[gdal-dev] ESRI file geodatabase support

[Matt Wilkie]

I've lost all confidence that ESRI's as yet unpublished API will be open 
enough to allow gdal/ogr to use it without reverse engineering.

Although promised years ago (ESRI UC, 2007) they've been dragging their 
feet and being quite close mouthed about the whole thing. Even as 
recently as a few months ago they have been unwilling to even say if it 
will be usuable without purchasing a run-time license. Apparently they 
did say at the March developer summit that there will be no support for 
Annotation, Relationships, Networks, Topologies, Representations, 
Terrains and Parcel Fabrics in FGDB API. Simple Features only, and C++ only.

Personally, I think it's time to give up waiting for the fgdb api and 
start looking into a truly open source alternative for a shapefile 
successor. SpatialLite is the best candidate I know of.

Of course we can't ignore the fgdb as for better or ill we still live 
and operate within an ecosystem dominated by ESRI. It just won't be the 
next lingua franca, used by all as a common exchange format.

Sources:

http://forums.esri.com/Thread.asp?c=93&f=985&t=243828
http://spatialgalaxy.net/2010/03/28/speculations-on-the-file-geodatabase-api/
http://www.spatialdbadvisor.com/blog/121/the-shapefile-manifesto/


matt wilkie
--------------------------------------------
Geomatics Analyst
Information Management and Technology
Yukon Department of Environment
10 Burns Road * Whitehorse, Yukon * Y1A 4Y9
867-667-8133 Tel * 867-393-7003 Fax
http://environmentyukon.gov.yk.ca/geomatics/
--------------------------------------------

On 09/06/2010 11:23 AM, Frank Warmerdam wrote:
> Eduardo Kanegae wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> I´ve this topic at Google
>> http://osgeo-org.1803224.n2.nabble.com/When-or-if-OGR-can-support-ESRI-file-geodatabase-td2592778.html
>>
>> Is there any plan for OGR on supporting this ESRI format or this will
>> depend on 'when' ESRI be able to open this format specification.
>
> Eduardo,
>
> Ragi Burhum has offered an ArcObjects based solution/driver for reading file
> geodatabases for those with an ArcObject license.  I'm not sure what the
> exact status of that driver is since I'm not in a position to help with it.
>
> For a less encumbered solution for file geodatabase we are effectively
> waiting to see what ESRI provides in the manner of an SDK for reading them.
> Once we have that, it is also not clear who, if anyone, would turn it into
> an OGR driver.
>
> Best regards,