script to convert XML to shapefile

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06-13-2012 01:47 PM
IreneDaniel
New Contributor
Hi
please does anyone know where I can get a script to convert my xml file into ESRI shapefile?
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2 Replies
NobbirAhmed
Esri Regular Contributor
The XML file only stores the metadata of a shapefile. For example, the schema (fields and their types) of the table. Features are not stored in the XML file. You can read through this help topic to find more information:

http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisdesktop/10.0/help/index.html#//002t0000000m000000

I found this table important (note the 3rd column - yes means the file is required):
[TABLE="class: table"].shp
The main file that stores the
feature geometry. No attributes are stored in this file�??only geometry.
Yes
.shx
A companion file to the .shp
that stores the position of individual feature IDs in the .shp file.
Yes
.dbf
The dBASE table that stores the
attribute information of features.
Yes
.sbn
and .sbx
Files that store the spatial
index of the features.
No
.atx
Created for each dBASE attribute
index created in ArcCatalog.
No
.ixs
and .mxs
Geocoding index for read-write
shapefiles.
No
.prj
The file that stores the
coordinate system information.
No
.xml
Metadata for ArcGIS; stores
information about the shapefile.
No

[/TABLE]


In short, you may not create the shapefile just from one xml file 😞 You can try exploring the Schematics tools.
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ermiastesfamariam
New Contributor II
What document format is you XML (Atom/GeoRSS, GML, KML, etc...)? There are hundreds of document formats using XML syntax.
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