ImportMIF()

Summary

Imports features from an MIF file into a geographic file.

Syntax

ImportMIF(string filename, string new_db_name, string layer_type, array options)

Argument	Contents
filename	The path and file name of the file to import
new_db_name	The path and file name of the new geographic file
layer_type	The type of features to import: "Point", "Line", or "Area"

Option	Type	Contents
Entity Types	Array	An array of strings listing the types of entities to import; omit this option to import all entities of a type consistent with the layer type specified
Fields	Varies	The string "All" to import all attributes, or an array of attribute field names indicating the ones to be imported; omit this option to import none of the attributes; the Table Filename option is required if this option is used
Label	String	A descriptive label for the geographic file
Layer Name	String	The name of the layer in the geographic file; this option is required to hard link the attribute table
Median Split	Boolean	If "True" special handling insures that entities which cross the 180 degree longitude line are imported properly; if "False" (the default), no special handling is invoked
NAD Conversion	3 strings	Input datum, output datum, and conversion file (if needed); the input and output datums should be different
Node Layer Name	String	The desired name for the endpoint layer (only when importing a line layer)
Optimize	Boolean	Whether to optimize the geographic file automatically after the import (defaults to "True")
Projection	String, array	The projection name and the array of options; this information is provided automatically by GetMIFInfo() for files that are in world coordinates
Table Filename	String	The path and name of the file in which attributes are stored; the file extension must be .BIN, .CSV, .DBF, .TXT or .MID; this option is required if the Fields option is used
Topology	Boolean	For area layers, a value of "True" indicates that the resulting geographic file should have true area topology, which involves substantial complex processing. A value of "False" means that boundary edges can be duplicated, so that larger files can be imported. This option does not apply to point and line layers
Transform	Array	Array indicating the transformation to apply to coordinates in the file. This can have three forms:1. An array of two or more four-element arrays containing local and world coordinates for control points, for example, {{real localX1, real localY1, real longitude1, real latitude1}, ...}2. An array of four elements - {real X_multiplier, real Y_multiplier, real X_offset, real Y_offset}3. Center and Extent transform {c1_x, c1_y, width_1, c2_x, c2_y, width_2}where center is shifted from (c1_x,c1_y) to (c2_x,c2_y), and vector of length width_1 out of c_1 becomes a vector of length width_2 out of c_2.

Notes

Attribute data stored in the MID file that is associated with the MIF is imported automatically if the Fields option is specified.
The attribute table is hard linked to the geography if it exists and Layer Name has been specified.
For more details on the NAD Conversion option, see Datum Conversions.
For more details on the Projection option, see Using Projections and Coordinate Systems.
If no transformation is applied, longitude and latitude coordinates can be integers with six implied decimal places (millionths of a degree). For more details, see Transformations.

Example

ImportMIF("c:\\miffiles\\sample.mif", "streets.dbd", "Line", {

{"Label", "Street Centerline File"},

{"Layer Name", "Centerline"},

{"Optimize", "True"},

{"Projection", "utm", {"zone=12", "units=m"}},

{"NAD Conversion", "NAD27", "NAD83",}

})

Error Codes

Error Type	Meaning
Error	The file is not a valid MIF file
NotFound	There is no file by this name, or there are no entities in the designated layers of the desired type