# Best way to create a new Tab layer

**URL:** <https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/best-way-to-create-a-new-tab-layer/1927>\
**Category:** WinForms\
**Created:** [March 15, 2012, 10:01am UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/best-way-to-create-a-new-tab-layer/1927 "2012-03-15T10:01:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 18\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ioannis](https://community.thinkgeo.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ad7895/32.png) [@Ioannis](https://community.thinkgeo.com/u/Ioannis)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 10:01am UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/best-way-to-create-a-new-tab-layer/1927/1 "2012-03-15T10:01:27Z")

</div>

Hi,

I&nbsp;have&nbsp;been&nbsp;looking&nbsp;for&nbsp;a&nbsp;straight&nbsp;forward&nbsp;way&nbsp;to&nbsp;create&nbsp;a&nbsp;TabFeatureLayer.&nbsp;Till&nbsp;now&nbsp;the&nbsp;best&nbsp;option&nbsp;I&nbsp;have&nbsp;found&nbsp;is:

`TabFeatureLayer.CreateTabFile(fileName, path, New List(Of Feature))`  
  
Where&nbsp;the&nbsp;"new&nbsp;List(of&nbsp;Feature)"&nbsp;is&nbsp;an&nbsp;empty&nbsp;list.&nbsp;However,&nbsp;if&nbsp;after&nbsp;this&nbsp;call&nbsp;I&nbsp;issue&nbsp;a:  
  
`TabFeatureLayer.BuildIndexFile(<fileName>);`  
I&nbsp;am&nbsp;getting&nbsp;an&nbsp;exception&nbsp;regarding&nbsp;"Not&nbsp;supported&nbsp;TAB&nbsp;text&nbsp;format"&nbsp;(or&nbsp;something&nbsp;like&nbsp;this).  
I&nbsp;assume&nbsp;that&nbsp;since&nbsp;the&nbsp;List\<feature\>&nbsp;is&nbsp;empty&nbsp;the&nbsp;Tab&nbsp;factory&nbsp;"assumes"&nbsp;that  
&nbsp;&nbsp;this&nbsp;is&nbsp;a&nbsp;featureless&nbsp;&nbsp;layer(!).&nbsp;Of&nbsp;course&nbsp;this&nbsp;is&nbsp;not&nbsp;the&nbsp;case&nbsp;and&nbsp;I&nbsp;am&nbsp;questioning  
&nbsp;as&nbsp;to&nbsp;what&nbsp;is&nbsp;the&nbsp;best&nbsp;way&nbsp;&nbsp;to&nbsp;start&nbsp;a&nbsp;new&nbsp;Tab&nbsp;layer&nbsp;when&nbsp;you&nbsp;have&nbsp;no&nbsp;features&nbsp;at  
&nbsp;hand.&nbsp;Something&nbsp;like&nbsp;the&nbsp;equivalent&nbsp;of:&nbsp;&nbsp;`ShapeFileFeatureLayer.CreateShapeFile(ShapeFileType.Polygon, <fileName>, <ShpDataBaseColumns>);`&nbsp;&nbsp;would&nbsp;have&nbsp;been&nbsp;more&nbsp;appropriate.  
&nbsp;And&nbsp;a&nbsp;final&nbsp;point,&nbsp;in&nbsp;one&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;previous&nbsp;chats&nbsp;we&nbsp;had&nbsp;&nbsp;established&nbsp;that&nbsp;when&nbsp;dealing&nbsp;with  
&nbsp;&nbsp;ShapeFiles,&nbsp;if&nbsp;you&nbsp;want&nbsp;to&nbsp;get&nbsp;One&nbsp;feature&nbsp;based&nbsp;on&nbsp;&nbsp;its&nbsp;Column&nbsp;value,&nbsp;you&nbsp;should&nbsp;go&nbsp;through  
&nbsp;&nbsp;the&nbsp;GeoDbf&nbsp;class&nbsp;to&nbsp;access&nbsp;the&nbsp;DBF&nbsp;file&nbsp;etc&nbsp;etc&nbsp;etc,&nbsp;otherwise&nbsp;the&nbsp;default&nbsp;FeatureSource&nbsp;  
&nbsp;method&nbsp;is&nbsp;loading&nbsp;the&nbsp;layer&nbsp;into&nbsp;the&nbsp;memory&nbsp;with&nbsp;&nbsp;disastrous&nbsp;results&nbsp;if&nbsp;the&nbsp;file&nbsp;is&nbsp;big.&nbsp;  
&nbsp;What&nbsp;is&nbsp;the&nbsp;equivalent&nbsp;for&nbsp;Tab&nbsp;files?&nbsp;Or&nbsp;does&nbsp;the&nbsp;&nbsp;GetFeaturesByColumnValue&nbsp;works&nbsp;correctly&nbsp;  
&nbsp;in&nbsp;this&nbsp;implementation?  
&nbsp;&nbsp;Kind&nbsp;Regards&nbsp;Yiannis&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\</feature\>

&nbsp;

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ioannis](https://community.thinkgeo.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ad7895/32.png) [@Ioannis](https://community.thinkgeo.com/u/Ioannis)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 12:23pm UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/best-way-to-create-a-new-tab-layer/1927/2 "2012-03-19T12:23:49Z")

</div>

Hello,&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Do&nbsp;we&nbsp;have&nbsp;any&nbsp;update&nbsp;on&nbsp;the&nbsp;Tab&nbsp;files&nbsp;issue?&nbsp;Just&nbsp;to&nbsp;remind&nbsp;you&nbsp;that&nbsp;this&nbsp;topic&nbsp;([gis.thinkgeo.com/Support/DiscussionForums/tabid/143/aff/21/aft/9750/afv/topic/Default.aspx](http://gis.thinkgeo.com/Support/DiscussionForums/tabid/143/aff/21/aft/9750/afv/topic/Default.aspx))&nbsp;also&nbsp;has&nbsp;gone&nbsp;unanswered&nbsp;for&nbsp;quite&nbsp;some&nbsp;time&nbsp;and&nbsp;that&nbsp;has&nbsp;started&nbsp;causing&nbsp;us&nbsp;some&nbsp;issues&nbsp;here.&nbsp;Just&nbsp;to&nbsp;recap&nbsp;the&nbsp;issues&nbsp;are&nbsp;as&nbsp;follows:&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;1.&nbsp;Creating&nbsp;tab&nbsp;layers&nbsp;does&nbsp;seem&nbsp;to&nbsp;require&nbsp;an&nbsp;empty&nbsp;list&nbsp;of&nbsp;Features&nbsp;that&nbsp;causes&nbsp;issues&nbsp;with&nbsp;indexes&nbsp;  
&nbsp;2.&nbsp;Tab&nbsp;layers&nbsp;seems&nbsp;to&nbsp;be&nbsp;created&nbsp;without&nbsp;any&nbsp;projection&nbsp;information&nbsp;and&nbsp;there&nbsp;is&nbsp;no&nbsp;way&nbsp;to&nbsp;set&nbsp;it.&nbsp;As&nbsp;a&nbsp;result&nbsp;opening&nbsp;tab&nbsp;files&nbsp;from&nbsp;other&nbsp;software&nbsp;is&nbsp;not&nbsp;a&nbsp;success&nbsp;story&nbsp;always.&nbsp;  
&nbsp;3.&nbsp;Tab&nbsp;layers&nbsp;seems&nbsp;to&nbsp;load&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;memory&nbsp;when&nbsp;searching&nbsp;by&nbsp;column&nbsp;value.&nbsp;Any&nbsp;work&nbsp;around&nbsp;like&nbsp;the&nbsp;one&nbsp;for&nbsp;Shp&nbsp;layers?&nbsp;  
&nbsp;4.&nbsp;Textual&nbsp;Tab&nbsp;layers&nbsp;are&nbsp;not&nbsp;supported&nbsp;(seems&nbsp;to&nbsp;be&nbsp;the&nbsp;root&nbsp;of&nbsp;issue&nbsp;1)&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Any&nbsp;help&nbsp;will&nbsp;be&nbsp;really&nbsp;appreciated.&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Kind&nbsp;Regards&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Yiannis

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Johnny](https://community.thinkgeo.com/user_avatar/community.thinkgeo.com/johnny/32/19044_2.png) [@Johnny](https://community.thinkgeo.com/u/Johnny)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 5:21am UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/best-way-to-create-a-new-tab-layer/1927/3 "2012-03-23T05:21:08Z")

</div>

Hi&nbsp;Ioannis,&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Please&nbsp;check&nbsp;the&nbsp;answers&nbsp;below:&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;1.&nbsp;It&nbsp;has&nbsp;been&nbsp;fixed&nbsp;in&nbsp;TabFeatureSource.&nbsp;Please&nbsp;get&nbsp;the&nbsp;latest&nbsp;version&nbsp;5.5.133.0&nbsp;or&nbsp;higher&nbsp;from&nbsp;[helpdesk.thinkgeo.com](http://helpdesk.thinkgeo.com)&nbsp;with&nbsp;your&nbsp;own&nbsp;account.&nbsp;  
&nbsp;2.&nbsp;Thanks&nbsp;for&nbsp;your&nbsp;suggestion,&nbsp;we&nbsp;are&nbsp;focus&nbsp;on&nbsp;the&nbsp;development&nbsp;of&nbsp;it,&nbsp;please&nbsp;keep&nbsp;an&nbsp;eye&nbsp;on&nbsp;the&nbsp;thread.&nbsp;  
&nbsp;3.&nbsp;It&nbsp;has&nbsp;been&nbsp;fixed&nbsp;now,&nbsp;please&nbsp;get&nbsp;fix&nbsp;from&nbsp;the&nbsp;latest&nbsp;version&nbsp;  
&nbsp;4.&nbsp;We&nbsp;are&nbsp;still&nbsp;doing&nbsp;the&nbsp;investigation,&nbsp;but&nbsp;seems&nbsp;like&nbsp;it’s&nbsp;complicated&nbsp;for&nbsp;us&nbsp;to&nbsp;support&nbsp;it&nbsp;now,&nbsp;anyway,&nbsp;we&nbsp;will&nbsp;keep&nbsp;on&nbsp;it&nbsp;and&nbsp;any&nbsp;progress&nbsp;will&nbsp;let&nbsp;you&nbsp;know.&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Any&nbsp;question&nbsp;or&nbsp;problems&nbsp;please&nbsp;let&nbsp;me&nbsp;know.&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Thanks,&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Johnny&nbsp;&nbsp;

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Johnny](https://community.thinkgeo.com/user_avatar/community.thinkgeo.com/johnny/32/19044_2.png) [@Johnny](https://community.thinkgeo.com/u/Johnny)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 5:15am UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/best-way-to-create-a-new-tab-layer/1927/4 "2012-03-26T05:15:12Z")

</div>

&nbsp;

Hi&nbsp;Ioannis,  
Please&nbsp;check&nbsp;the&nbsp;answer&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;question:  
_Tab&nbsp;layers&nbsp;seems&nbsp;to&nbsp;be&nbsp;created&nbsp;without&nbsp;any&nbsp;projection&nbsp;information&nbsp;and&nbsp;there&nbsp;is&nbsp;no&nbsp;way&nbsp;to&nbsp;set&nbsp;it.&nbsp;As&nbsp;a&nbsp;result&nbsp;opening&nbsp;tab&nbsp;files&nbsp;from&nbsp;other&nbsp;software&nbsp;is&nbsp;not&nbsp;a&nbsp;success&nbsp;story&nbsp;always_  
We&nbsp;have&nbsp;added&nbsp;two&nbsp;methods&nbsp;“GetCurrentProjection”&nbsp;and&nbsp;“SetCurrentProjection”&nbsp;to&nbsp;“TabFeatureSource”,&nbsp;and&nbsp;add&nbsp;a&nbsp;new&nbsp;class&nbsp;TABProjInfo&nbsp;which&nbsp;represents&nbsp;the&nbsp;projection&nbsp;used&nbsp;in&nbsp;.tab&nbsp;file.&nbsp;Here&nbsp;is&nbsp;some&nbsp;code&nbsp;about&nbsp;how&nbsp;to&nbsp;use&nbsp;it:  
**GetCurrentProjection:**  
TABProjInfo&nbsp;proj&nbsp;=&nbsp;tabFeatureLayer.FeatureSource.GetCurrentProjection();  
**SetCurrentProjection:**  
TABProjInfo&nbsp;proj&nbsp;=&nbsp;new&nbsp;TABProjInfo([parameters]);  
  
Int&nbsp;projID&nbsp;=&nbsp;23,&nbsp;ellipseSoidID=77,&nbsp;unitsID=&nbsp;1,&nbsp;projParams&nbsp;=&nbsp;null;  
  
tabFeatureLayer.FeatureSource.SetCurrentProjection(proj,&nbsp;projID,&nbsp;ellipseSoidID,&nbsp;unitsID,&nbsp;projParams);  
Please&nbsp;have&nbsp;a&nbsp;try&nbsp;and&nbsp;any&nbsp;questions&nbsp;please&nbsp;let&nbsp;us&nbsp;know.  
Now&nbsp;we&nbsp;are&nbsp;still&nbsp;working&nbsp;on&nbsp;the&nbsp;4th&nbsp;item,&nbsp;it’s&nbsp;a&nbsp;bit&nbsp;complicated&nbsp;and&nbsp;maybe&nbsp;we&nbsp;need&nbsp;about&nbsp;3&nbsp;more&nbsp;days&nbsp;for&nbsp;it.  
&nbsp;  
Thanks,  
Johnny  
&nbsp;  
&nbsp;

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Johnny](https://community.thinkgeo.com/user_avatar/community.thinkgeo.com/johnny/32/19044_2.png) [@Johnny](https://community.thinkgeo.com/u/Johnny)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 5:17am UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/best-way-to-create-a-new-tab-layer/1927/5 "2012-03-26T05:17:10Z")

</div>

Hi&nbsp;Ioannis,&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Just&nbsp;remind&nbsp;you&nbsp;that&nbsp;please&nbsp;make&nbsp;sure&nbsp;get&nbsp;the&nbsp;latest&nbsp;version&nbsp;5.5.136.0&nbsp;or&nbsp;higher&nbsp;from&nbsp;[helpdesk.thinkgeo.com](http://helpdesk.thinkgeo.com)&nbsp;with&nbsp;your&nbsp;own&nbsp;account,&nbsp;and&nbsp;then&nbsp;have&nbsp;a&nbsp;try.&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Thanks,&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Johnny

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Johnny](https://community.thinkgeo.com/user_avatar/community.thinkgeo.com/johnny/32/19044_2.png) [@Johnny](https://community.thinkgeo.com/u/Johnny)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/best-way-to-create-a-new-tab-layer/1927/6 "2012-03-26T21:26:13Z")

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Hi&nbsp;Ioannis,&nbsp;  
&nbsp;We&nbsp;have&nbsp;got&nbsp;a&nbsp;way&nbsp;to&nbsp;support&nbsp;the&nbsp;Textual&nbsp;.tab&nbsp;file,&nbsp;but&nbsp;before&nbsp;integrating&nbsp;into&nbsp;our&nbsp;products,&nbsp;can&nbsp;you&nbsp;send&nbsp;us&nbsp;a&nbsp;sample&nbsp;data&nbsp;for&nbsp;test?&nbsp;We&nbsp;just&nbsp;would&nbsp;like&nbsp;to&nbsp;make&nbsp;sure&nbsp;the&nbsp;way&nbsp;is&nbsp;correct.&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Looking&nbsp;forward&nbsp;to&nbsp;your&nbsp;sample&nbsp;data.&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Thanks,&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Johnny&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ioannis](https://community.thinkgeo.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ad7895/32.png) [@Ioannis](https://community.thinkgeo.com/u/Ioannis)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 3:11am UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/best-way-to-create-a-new-tab-layer/1927/7 "2012-04-10T03:11:29Z")

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Hi&nbsp;Johnny,

Thank&nbsp;you&nbsp;for&nbsp;the&nbsp;replay.&nbsp;I&nbsp;was&nbsp;on&nbsp;holidays&nbsp;thus&nbsp;I&nbsp;couldn't&nbsp;answer&nbsp;quick&nbsp;enough.&nbsp;My&nbsp;test&nbsp;data&nbsp;are&nbsp;around&nbsp;35Mb&nbsp;and&nbsp;I&nbsp;wouldn't&nbsp;like&nbsp;to&nbsp;chop&nbsp;them&nbsp;as&nbsp;this&nbsp;may&nbsp;introduce&nbsp;incompatibility&nbsp;issues.&nbsp;Is&nbsp;there&nbsp;any&nbsp;way&nbsp;I&nbsp;can&nbsp;send&nbsp;you&nbsp;a&nbsp;zip&nbsp;file&nbsp;as&nbsp;the&nbsp;forum&nbsp;does&nbsp;not&nbsp;allow&nbsp;such&nbsp;a&nbsp;big&nbsp;file&nbsp;to&nbsp;be&nbsp;uploaded?

Kind&nbsp;Regards

Yiannis

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gary2](https://community.thinkgeo.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@Gary2](https://community.thinkgeo.com/u/Gary2)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 10:08am UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/best-way-to-create-a-new-tab-layer/1927/8 "2012-04-10T10:08:09Z")

</div>

Hello&nbsp;Ioannis,

Thanks&nbsp;for&nbsp;your&nbsp;data,&nbsp;you&nbsp;can&nbsp;send&nbsp;to&nbsp;[forumsupport@thinkgeo.com](mailto:forumsupport@thinkgeo.com).

Regards,

Gary

&nbsp;

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ioannis](https://community.thinkgeo.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ad7895/32.png) [@Ioannis](https://community.thinkgeo.com/u/Ioannis)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 11:04am UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/best-way-to-create-a-new-tab-layer/1927/9 "2012-04-10T11:04:39Z")

</div>

Hi&nbsp;Gary,

The&nbsp;data&nbsp;are&nbsp;on&nbsp;their&nbsp;way&nbsp;via&nbsp;"yousendit.com"&nbsp;as&nbsp;our&nbsp;server&nbsp;couldn't&nbsp;not&nbsp;allow&nbsp;such&nbsp;a&nbsp;big&nbsp;file&nbsp;to&nbsp;be&nbsp;emailed.&nbsp;Please&nbsp;check&nbsp;your&nbsp;spams&nbsp;in&nbsp;case&nbsp;you&nbsp;miss&nbsp;it.

Kind&nbsp;Regards

Yiannis

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gary2](https://community.thinkgeo.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@Gary2](https://community.thinkgeo.com/u/Gary2)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/best-way-to-create-a-new-tab-layer/1927/10 "2012-04-18T17:09:44Z")

</div>

Hello&nbsp;Ioannis,&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Sorry&nbsp;for&nbsp;waiting,&nbsp;we&nbsp;are&nbsp;preparing&nbsp;the&nbsp;6.0&nbsp;release,&nbsp;so&nbsp;it’s&nbsp;really&nbsp;busy&nbsp;these&nbsp;time.&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Thanks&nbsp;for&nbsp;your&nbsp;data,&nbsp;but&nbsp;it’s&nbsp;expired&nbsp;when&nbsp;I&nbsp;try&nbsp;to&nbsp;download&nbsp;it&nbsp;today,&nbsp;could&nbsp;you&nbsp;please&nbsp;re-active&nbsp;it&nbsp;and&nbsp;I&nbsp;will&nbsp;begin&nbsp;working&nbsp;on&nbsp;this&nbsp;as&nbsp;soon&nbsp;as&nbsp;I&nbsp;got&nbsp;the&nbsp;data.&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Regards,&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Gary

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ioannis](https://community.thinkgeo.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ad7895/32.png) [@Ioannis](https://community.thinkgeo.com/u/Ioannis)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 4:14am UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/best-way-to-create-a-new-tab-layer/1927/11 "2012-04-19T04:14:04Z")

</div>

Gary&nbsp;the&nbsp;file&nbsp;is&nbsp;reuploaded:&nbsp;[yousendit.com/download/...V094djlVag](https://www.yousendit.com/download/M3BrbGtBT01KV094djlVag)

Kind&nbsp;Regards

Yiannis

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gary2](https://community.thinkgeo.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@Gary2](https://community.thinkgeo.com/u/Gary2)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/best-way-to-create-a-new-tab-layer/1927/12 "2012-04-19T16:24:16Z")

</div>

Hello&nbsp;Ioannis,&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Thanks&nbsp;for&nbsp;your&nbsp;data,&nbsp;I&nbsp;got&nbsp;the&nbsp;data&nbsp;and&nbsp;we&nbsp;are&nbsp;working&nbsp;on&nbsp;this&nbsp;now.&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Regards,&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Gary

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gary2](https://community.thinkgeo.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@Gary2](https://community.thinkgeo.com/u/Gary2)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 10:20am UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/best-way-to-create-a-new-tab-layer/1927/13 "2012-04-26T10:20:59Z")

</div>

Hello&nbsp;Ioannis,&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Sorry&nbsp;for&nbsp;waiting,&nbsp;there&nbsp;is&nbsp;something&nbsp;wrong&nbsp;with&nbsp;the&nbsp;data,&nbsp;we&nbsp;try&nbsp;it&nbsp;with&nbsp;GlobleMapper,&nbsp;MapInfo&nbsp;Explorer,&nbsp;TatukGIS&nbsp;Explorer&nbsp;etc.&nbsp;but&nbsp;all&nbsp;are&nbsp;unable&nbsp;to&nbsp;open&nbsp;that&nbsp;data.&nbsp;Could&nbsp;you&nbsp;please&nbsp;check&nbsp;it?&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Sorry&nbsp;for&nbsp;inconvenience.&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Regards,&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Gary

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ioannis](https://community.thinkgeo.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ad7895/32.png) [@Ioannis](https://community.thinkgeo.com/u/Ioannis)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 10:57am UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/best-way-to-create-a-new-tab-layer/1927/14 "2012-04-26T10:57:46Z")

</div>

Hello&nbsp;and&nbsp;thank&nbsp;you,&nbsp;the&nbsp;files&nbsp;here&nbsp;seem&nbsp;to&nbsp;open&nbsp;fine&nbsp;on&nbsp;MapInfo&nbsp;8.5&nbsp;and&nbsp;QuantumGIS....&nbsp;Can&nbsp;you&nbsp;provide&nbsp;me&nbsp;links&nbsp;with&nbsp;the&nbsp;software&nbsp;you&nbsp;used&nbsp;to&nbsp;download&nbsp;an&nbsp;evaluation&nbsp;version?

EDIT:&nbsp;GLOBAL&nbsp;MAPPER&nbsp;does&nbsp;not&nbsp;open&nbsp;but&nbsp;that&nbsp;migth&nbsp;well&nbsp;mean&nbsp;that&nbsp;it&nbsp;is&nbsp;expecting&nbsp;some&nbsp;shape&nbsp;features

Kind&nbsp;Regards

Yiannis

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gary2](https://community.thinkgeo.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@Gary2](https://community.thinkgeo.com/u/Gary2)\
**Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 1:45pm UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/best-way-to-create-a-new-tab-layer/1927/15 "2012-04-27T13:45:17Z")

</div>

Hello&nbsp;Ioannis,

The&nbsp;version&nbsp;of&nbsp;MapInfo&nbsp;we&nbsp;are&nbsp;using&nbsp;is&nbsp;10.5,&nbsp;it&nbsp;works&nbsp;fine&nbsp;with&nbsp;the&nbsp;tab&nbsp;file&nbsp;we&nbsp;downloaded,&nbsp;but&nbsp;runs&nbsp;into&nbsp;error&nbsp;with&nbsp;your&nbsp;data,&nbsp;please&nbsp;check&nbsp;the&nbsp;attached&nbsp;image.

 ![](https://community.thinkgeo.com/uploads/default/original/2X/5/527518b286be7187a46c103450c74d29eafe4aaa.png)

Also&nbsp;we&nbsp;tried&nbsp;it&nbsp;with&nbsp;QuantumGIS&nbsp;1.7.4,&nbsp;it&nbsp;always&nbsp;shows&nbsp;blank,&nbsp;I&nbsp;think&nbsp;it&nbsp;should&nbsp;runs&nbsp;into&nbsp;error&nbsp;as&nbsp;well.

Is&nbsp;it&nbsp;possible&nbsp;to&nbsp;give&nbsp;a&nbsp;video&nbsp;to&nbsp;us&nbsp;about&nbsp;how&nbsp;you&nbsp;load&nbsp;these&nbsp;files?&nbsp;Sorry&nbsp;to&nbsp;say&nbsp;if&nbsp;it&nbsp;is&nbsp;unable&nbsp;to&nbsp;loaded&nbsp;with&nbsp;All&nbsp;these&nbsp;Explorers&nbsp;we&nbsp;have&nbsp;mentioned&nbsp;we&nbsp;will&nbsp;not&nbsp;work&nbsp;on&nbsp;it,&nbsp;you&nbsp;need&nbsp;contact&nbsp;your&nbsp;account&nbsp;rep&nbsp;to&nbsp;ask&nbsp;a&nbsp;professional&nbsp;service.

Regards,

Gary  
  
&nbsp;

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ioannis](https://community.thinkgeo.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/ad7895/32.png) [@Ioannis](https://community.thinkgeo.com/u/Ioannis)\
**Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 2:49pm UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/best-way-to-create-a-new-tab-layer/1927/16 "2012-04-27T14:49:38Z")

</div>

Hello&nbsp;Gary,

I&nbsp;think&nbsp;there&nbsp;is&nbsp;a&nbsp;misunderstanding.&nbsp;The&nbsp;file&nbsp;I&nbsp;send&nbsp;you&nbsp;is&nbsp;a&nbsp;textual&nbsp;tab&nbsp;file&nbsp;as&nbsp;Johny&nbsp;requested.&nbsp;As&nbsp;such&nbsp;of&nbsp;course&nbsp;you&nbsp;will&nbsp;get&nbsp;BLANK&nbsp;in&nbsp;Qunatum&nbsp;Gis&nbsp;since&nbsp;it&nbsp;has&nbsp;no&nbsp;features&nbsp;to&nbsp;present&nbsp;but&nbsp;you&nbsp;will&nbsp;see&nbsp;the&nbsp;textual&nbsp;data&nbsp;if&nbsp;you&nbsp;right&nbsp;click&nbsp;after&nbsp;you&nbsp;load&nbsp;it&nbsp;and&nbsp;click&nbsp;on&nbsp;Atribute&nbsp;table.&nbsp;Some&nbsp;with&nbsp;MapInfo.&nbsp;It&nbsp;opens&nbsp;it&nbsp;but&nbsp;of&nbsp;course&nbsp;only&nbsp;the&nbsp;attributes&nbsp;are&nbsp;visible&nbsp;as&nbsp;a&nbsp;table.&nbsp;So&nbsp;there&nbsp;is&nbsp;no&nbsp;error&nbsp;there.&nbsp;Are&nbsp;you&nbsp;sure&nbsp;that&nbsp;we&nbsp;are&nbsp;talking&nbsp;about&nbsp;the&nbsp;same&nbsp;issue&nbsp;here?&nbsp;

Kind&nbsp;Regards

Yiannis

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**Author:** ![Gary2](https://community.thinkgeo.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@Gary2](https://community.thinkgeo.com/u/Gary2)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 11:23am UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/best-way-to-create-a-new-tab-layer/1927/17 "2012-05-02T11:23:21Z")

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Hello&nbsp;Ioannis,&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Sorry&nbsp;for&nbsp;waiting,&nbsp;we&nbsp;made&nbsp;some&nbsp;more&nbsp;test&nbsp;on&nbsp;this&nbsp;issue,&nbsp;and&nbsp;we&nbsp;found&nbsp;that&nbsp;we&nbsp;can&nbsp;get&nbsp;the&nbsp;feature&nbsp;type,&nbsp;and&nbsp;the&nbsp;feature&nbsp;native&nbsp;type&nbsp;is&nbsp;TABFCNoGeomFeature,&nbsp;so&nbsp;the&nbsp;feature&nbsp;isn’t&nbsp;handled&nbsp;in&nbsp;our&nbsp;tab&nbsp;system.&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;We&nbsp;will&nbsp;investigate&nbsp;how&nbsp;to&nbsp;support&nbsp;it,&nbsp;I&nbsp;thought&nbsp;that&nbsp;it&nbsp;might&nbsp;take&nbsp;a&nbsp;few&nbsp;days&nbsp;to&nbsp;do,&nbsp;I&nbsp;can&nbsp;tell&nbsp;you&nbsp;a&nbsp;result&nbsp;by&nbsp;comparing&nbsp;our&nbsp;codes&nbsp;with&nbsp;native&nbsp;C&nbsp;in&nbsp;tomorrow&nbsp;later.&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Regards,&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Gary

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**Author:** ![Gary2](https://community.thinkgeo.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@Gary2](https://community.thinkgeo.com/u/Gary2)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/best-way-to-create-a-new-tab-layer/1927/18 "2012-05-17T14:36:44Z")

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Hello&nbsp;Ioannis,&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Thanks&nbsp;for&nbsp;your&nbsp;patience,&nbsp;we&nbsp;did&nbsp;a&nbsp;research&nbsp;and&nbsp;found&nbsp;that&nbsp;we&nbsp;do&nbsp;not&nbsp;support&nbsp;the&nbsp;texture&nbsp;tab&nbsp;file,&nbsp;because&nbsp;the&nbsp;only&nbsp;way&nbsp;we&nbsp;read&nbsp;tab&nbsp;file&nbsp;is&nbsp;that&nbsp;we&nbsp;read&nbsp;features&nbsp;first,&nbsp;and&nbsp;set&nbsp;the&nbsp;feature.ColumnValues&nbsp;by&nbsp;reading&nbsp;the&nbsp;\*.dat&nbsp;file,&nbsp;but&nbsp;you&nbsp;said&nbsp;that&nbsp;his&nbsp;.tab&nbsp;file&nbsp;just&nbsp;contains&nbsp;texture&nbsp;information&nbsp;without&nbsp;any&nbsp;coordinates,&nbsp;&nbsp;it&nbsp;breaks&nbsp;the&nbsp;rules&nbsp;we&nbsp;read&nbsp;the&nbsp;Tab&nbsp;process,&nbsp;I&nbsp;think&nbsp;we&nbsp;are&nbsp;unable&nbsp;to&nbsp;do&nbsp;any&nbsp;enhancements.&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Sorry&nbsp;for&nbsp;the&nbsp;inconvenience.&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Regards,&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Gary