo.org<BR><B>Subject:</B> RE:
[mapguide-users] SDF Question<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=893481021-23032006><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>SDF is the MapGuide proprietary spatial data
format.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=893481021-23032006><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>If you choose to convert SHP to SDF, both the SHP and DBF
will be combined into the resulting SDF file. In general, the data is the same,
but you can expect better performance with SDF. So far there is no simple tool
that lets you view the data in the same way that Excel allows you to view DBF
files for example. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=893481021-23032006><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=893481021-23032006><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Traian</FONT></SPAN></DIV><BR>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> Randy Glen Johnson
[mailto:rjohnson@maintenanceconnection.com] <BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, March 23,
2006 4:06 PM<BR><B>To:</B> users@mapguide.osgeo.org<BR><B>Subject:</B>
[mapguide-users] SDF Question<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">I have some questions regarding SDF
files…</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">My source data is .SHP files with
dbf data files</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Using Autodesk’s MapGuide Studio
Preview, I loaded my shape files. It appears that sdf files were created
from wither the shape files or the dbf files. I am not sure which it used
since I cant see the data. Somewhere I found an option to create a sdf
file but I am not familiar with sdf files. What tool do I use to look at
data in a sdf file? Looking on the web only indicated that sql-ce uses
that datatype… I don’t have sql-ce… any information and suggestions
would be greatly appreciated.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Best Regards,</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Randy Glen
Johnson</SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Programmer Analyst</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Maintenance Connection,
Inc.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">1-888-567-3434 ext
800</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><A
href="http://www.maintenanceconnection.com/">http://www.maintenanceconnection.com</A></SPAN></FONT></P>
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