[OSGeo-Discuss] mxd to other format (i.e. shapefile)

[Fawcett, David (MPCA)]

Essentially, yes.  The .mxd does not store the actual geometry or attributes of a spatial data set, it just stores a path (or database connection info) to the data source.  

So, the data that you are viewing in ArcMap may already be in a shapefile format.  To determine the source of the layer that you are viewing, double-click or right-click > properties on the layer.  On the 'general' tab, you should see the source for that data layer.  

If the data is local and it is not in a data format that you can use, you could likely use the gdal/ogr tools to convert it to shapefile  (unless it is in the ESRI  File Geodatabase proprietary data format).

It could be that you are viewing a data source that is being served to you as a Web Map Service (WMS).  In this case, the server is only exposing/sending pictures of the geometry data, so you would not be able to convert this easily to a vector format like shapefile.

David. 

-----Original Message-----
From: discuss-bounces at lists.osgeo.org [mailto:discuss-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of maning sambale
Sent: Monday, August 02, 2010 9:47 PM
To: OSGeo Discussions
Subject: Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] mxd to other format (i.e. shapefile)

George,

To get this right, mxd are actually just a styling file similar to
Arcview's apr and avl?

On Tue, Aug 3, 2010 at 10:25 AM, George Silva <georger.silva at gmail.com> wrote:
> You must be confusing things here Maning,
>
> Mxd is the format that ArcGIS uses to store mapdocuments, while
> shapefiles/database geometry data/coverages/rasters are displayed on that
> map. If you only have the mxd you won't be able to convert anything to
> shapefile. You need the original data.
>
> A Mxd is much like an HTML. It provides information on how content is
> organized, but it's not content itself.
>
> George
>
> On Mon, Aug 2, 2010 at 11:21 PM, maning sambale <emmanuel.sambale at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>>
>> No luck so far looking for a converter.
>>
>> Basically, I want to export geometry and attributes without the
>> styling from an Arc's mxd format to shapefile.
>>
>> Any workaround here (other then looking for an ArcGIS installed machine)?
>> --
>> cheers,
>> maning
>> ------------------------------------------------------
>> "Freedom is still the most radical idea of all" -N.Branden
>> wiki: http://esambale.wikispaces.com/
>> blog: http://epsg4253.wordpress.com/
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>
>
>
> --
> George R. C. Silva
>
> Desenvolvimento em GIS
> http://blog.geoprocessamento.net
>
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>



-- 
cheers,
maning
------------------------------------------------------
"Freedom is still the most radical idea of all" -N.Branden
wiki: http://esambale.wikispaces.com/
blog: http://epsg4253.wordpress.com/
------------------------------------------------------
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