

DBF) field specification.įor the zip code example, the resulting layer covers much of the World, including all 50 States, Puerto Rico, the Aleutians, and Guam.How To: Convert a layer package to a shapefile in ArcGIS Desktop SummaryĪ layer package is a zipped folder containing the layer properties and the dataset referenced by a layer. However it will only work with attribute names which fit the shape (i.e. This method has the advantage that it can create a widely used geospatial data format that can be read by most geospatial applications. The new files will receive the name zip_poly.shp, zip_poly.dbf, etc. zip_codes is the name of a new directory which will receive the shapefiles. zip_poly.gdb is the name of the gdb directory to convert. This was executed from the directory with the “. Here is the required command for the above zip code example: ogr2ogr -f "ESRI Shapefile" zip_codes zip_poly.gdb If you do not have it, you can download it from the official GDAL website. GDAL/OGR is typically installed with QGIS as a part of the OSGeo4W package. Note that QGIS cannot import raster data from gdb files.Īlternatively you can convert GDB files to shapefiles using the the ogr2ogr utility. The zipcode data is a vector layer and should import okay.

QGIS can read vector data from these gdb files directly – simply open the GDB file in the QGIS brwoser and drag the required data layer into the Layers window. These store the geo-database that we wish to convert.

lyr” file and a sub-directory with the “. Choose the directory that seems most appropriate (typically the later/higher one). These latter directories will have names like v10 or v106. A typical LPK file will have an esriinfo directory describing the data, and directories for different versions. The Windows version of this utility has a GUI which will readily accept archives with strange extensions. 7z” extension and can be un-archived using the 7-ZIP utility ( 7-Zip for Windows, Linux, Unix). It turns out an LPK file is actually just a 7-ZIP file in disguise. Unfortunately the LPK extension is a proprietary extension not directly supported by other tools, but this post shows you how to convert the format into a Shapefile for use in QGIS and other geospatial systems. the popular North America Postal Areas and Zip Codes datasets. ESRI also have a number of datasets available for free download on their website that use this extension, e.g. ESRI ArcGIS can export compressed geographic files using the ‘LPK’ file extension.
