Bathy data import

[RousseauBraga]

Hi all,

Apologies if this is in the wrong thread. I'm new to ArcGIS and a project has landed on my desk. I need to map xyz bathymetry data.
The files have the following extensions.

*.dat
*.ddf
*.des
*.dfn

Does anyone have suggestions as to how to get these files into Arcmap 10.1?

Do I need to take the dat file and convert to csv or txt and use add data xy?

The files are huge with over a million points...

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Best regards

[MikeWilburn]

Hi Rousseau,

If you open any of those files with a text editor, do any of them have the following formatting: , i.e. below?[INDENT]
-61.9972291667 46.8411447222 -64.23
-61.9927375000 46.8411447222 -64.5
-61.9882461111 46.8411447222 -64.78
-61.9837544444 46.8411447222 -64.93
-61.9792627778 46.8411447222 -64.97
-61.9747713889 46.8411447222 -64.72
-61.9702797222 46.8411447222 -63.99
-61.9657880556 46.8411447222 -60.0
-61.9612966667 46.8411447222 -63.55

[/INDENT]
If so, using the ASCII 3D to Feature Class tool in the 3D Analyst toolbox should provide a way to bring them into ArcGIS. Please let me know if this works for you and/or if you have any additional questions, feel free to email me at mwilburn@esri.com.

Cheers,
Mike