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Has Anyone found a workaround for Getting shapefiles out of an MDB without Arcmap?

rescobar

I have converted an mdb to an accdb and then connected via ODC. However, I only see tables not the shapefiles I know are there:

I can't figure out how to export these back into shapefile format. I've also tried access the database directly via pyodbc, but have can't find any documentation on how to export anything other than points.

I wondering if there's anyway to export without using arcmap.

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Accepted answers

RClavero

Hello @rescobar, I did some research, and so far, my conclusion is that you are very limited in achieving so without ArcGIS Desktop (ArcMap); Esri explains here why it is not possible in ArcGIS Pro (summarizing = available libraries in x64).

Seems you can achieve so with older 32-bit FME versions (the new 64-bit FME Personal Geodatabase reader based on GDAL comes with some constraints, as the previous doc explains) or I guess you should be able to do similar to FME with the ArcGIS Data Interoperability extension for Pro (knowing this too).

While reading online I also found this Reddit thread offering some alternatives like the GDAL one (although it might come with the same 64-bit FME limitations? I don’t know...).

Other than previously added, I found this Esri Community blog discussion (and the referenced ArcGIS Blog articles) relevant. And it appears there is an Esri ENH open on the topic.

Still, I hope other community members might bring other recommendations.

jcarlson

QGIS is still able to open MDB files. You can open it there, then re-export to a FGDB or Shapefile.

https://docs.qgis.org/3.34/en/docs/user_manual/managing_data_source/opening_data.html

All comments

RClavero

While reading online I also found this Reddit thread offering some alternatives like the GDAL one (although it might come with the same 64-bit FME limitations? I don’t know...).

Other than previously added, I found this Esri Community blog discussion (and the referenced ArcGIS Blog articles) relevant. And it appears there is an Esri ENH open on the topic.

Still, I hope other community members might bring other recommendations.

jcarlson

QGIS is still able to open MDB files. You can open it there, then re-export to a FGDB or Shapefile.

https://docs.qgis.org/3.34/en/docs/user_manual/managing_data_source/opening_data.html

RClavero

Seems I missed a significant one.

RandyKreuziger1

Almost all of our users have moved over to ArcGIS Pro but I'm predicted that my agency will keep a single use copy of ArcCatalog/ArcMap around to the purpose during the new ELA just for viewing personal geodatabases and converting into file geodatabases if needed. We literally have several hundred pgdbs from two decades of using ArcGIS. Just last month a user asked if I could convert some 25 year old Arc/Info coverages into a file geodatabase. Crazy...

Robert_LeClair

@RandyKreuziger1 - whoa! Arc/Info coverage conversion - it can be done using this hack in ArcGIS Pro!

AlfredBaldenweck

Really, the biggest obstacle to getting information from an MDB is whether it is created in Access 97 or not.

If it's not, tools like FME can handle it, but at this point, ArcMap is the only application that can open an Access97 MDB file. (Which makes it EXTRA stinky that the only way you can get ArcMap anymore is with a business license, per a nice Esri employee at the 2024 UC.) ("Only" means not even Access can open it, unless you go back to like Access 2006 and start converting)

Like @jcarlson says, Q will get the job done, but one thing to watch out for is that Q doesn't see Feature Datasets. It sees their contents, but as a structure, it can't see them at all.

I also think Q's handling of rasters in an MDB is kind of screwy, IIRC.

@Robert_LeClair 's tip of ExportFeatures() for coverages is also pretty slick, and I've used it in the past.

@RandyKreuziger1 's point about having to convert 25-year-old coverages is a great example of why Esri needs to add native conversion support to Pro. It's cool that we have FME and/or DataInterop, but the fact of the matter is we shouldn't have to pay extra for an add-on or a third-party application to see our own data. It's fine that Pro doesn't support a coverage's use. What isn't fine is that there is no way to convert it something useable.

Anyway, if anyone has questions about deprecated formats and how to get information out of them, please send me a message.

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