[postgis-users] ESRI GDB MDB

[Paul Ramsey]

Hi Rob,
Wow, so much material :)

On Tuesday, July 22, 2003, at 07:33 AM, RI Dunfey wrote:
>
> I have just stumbled PostGIS online.  I am curious if I could use it 
> to extact
> coordinate info from an ESRI geodatabase (ms access mdb).

No, PostGIS is not a data conversion tool (although it ships with two 
such tools, shp2pgsql and pgsql2shp), it is a spatial database.

> Or if the mdb could be loaded into A PostGIS database?

Yes, an ESRI geodatabase is a form of spatial data, and a spatial 
database is a tool for storing and manipulating spatial data.  To 
convert directly from geodatabase to postgis would require the FME from 
Safe Software (a commercial data conversion tool).  Otherwise, if you 
can save your geodatabase data as shape files (a published spatial data 
file format), you can use the shp2pgsql tool to do the loading.

> I see ESRI store the shape coords as Long
> Binary Data?

Yes, they do.

>  Also, can someone confirm I am correct in thinking this runs on
> UNIX?

All platforms supported by PostgreSQL, including things like Solaris, 
AIX, HP/UX, *BSD, Linux, OS/X and also Cygwin on Windows.

> I am trying to use the ESRI mdb without propriortry software.

Well, you can use the *data* without proprietary software, but the MDB 
itself is a proprietary file, so you're going to have to dump it out 
somehow first.

Also check out Mapserver (mapserver.gis.umn.edu) as a way of publishing 
spatial data on the web.

Yours,
Paul
>
      Paul Ramsey
      Refractions Research
      Email: pramsey at refractions.net
      Phone: (250) 885-0632