This is a new one for me. The BLM (Bureau of Land Management, one of two
agencies that manage federal lands in the US) has land status data I'd like
to incorporate into a project. The data come in a .mdb file. This landowner
file has vector data.
I don't see an obvious v.in.<whatever> appropriate for .mdb files. What
should I use for this?
Thanks,
Rich
The .mdb file is a proprietary Microsoft Access format.
Here is some info about importing:
http://grass.osgeo.org/wiki/Data_formats#MicroSoft_Access
One option, mentioned there, is to convert it to sqlite then import.
These might help:
http://code.google.com/p/mdb-sqlite/
http://www.sqlite.org/cvstrac/wiki?p=ConverterTools
--Adam
On Jan 11, 2011, at 12:01 PM, Rich Shepard wrote:
This is a new one for me. The BLM (Bureau of Land Management, one of two
agencies that manage federal lands in the US) has land status data I'd like
to incorporate into a project. The data come in a .mdb file. This landowner
file has vector data.I don't see an obvious v.in.<whatever> appropriate for .mdb files. What
should I use for this?Thanks,
Rich
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grass-user@lists.osgeo.org
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/grass-user
On Tue, 11 Jan 2011, Adam Dershowitz, Ph.D., P.E. wrote:
The .mdb file is a proprietary Microsoft Access format.
Yeah, I know that. We have compliance monitoring data from a client that
we need to translate into our environmental information system. There are
the mdbtools but I've not yet played with them ... successfully.
Here is some info about importing:
http://grass.osgeo.org/wiki/Data_formats#MicroSoft_Access
One option, mentioned there, is to convert it to sqlite then import.
These might help:
http://code.google.com/p/mdb-sqlite/
http://www.sqlite.org/cvstrac/wiki?p=ConverterTools
Thanks, Adam.
Rich
I've been trying to crack this one recently too. Not much success. mdb-sqlite installs ok and the test case runs fine, but my mdb files seem to cause it to crash with a string of errors. This behavior is noted by others and I haven't been able to reach the author. One thing that was quite useful is a little freebie called AccessReaderAndWriter -
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/Servers/Database-Utils/Access-Reader-And-Writer.shtml
You need Windows to run it but at least you can read the mdb file and extract some data manually. PITA, but there we are.
Stu
On Jan 11, 2011, at 3:58 PM, Rich Shepard wrote:
On Tue, 11 Jan 2011, Adam Dershowitz, Ph.D., P.E. wrote:
The .mdb file is a proprietary Microsoft Access format.
Yeah, I know that. We have compliance monitoring data from a client that
we need to translate into our environmental information system. There are
the mdbtools but I've not yet played with them ... successfully.Here is some info about importing:
http://grass.osgeo.org/wiki/Data_formats#MicroSoft_Access
One option, mentioned there, is to convert it to sqlite then import.
These might help:
http://code.google.com/p/mdb-sqlite/
http://www.sqlite.org/cvstrac/wiki?p=ConverterToolsThanks, Adam.
Rich
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grass-user mailing list
grass-user@lists.osgeo.org
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/grass-user
On Tue, 11 Jan 2011, Adam Dershowitz, Ph.D., P.E. wrote:
One option, mentioned there, is to convert it to sqlite then import.
http://code.google.com/p/mdb-sqlite/
Adam,
Kewel! Works like a charm.
Thanks,
Rich
On Tue, 11 Jan 2011, Stuart Edwards wrote:
I've been trying to crack this one recently too. Not much success. mdb-sqlite installs ok and the test case runs fine, but my mdb files seem
to cause it to crash with a string of errors.
Stuart,
Let me send you the file I just translated. It worked very well here.
This behavior is noted by others and I haven't been able to reach the
author.
Perhaps the Access file was written using a version other than 2000, which
is what mdb-sqlite currently supports. It's not unknown for Microsoft to
make application versions incompatible with former versions and not provide
automatic conversion.
I, too, noticed that the web site had no contact information for the
authors. Unusual.
One thing that was quite useful is a little freebie called
AccessReaderAndWriter -
No Windows here. After all, computers are like air conditioners: they both
stop working when you open Windows.
Rich
On Jan 11, 2011, at 1:43 PM, Rich Shepard wrote:
On Tue, 11 Jan 2011, Adam Dershowitz, Ph.D., P.E. wrote:
One option, mentioned there, is to convert it to sqlite then import.
http://code.google.com/p/mdb-sqlite/Adam,
Kewel! Works like a charm.
Thanks,
Rich
Hi Rich,
Did it preserve spatial topology for you? I was able to successfully convert an mdb to sqlite, but it does not have any geographic reference. This is fine for extracting data tables, but seems to sacrifice the value of a spatial database, unless there are fields representing coordinates for each table row.
Thanks,
John
On Tue, 11 Jan 2011, John C. Tull wrote:
Did it preserve spatial topology for you? I was able to successfully
convert an mdb to sqlite, but it does not have any geographic reference.
This is fine for extracting data tables, but seems to sacrifice the value
of a spatial database, unless there are fields representing coordinates
for each table row.
John,
I've no idea. I'm only unzipping BLM data files now. I assume that Access
has no topology as it's a flatfile database that could be used as a front
end to SQL-Server.
The file I have is for land status (i.e., ownership) and the SQLite tables
are:
sqlite> .tab
GDB_AnnoSymbols GDB_GeomColumns GDB_ReplicasEx GDB_AttrRules GDB_JnConnRules GDB_SpatialRefs GDB_CodedDomains GDB_ObjectClasses GDB_Subtypes GDB_DefaultValues GDB_RangeDomains GDB_Toolboxes GDB_Domains GDB_RasterCatalogs GDB_TopoClasses GDB_EdgeConnRules GDB_RelClasses GDB_TopoRules GDB_ExtensionDatasets GDB_RelRules GDB_Topologies GDB_Extensions GDB_ReleaseInfo GDB_UserMetadata GDB_FeatureClasses GDB_ReplicaDatasets GDB_ValidRules GDB_FeatureDataset GDB_ReplicaLog Ownership GDB_FieldInfo GDB_Replicas Ownership_Shape_Index
I've no idea what the GDB_ prefix is supposed to mean. The Bureau
apparently does not have these data on their ESRI GIS or we'd see .shp or
.e00 files rather than .mdb files.
Rich
On Jan 11, 2011, at 1:54 PM, Rich Shepard wrote:
On Tue, 11 Jan 2011, John C. Tull wrote:
Did it preserve spatial topology for you? I was able to successfully
convert an mdb to sqlite, but it does not have any geographic reference.
This is fine for extracting data tables, but seems to sacrifice the value
of a spatial database, unless there are fields representing coordinates
for each table row.John,
I've no idea. I'm only unzipping BLM data files now. I assume that Access
has no topology as it's a flatfile database that could be used as a front
end to SQL-Server.The file I have is for land status (i.e., ownership) and the SQLite tables
are:sqlite> .tab
GDB_AnnoSymbols GDB_GeomColumns GDB_ReplicasEx GDB_AttrRules GDB_JnConnRules GDB_SpatialRefs GDB_CodedDomains GDB_ObjectClasses GDB_Subtypes GDB_DefaultValues GDB_RangeDomains GDB_Toolboxes GDB_Domains GDB_RasterCatalogs GDB_TopoClasses GDB_EdgeConnRules GDB_RelClasses GDB_TopoRules GDB_ExtensionDatasets GDB_RelRules GDB_Topologies GDB_Extensions GDB_ReleaseInfo GDB_UserMetadata GDB_FeatureClasses GDB_ReplicaDatasets GDB_ValidRules GDB_FeatureDataset GDB_ReplicaLog Ownership GDB_FieldInfo GDB_Replicas Ownership_Shape_IndexI've no idea what the GDB_ prefix is supposed to mean. The Bureau
apparently does not have these data on their ESRI GIS or we'd see .shp or
.e00 files rather than .mdb files.Rich
Hi Rich,
Actually, your file is a topological database. I work with this information from the BLM in Nevada regularly. On the Nevada GIS website, they have some of their files in both .mdb and shapefile. I go to the shapefiles because of the very issue you are encountering with a closed file format. Your land status columns are different than the Nevada specific ones, but this particular file is meant to represent the managing agency or ownership status of lands for the area covered. I'm not sure what value the database has without the topology.
Here is the link to the Nevada BLM GIS webpage:
http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/prog/more_programs/geographic_sciences/gis/geospatial_data.html
Regards,
John
This file is very likely an ESRI Personal Geodatabase that, in ArcGIS
8 and 9 was build on top of MS Access mdb files. Beginning on Arc 9 (I
believed), ESRI came up with a new geodatabase format called File
Geodatabase, that is kept as a directory structure in your harddrive.
Anyway, it appears as thou OGR driver can read Personal Geodatabases
but you need to set up an ODBC driver and some other things. I've
never done this myself so I don't know if it works. Check the PGeo
instruction on OGR.
http://www.gdal.org/ogr/drv_pgeo.html
Cheers and good luck
Daniel
On Tue, Jan 11, 2011 at 8:05 PM, John C. Tull <jctull@gmail.com> wrote:
On Jan 11, 2011, at 1:54 PM, Rich Shepard wrote:
On Tue, 11 Jan 2011, John C. Tull wrote:
Did it preserve spatial topology for you? I was able to successfully
convert an mdb to sqlite, but it does not have any geographic reference.
This is fine for extracting data tables, but seems to sacrifice the value
of a spatial database, unless there are fields representing coordinates
for each table row.John,
I've no idea. I'm only unzipping BLM data files now. I assume that Access
has no topology as it's a flatfile database that could be used as a front
end to SQL-Server.The file I have is for land status (i.e., ownership) and the SQLite tables
are:sqlite> .tab
GDB_AnnoSymbols GDB_GeomColumns GDB_ReplicasEx GDB_AttrRules GDB_JnConnRules GDB_SpatialRefs GDB_CodedDomains GDB_ObjectClasses GDB_Subtypes GDB_DefaultValues GDB_RangeDomains GDB_Toolboxes GDB_Domains GDB_RasterCatalogs GDB_TopoClasses GDB_EdgeConnRules GDB_RelClasses GDB_TopoRules GDB_ExtensionDatasets GDB_RelRules GDB_Topologies GDB_Extensions GDB_ReleaseInfo GDB_UserMetadata GDB_FeatureClasses GDB_ReplicaDatasets GDB_ValidRules GDB_FeatureDataset GDB_ReplicaLog Ownership GDB_FieldInfo GDB_Replicas Ownership_Shape_IndexI've no idea what the GDB_ prefix is supposed to mean. The Bureau
apparently does not have these data on their ESRI GIS or we'd see .shp or
.e00 files rather than .mdb files.Rich
Hi Rich,
Actually, your file is a topological database. I work with this information from the BLM in Nevada regularly. On the Nevada GIS website, they have some of their files in both .mdb and shapefile. I go to the shapefiles because of the very issue you are encountering with a closed file format. Your land status columns are different than the Nevada specific ones, but this particular file is meant to represent the managing agency or ownership status of lands for the area covered. I'm not sure what value the database has without the topology.
Here is the link to the Nevada BLM GIS webpage:
http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/prog/more_programs/geographic_sciences/gis/geospatial_data.htmlRegards,
John_______________________________________________
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try the procedure of
http://geospaced.blogspot.com/2009/12/converting-mdb-to-spatialite.html
Converting an mdb to spatialite with http://mdbtools.sourceforge.net/ MDB
Tools
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I don't see an obvious v.in.<whatever> appropriate for .mdb files. What
should I use for this?
Any idea how many feature classes are in the geodatabase? Would it be
possible to ask BLM to export the feature classes out as shapefiles?
Just an idea...
Mark
On Wed, 12 Jan 2011, Mark Seibel wrote:
Any idea how many feature classes are in the geodatabase?
Mark,
Nope.
Would it be possible to ask BLM to export the feature classes out as
shapefiles?
It would be possible to ask but highly unlikely that they'd do it.
Rich