Novus Convert
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Data format

SHP converter

A .shp file is the geometry member of an ESRI Shapefile dataset. It is never the whole dataset by itself: a same-stem .shx indexes geometry records, a .dbf carries attributes, and a .prj may describe the coordinate reference system.

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Drop SHP files here

Batch files can each use a different output. Nothing uploads for local conversions.

Working inputs include camera RAW, browser-local audio/video, PDF, CBZ/CBR comics, office documents, ebooks, markup, 3D models, structured text, images, and archives.

Where SHP comes from

Esri published the Shapefile technical description in the 1990s alongside ArcView. Its simple file set became a lowest common denominator for desktop GIS, government open data and field mapping. GeoPackage and GeoJSON solve many of its limitations, but the format remains widespread because almost every GIS tool can exchange it.

How SHP works

  • SHP and SHX use a mixed-endian 100-byte header: file management fields are big-endian while version, shape type and bounds are little-endian.
  • SHX records contain offsets and content lengths measured in 16-bit words and must agree exactly with the SHP record stream.
  • DBF records align by order with geometry records; deleted rows or count mismatches make that relationship ambiguous.
  • The bounded local route accepts 2D Point shape type 1 with non-null consecutive records and at most 100,000 features.
  • Coordinates are treated as longitude and latitude; an uploaded PRJ must explicitly describe unprojected WGS 84.

When to use SHP

  • Opening a public-data point layer
  • Combining SHP geometry and DBF properties into GeoJSON
  • Exporting point attributes and coordinates to CSV
  • Packaging normalized GeoJSON, KML and CSV outputs together

Strengths and limitations

Strengths

  • Extremely broad GIS compatibility
  • Simple indexed record structure
  • Geometry and tabular attributes can be inspected independently

Limitations

  • One dataset is split across several easy-to-lose files
  • DBF field names and types are constrained
  • Coordinate meaning is unsafe when the PRJ is missing
  • The format has limited support for modern metadata and text encodings

Compatibility

ArcGIS, QGIS, GDAL, GeoServer and most desktop GIS tools read Shapefiles. Novus Convert accepts a bounded WGS 84 Point dataset only when the complete same-stem SHP, SHX and DBF set is uploaded as a folder or ZIP; PRJ is optional but strictly validated when present. It converts locally to GeoJSON, KML, CSV or a ZIP containing all three plus a manifest.

Point coordinates and live DBF fields are preserved. KML and CSV normalize DBF values to text; GeoJSON and the ZIP's GeoJSON retain supported scalar types.

Convert SHP to another format