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 ensures 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 specifying the coordinate transformation to apply to the file. This array can take one of three forms: (1) Control Point Transform an array of two or more four-element arrays containing local and world coordinates for control points. Example: {{real localX1, real localY1, real longitude1, real latitude1}, ...}. (2) Affine Transform 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 the center shifts from (c1_x, c1_y) to (c2_x, c2_y), and a vector of length width_1 from c1 becomes a vector of length width_2 from c2.

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

See Also

Function Summary
GetMIFInfo() Collects summary information on the contents of an MIF file