Data can be downloaded from Digimap in a number of different formats for use in various geographical information systems (GIS) software.
The list below will give you guidance on the available formats and what you can do with them.
Required format not there? You may be able to convert from a different format. Have a look at our Table of Data Translators/Converters for guidance.
A format developed by Adobe Systems for vector-based graphics. AI data is designed for Adobe Illustrator but can be imported into many image software suites, including Corel products, FreeHand, Ghostscript, and others.
ArcInfo format is a proprietary binary raster grid format developed by ESRI. The grid defines geographic space as an array of equally sized square grid points arranged in rows and columns. Each grid point stores a numeric value that represents a geographic attribute (such as elevation or land cover) for that point. Each grid cell is referenced by its x,y coordinate location.
A standard binary coding system used to represent characters within a computer. The format consists of a header that specifies the geographic domain and resolution, followed by the actual grid cell values. ASC data can be imported into most GIS software, including Esri ArcGIS products, MapInfo, AutoCAD Map3D/Civil3D, GRASS, QGIS and Idrisi.
A widely used format for transferring data between different databases, commonly referred to as CSV format. Data is stored as simple text which can be imported in most database and GIS software and read in any text editor. Each value is enclosed in speech marks and each field separated by a coma. The end of a row of data is identified by a carriage return. The first line of the file usually contains the field names; the remaining line contain the data, e.g. this example for a Code-Point® dataset.
"NHS_Authority", "Domestic_Delivery_Points", "District"...etc "SS9","33","QP" ...etc
If you choose to download any Gazetteer Plus dataset in CSV format, the tabular data values will be given. This means that putting a CSV file into a GIS will not allow you to display graphic dataset information in a map window, you will only be able to view the attributes and their values (e.g, attributes such as 'Placename' or 'Feat_T_der') in a table or spreadsheet. The Gazetteer Plus dataset does contain British National Grid and Geographic x and y co-ordinates values which can be converted to feature points using a GIS.
An industry standard ASCII text based interchange file format used to transfer data between CAD and GIS applications. DXF data can be imported into most CAD and GIS software, including Esri ArcGIS products, MapInfo, MapMaker, Cartology and Idrisi.
Native binary format for AutoCAD but can also be read by many other CAD and GIS software.
ESRI File Geodatabase format.
A GeoPackage is an open, non-proprietary, platform-independent and standards-based data format for geographic information system implemented as a SQLite database container.
GML has been designed by the OpenGIS Consortium (OGC) to provide an open spatial data schema to enable interoperability between independent GIS applications and with internet GIS in mind. GML is based on XML (Extensible Markup Language), which was designed to improve the functionality of the Web by providing a more flexible way of identifying and describing information (for more information on XML, see the World Wide Web Consortium website). GML can be used to store and display geographic data in a GIS or just to transfer spatial data from one system to another.
OS MasterMap GML is a specific 'flavour' of GML and so wherever possible GML convertors built specially for OS MasterMap should be used. There are built in OS MasterMap convertors in ESRI Productivity Suite, AutoCAD Map 3D and MapInfo Professional.
IMPORTANT: VectorMap Local and MasterMap are both supplied in GML format, but the data translator/converter InterpOSe is only able to process MasterMap GML data. Please refer to Digimap's Table of Data Translators/Converters for more information.
Back to topMapInfo GIS proprietary data interchange format, designed for exchanging data between information systems. MIF/MID files can be imported into MapInfo to create MapInfo TABs.
NTF is a format designed specifically for the transfer of spatial information. NTF originally stood for National Transfer Format, and was a de facto standard created in 1985 by a working group within the geographic industry.
In 1992, it was revised to Version 2.0 and adopted as a de jure standard. It is now officially called BS 7567 "Electronic transfer of geographic information (NTF)".
For further information about NTF, see the What is NTF? page under Data Formats.
A widely used format for ESRI vector data. A shapefile comprises a collection of files with *.shp, *.shx, *.dbf representing core extensions. Shapefiles describe spatial geometries comprising points, polylines or polygons which represent various features displayed in a Geographical Information System (GIS).
TAB is a popular geospatial vector data format developed by MapInfo. A spatial dataset in MapInfo comprises a number of files with *.tab, *.map, *.id and *.dat extensions. The TAB file contains information about the other files that make up the dataset and the user only interacts with the TAB file.
A common public domain image file format that is supported by many graphic applications. TIF files can also represent raster and image datasets that can be imported into ArcMap, MapInfo and several other Geographical Information Systems (GIS).
Some datasets such as VectorMap Local Raster and VectorMap District Raster are GeoTIFFs, these contain the additional information that is normally kept in the associated TFW file in the TIF itself. Care must be taken when using these files in graphics software as it may remove or corrupt the georeferencing information. Never edit a GeoTIFF in graphics software if you want to use it again in a GIS, unless you are sure it will not corrupt the geo information.
The TIF data in Digimap is compressed using the LZW lossless compression scheme that reduces the file size without introducing visual degradation to the graphic.
This is a small plain text file that comes with many of the TIF format data; it contains all the information needed to georeference TIFF map images. It must be kept in the same folder and have the same name as the TIF file it is associated with. TIF files will not display in the correct location relative to other data without the correct TFW file.
A widely used format for transferring data between different databases. Data is stored as simple text which can be imported in most database and GIS software and read in any text editor. Plain text files for the Gazetteer Download are colon separated and can be imported into spreadsheet and tabular software packages that will convert and separate the field names and data.
A widely used format for transferring data between different databases. Data is stored as simple text which can be imported in most database and GIS software and read in any text editor. Plain text files for the Gazetteer Download are comma separated and can be imported into spreadsheet and tabular software packages that will convert and separate the field names and data.
A widely used format for transferring data between different databases. Data is stored as simple text which can be imported in most database and GIS software and read in any text editor. Each value is separated by a space tab. The first line of the file usually contains the field names; the remaining lines contain the data.
A widely used proprietary binary file format for displaying tabular data in spreadsheets developed by Microsoft.
A simple, very flexible text format derived from SGML (ISO 8879). Originally designed to meet the challenges of large-scale electronic publishing, XML is also playing an increasingly important role in the exchange of a wide variety of data on the Web and elsewhere.
A format commonly used in to load terrain surfaces in CAD applications. The format consists of three columns of data, each line containing the X and Y coordinates of the center of the cell and the value of the cell.
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