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Converting csv data into shapefile

In the inaugural post of the new Free GIS Tools series I presented Google Map API, a very powerful and functional alternative to open source and commercial online GIS software. Then I wrote about a handy tools for selecting colour scheme for thematic maps. Today a quick overview of csv to shapefile converter tool which can be very handy if you need to convert latitude and longitude coordinates in decimal degrees to point, line or polygon features for display in desktop GIS software or for further conversion to complex KML/KMZ. These could be geocoded locations of your clients, or locations derived from geoRSS feeds, outlines of features from online digitalisation tools (eg. using aus-emaps.com simple geocoder point coordinates tool), or similar.

CSV to Shapefile Converter is the best tool for such tasks and it can be downloaded from wanderingidea.com for free. It is a Windows based application and requires .NET 2.0 framework to run - quite a large download as a bundle but really worth the effort. Here are a few tips on how to use it: Here is an example of a csv input files to generate a multi-part polygon and a doughnut type polygon (the result of CSV to Shapefile conversion is depicted on the images below):

doughnut polygon:

1,1,-28.323724553546, 153.028564453125
1,1,-28.297125824492888, 153.49273681640625
1,1,-28.77488163974644, 153.5064697265625
1,1,-28.74117220459353, 153.10821533203125
1,2,-28.359984824037397, 153.12469482421875
1,2,-28.58693349906796, 153.1329345703125
1,2,-28.596580064634804, 153.43231201171875
1,2,-28.32130676215295, 153.39111328125 multi-part polygon:

1,1, -28.01584726281309, 153.39008331298828
1,1,-28.030015853768017, 153.38913917541504
1,1,-28.03024314216738, 153.40621948242188
1,1,-28.0140286990148, 153.4053611755371
1,2,-28.0140286990148, 153.41609001159668
1,2,-28.029182458863605, 153.41548919677734
1,2,-28.028955168224194, 153.43093872070312
1,2,-28.012740531077274, 153.4310245513916 More Handy Tools:
Free GIS Tools: Google Map
Free Address Validation Tool
Manual geocoder for 70 countries

For more useful tips please also see posts listed under “How to…” category.
Posted by All Things Spatial at 7:49 PM Labels: Handy Tools Andy Rogers said...

I tried using csv_to_shapefile. Unfortunately, it identifies the units as "meters" even though they are decimal degrees, which confuses the Mapwindows program. It also labels the projcs as "unnamed". Is there someway to fix this? The data is Maryland state plane and decimal degrees . It was originally in feet, so I used the converter at http://beta.ngs.noaa.gov/gtkweb/ to convert it to lat long.

PROJCS["unnamed",GEOGCS["NAD83",DATUM["North_American_Datum_1983",SPHEROID["GRS 1980",6378137,298.257222101,AUTHORITY["EPSG","7019"]],TOWGS84[0,0,0,0,0,0,0],AUTHORITY["EPSG","6269"]],PRIMEM["Greenwich",0,AUTHORITY["EPSG","8901"]],UNIT["degree",0.0174532925199433,AUTHORITY["EPSG","9108"]],AUTHORITY["EPSG","4269"]],PROJECTION["Lambert_Conformal_Conic_2SP"],PARAMETER["standard_parallel_1",38.3],PARAMETER["standard_parallel_2",39.45],PARAMETER["latitude_of_origin",37.6666666666],PARAMETER["central_meridian",-77],PARAMETER["false_easting",400000],PARAMETER["false_northing",0],UNIT["Meter",1]]

May 12, 2016 at 3:20 PM All Things Spatial said...

Hi Andy, this task can now be easily accomplished with free QGIS software. Just import original csv without changing coordinates (set the project to NAD83 projection first). Then you can "save file as" shp... If you need to reproject, just set the project projection to whatever you need then "save as" again selecting project projection option. Or send me your file if you have any troubles (email address at the bottom of this page). Cheers.

May 12, 2016 at 8:47 PM