Import Esri Shapefiles (.shp)

Esri (Environmental Systems Research Institute) shapefiles (.shp) use a popular geospatial vector data format for geographic information systems. Esri Shapefiles are used to import point, line, polygon, and feature data into your project. (Multi-part polyline and polygon features are not imported.)

To avoid serious errors when importing data from an Esri shapefile, the coordinate system specified in your TBC project must match the coordinate system specified in the shapefile, or you must specify a resolution if there is a mismatch. Note the following:

The coordinate system specified in your TBC project must match the coordinate system specified in the Esri shapefile, or you must specify a resolution if there is a mismatch. Note the following:

TBC attempts to find a Trimble coordinate system that exactly matches the coordinate system specified in the shapefile (which is typically in OGC WKT format). If an exact match cannot be found, an Error dialog displays stating that a new coordinate system will be constructed based on available parameters in the shapefile coordinate system. Click OK to continue.
If the Trimble coordinate system matching the file geodatabase coordinate system (or constructed for it based on available parameters) does not match the coordinate system currently specified for the project, the GIS Coordinate System Mapping dialog displays. Use it to specify whether to:
- Change the project coordinate system to match the GIS (file geodatabase) coordinate system and not transform grid coordinates
- Keep the project and GIS (file geodatabase) coordinate systems and transform the grid coordinates
- Consider the project and GIS coordinate (file geodatabase) systems to be the same and not transform coordinates
Specify the elevation type coming from the GIS data source: Orthometric heights or Ellipsoidal heights.
Click OK after making your selection.
If the shapefile includes multiple coordinate systems, you are prompted to either use the first one found or cancel the import.