# Shape File Definition

**URL:** <https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/shape-file-definition/7456>\
**Category:** World Map Kit\
**Created:** [August 12, 2011, 10:10am UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/shape-file-definition/7456 "2011-08-12T10:10:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Dustin](https://community.thinkgeo.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/5daacb/32.png) [@Dustin](https://community.thinkgeo.com/u/Dustin)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 10:10am UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/shape-file-definition/7456/1 "2011-08-12T10:10:49Z")

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Hi&nbsp;All,

Just&nbsp;wondering&nbsp;if&nbsp;there's&nbsp;a&nbsp;primer&nbsp;for&nbsp;what&nbsp;exactly&nbsp;each&nbsp;shape&nbsp;file&nbsp;includes/represents,&nbsp;as&nbsp;I&nbsp;can't&nbsp;seem&nbsp;to&nbsp;find&nbsp;one.&nbsp;I&nbsp;understand&nbsp;that&nbsp;some&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;US&nbsp;data&nbsp;comes&nbsp;from&nbsp;TIGER,&nbsp;and&nbsp;I've&nbsp;seen&nbsp;the&nbsp;naming&nbsp;scheme&nbsp;for&nbsp;them&nbsp;(though,&nbsp;I'm&nbsp;still&nbsp;confused&nbsp;as&nbsp;to&nbsp;what&nbsp;the&nbsp;different&nbsp;road&nbsp;files&nbsp;under&nbsp;each&nbsp;state&nbsp;include).&nbsp;Some&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;files&nbsp;are&nbsp;pretty&nbsp;obvious,&nbsp;but&nbsp;others&nbsp;are&nbsp;not.&nbsp;For&nbsp;instance,&nbsp;what&nbsp;is&nbsp;the&nbsp;difference&nbsp;between&nbsp;all&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;files&nbsp;for&nbsp;the&nbsp;'HighwayNetwork'&nbsp;or&nbsp;UsHigh?

Thanks&nbsp;for&nbsp;everything!

-Dustin

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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:** [August 12, 2011, 11:59am UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/shape-file-definition/7456/2 "2011-08-12T11:59:51Z")

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Dustin,&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Thank&nbsp;you&nbsp;for&nbsp;your&nbsp;post.&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;I’m&nbsp;sorry&nbsp;I&nbsp;don’t&nbsp;understand&nbsp;what’s&nbsp;your&nbsp;mean&nbsp;exactly.&nbsp;Did&nbsp;you&nbsp;want&nbsp;to&nbsp;know&nbsp;what&nbsp;is&nbsp;in&nbsp;.shp,&nbsp;what’s&nbsp;in&nbsp;.shx,&nbsp;what’s&nbsp;in.&nbsp;dbf&nbsp;&nbsp;and&nbsp;.idx&nbsp;ids?&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Regards,&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Gary

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**Author:** ![Dustin](https://community.thinkgeo.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/5daacb/32.png) [@Dustin](https://community.thinkgeo.com/u/Dustin)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 12:18pm UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/shape-file-definition/7456/3 "2011-08-12T12:18:30Z")

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Hi&nbsp;Gary,&nbsp;

Not&nbsp;nessecarily&nbsp;what's&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;individual&nbsp;files&nbsp;per&nbsp;extension,&nbsp;just&nbsp;what&nbsp;the&nbsp;features&nbsp;can&nbsp;be&nbsp;classified&nbsp;as.&nbsp;For&nbsp;instance,&nbsp;the&nbsp;files&nbsp;'highwaynetwork2\_1b'&nbsp;and&nbsp;'highwaynetwork2\_2'&nbsp;are&nbsp;both&nbsp;included,&nbsp;but&nbsp;there's&nbsp;no&nbsp;indication&nbsp;of&nbsp;what&nbsp;the&nbsp;difference&nbsp;is.&nbsp;Is&nbsp;it&nbsp;the&nbsp;length&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;highway,&nbsp;or&nbsp;some&nbsp;other&nbsp;classification,&nbsp;or&nbsp;is&nbsp;it&nbsp;just&nbsp;an&nbsp;arbitrary&nbsp;set&nbsp;of&nbsp;highways?&nbsp;Something&nbsp;like&nbsp;that.&nbsp;

-Dustin

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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:** [August 12, 2011, 2:44pm UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/shape-file-definition/7456/4 "2011-08-12T14:44:27Z")

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Dustin,&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Thank&nbsp;you&nbsp;for&nbsp;your&nbsp;feedback,&nbsp;I&nbsp;didn’t&nbsp;find&nbsp;the&nbsp;file&nbsp;named&nbsp;‘highwaynetwork2\_1b’&nbsp;or&nbsp;‘highwaynetwork2\_2’,&nbsp;where&nbsp;did&nbsp;you&nbsp;get&nbsp;it?&nbsp;If&nbsp;it’s&nbsp;not&nbsp;our&nbsp;data,&nbsp;I’m&nbsp;afraid&nbsp;you&nbsp;need&nbsp;visit&nbsp;the&nbsp;place&nbsp;where&nbsp;you&nbsp;get&nbsp;the&nbsp;data&nbsp;and&nbsp;find&nbsp;some&nbsp;documentation.&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Regards,&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Gary

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**Author:** ![Dustin](https://community.thinkgeo.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/5daacb/32.png) [@Dustin](https://community.thinkgeo.com/u/Dustin)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/shape-file-definition/7456/5 "2011-08-12T15:40:44Z")

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Hi&nbsp;Gary,&nbsp;

Yes,&nbsp;it&nbsp;is&nbsp;your&nbsp;data.&nbsp;I&nbsp;just&nbsp;received&nbsp;my&nbsp;copy&nbsp;of&nbsp;World&nbsp;Map&nbsp;Kit&nbsp;5.0&nbsp;today,&nbsp;and&nbsp;it&nbsp;was&nbsp;in&nbsp;that.&nbsp;It&nbsp;was&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;USA&nbsp;folder.

-Dustin

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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:** [August 16, 2011, 9:35am UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/shape-file-definition/7456/6 "2011-08-16T09:35:09Z")

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Dustin,&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Sorry&nbsp;for&nbsp;delay.&nbsp;Yes&nbsp;there&nbsp;are&nbsp;some&nbsp;rules&nbsp;in&nbsp;those&nbsp;file’s&nbsp;name,&nbsp;it’s&nbsp;complex&nbsp;to&nbsp;say&nbsp;them&nbsp;all&nbsp;here,&nbsp;you&nbsp;can&nbsp;check&nbsp;the&nbsp;WorldMapKitRenderLayer.cs,&nbsp;RenderLabelLayer&nbsp;method&nbsp;to&nbsp;find&nbsp;out&nbsp;the&nbsp;relationship,&nbsp;if&nbsp;you&nbsp;meet&nbsp;any&nbsp;problem&nbsp;or&nbsp;have&nbsp;questions&nbsp;about&nbsp;any&nbsp;files,&nbsp;please&nbsp;tell&nbsp;me,&nbsp;I&nbsp;can&nbsp;explain&nbsp;to&nbsp;you.&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Regards,&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Gary