Cannot add ArcInfo coverage files

[AhmadAl-Hanbali]

Hi,

I am trying to add ArcInfo coverage files into an ArcMap or at least preview the files within an ArcCatalog but I couldn't. I always receive a message says "Error opening feature class". When I used another computer to open the files, they were opened properly. Both computers have the same ArcGIS 10 software with Spatial Analyst extensions installed.

The strange thing is that in my computer I see several INFO tables with unrecognized characters, which I think they cause not to open the coverage files, but in the other computer these INFO tables do not appear, and the coverage files were opened without any problem.

I attached a snapshot of the error, and I hope someone can find a solution.

Thanks in advance.

Ahmad

[JohnSobetzer]

If Windows Explorer was used to copy the coverages from one computer to another, or otherwise move them around, the coverages can fail because the associated INFO folder isn't present or properly updated.  ArcCatalog should be used to move the coverages, or the coverages should be converted to e00 files, then moved (by Windows Explorer or ArcCatalog), then imported back to coverages.  So you might use ArcCatalog to delete the coverages on the machine where they are failing, and then use it again to copy the coverages on the computer that are functioning properly or to create the e00s to move over to where they failed.

One complication.  Sometimes even ArcCatalog doesn't get rid of an INFO table properly so if copying the coverage fails you might look for a table that has the same name in ArcCatalog, perhaps with an xcode extension, and delete that, refresh ArcCatalog and then try to copy.

[AhmadAl-Hanbali]

Thanks John for your reply.

The problem is that even the original data that is available in the CD shows exactly similar to what is available in my hard disk drive. Even if I used ArcCatalog I cannot do any copy of the original data to my hard drive, since the INFO tables cause problems to that files.

But, if I used another computer, the INFO files which cause problems disappear, and the files can be opened properly, whether the source is the original CD or my HDD.

I think the problem is not in the data, it is something related to my computer's operating system, which is Windows Vista. Anyway, I will use the other computer to convert the data to geodatabase. I think it may solve the problem.

Thank you again.