Ok, so I know that it is important to copy all files of an ESRI shapefile in Windows Explorer in order to send it to another user. Question: What are the files (at least five) of an ESRI Shapefile that need to be copied ??. Thank you in advance!

[nolumanyanocamagu]

Ok, so I know that it is important to copy all files of an ESRI shapefile in Windows Explorer in order to send it to another user. Question: What are the files (at least five) of an ESRI Shapefile that need to be copied ??. Thank you in advance!

[JoeBorgione]

Lets say your shapefile is called centerlines.  Look for all the files called centerlines.*

The easiest thing to so is export your feature class to an empty folder and then zip the folder.  I usually name the folder something like ToWhoGetsIt or DataFromJoe or something that makes easy sense.

[ChrisDonohue__GISP · Accepted solution]

There are three required files for a shapefile.  In Windows Explorer, look for the following extensions after your shapefile name:

• .dbf  (dbase file, i.e. the attributes)
• .shx  (index file that connects the .dbf to the .shp)
• .shp  (geometry)

Then there are several that are nice to have, but are not always available.  One example:  .prj file (projection file)

ESRI Shapefile - components list

To ensure that you are sending all the components of a shapefile, I would do as jborgion suggested and Zip them, then send the Zip file to the other user.

Chris Donohue, GISP

[DanPatterson_Retired]

Shapefile - Wikipedia according to the wiki, google link and zip for sure.  splitting geometry and attributes is pretty standard practice, moving files around and archiving aka zipping is pretty standard computing practice.  One tip.... make sure that you have the ability to see all file extensions in File Explorer...sometimes your operating system or user preferences have this set to hide them.  Then look at packages

Creating a map package—Help | ArcGIS for Desktop 

Package Map—Help | ArcGIS for Desktop 

[nolumanyanocamagu]

Thank you guys, you helped me a lot !