# TabFileFeatureLayer Constructor Information and idColumnName Parsing

**URL:** <https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/tabfilefeaturelayer-constructor-information-and-idcolumnname-parsing/1486>\
**Category:** WinForms\
**Created:** [November 8, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/tabfilefeaturelayer-constructor-information-and-idcolumnname-parsing/1486 "2010-11-08T17:24:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Steve](https://community.thinkgeo.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@Steve](https://community.thinkgeo.com/u/Steve)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/tabfilefeaturelayer-constructor-information-and-idcolumnname-parsing/1486/1 "2010-11-08T17:24:26Z")

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Hello,  
  
I&nbsp;am&nbsp;trying&nbsp;to&nbsp;load&nbsp;up&nbsp;a&nbsp;bunch&nbsp;of&nbsp;Tab&nbsp;Files&nbsp;but&nbsp;I&nbsp;am&nbsp;not&nbsp;very&nbsp;familiar&nbsp;with&nbsp;the&nbsp;TAB&nbsp;format.&nbsp;I&nbsp;don’t&nbsp;know&nbsp;if&nbsp;all&nbsp;my&nbsp;TAB&nbsp;files&nbsp;will&nbsp;have&nbsp;the&nbsp;same&nbsp;idColumnName&nbsp;and&nbsp;would&nbsp;like&nbsp;some&nbsp;direction&nbsp;on&nbsp;how&nbsp;this&nbsp;information&nbsp;can&nbsp;be&nbsp;parsed&nbsp;from&nbsp;the&nbsp;TAB&nbsp;file.&nbsp;Can&nbsp;anyone&nbsp;provide&nbsp;any&nbsp;information&nbsp;on&nbsp;where&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;tab&nbsp;file&nbsp;I&nbsp;can&nbsp;find&nbsp;this&nbsp;idColumnName?

I&nbsp;have&nbsp;opened&nbsp;all&nbsp;the&nbsp;associated&nbsp;files&nbsp;for&nbsp;the&nbsp;HoustonMuniBdySamp\_Boundary.TAB&nbsp;file&nbsp;that&nbsp;we&nbsp;use&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;sample&nbsp;applications&nbsp;but&nbsp;I&nbsp;cannot&nbsp;find&nbsp;the&nbsp;“FID”&nbsp;column&nbsp;shown&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;sample&nbsp;applications.&nbsp;If&nbsp;possible&nbsp;I&nbsp;would&nbsp;like&nbsp;to&nbsp;simply&nbsp;load&nbsp;up&nbsp;my&nbsp;TAB&nbsp;files&nbsp;by&nbsp;simply&nbsp;defining&nbsp;a&nbsp;Path,&nbsp;or&nbsp;if&nbsp;necessary&nbsp;I&nbsp;could&nbsp;parse&nbsp;the&nbsp;idColumnName&nbsp;if&nbsp;I&nbsp;knew&nbsp;where&nbsp;to&nbsp;find&nbsp;it!&nbsp; ![]()

Does&nbsp;anyone&nbsp;know&nbsp;of&nbsp;a&nbsp;place&nbsp;that&nbsp;defines&nbsp;where&nbsp;this&nbsp;idColumnName&nbsp;value&nbsp;is&nbsp;located?&nbsp;I&nbsp;have&nbsp;searched&nbsp;the&nbsp;internet&nbsp;for&nbsp;Tab&nbsp;file&nbsp;specifications&nbsp;and&nbsp;only&nbsp;get&nbsp;the&nbsp;information&nbsp;about&nbsp;what&nbsp;files&nbsp;make&nbsp;up&nbsp;a&nbsp;Tab&nbsp;file&nbsp;(.map&nbsp;etc.).&nbsp;Also&nbsp;the&nbsp;Map&nbsp;Suite&nbsp;Documentation&nbsp;does&nbsp;not&nbsp;provide&nbsp;any&nbsp;detailed&nbsp;information&nbsp;on&nbsp;the&nbsp;elements&nbsp;that&nbsp;the&nbsp;TabFileFeatureLayer&nbsp;requires.

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**Author:** ![ThinkGeo](https://community.thinkgeo.com/user_avatar/community.thinkgeo.com/thinkgeo/32/25029_2.png) [@ThinkGeo](https://community.thinkgeo.com/u/ThinkGeo)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 1:34am UTC](https://community.thinkgeo.com/t/tabfilefeaturelayer-constructor-information-and-idcolumnname-parsing/1486/2 "2010-11-11T01:34:05Z")

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Steve,&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;I&nbsp;am&nbsp;afraid&nbsp;your&nbsp;problem&nbsp;is&nbsp;hard&nbsp;to&nbsp;solve&nbsp;for&nbsp;right&nbsp;now&nbsp;because&nbsp;you&nbsp;know&nbsp;we&nbsp;use&nbsp;Fdo&nbsp;which&nbsp;is&nbsp;a&nbsp;thrid&nbsp;part&nbsp;library&nbsp;to&nbsp;process&nbsp;tab&nbsp;file,&nbsp;but&nbsp;I&nbsp;have&nbsp;a&nbsp;good&nbsp;news&nbsp;that&nbsp;we&nbsp;are&nbsp;working&nbsp;on&nbsp;convert&nbsp;MITAB&nbsp;library&nbsp;to&nbsp;.net&nbsp;native&nbsp;code,&nbsp;after&nbsp;we&nbsp;finish&nbsp;it&nbsp;will&nbsp;easy&nbsp;to&nbsp;solve&nbsp;any&nbsp;problem&nbsp;for&nbsp;tab&nbsp;file&nbsp;process.&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;MITAB&nbsp;is&nbsp;an&nbsp;Open&nbsp;Source&nbsp;(i.e.&nbsp;Free!)&nbsp;C++&nbsp;library&nbsp;to&nbsp;read&nbsp;and&nbsp;write&nbsp;MapInfo&nbsp;.TAB&nbsp;(binary)&nbsp;and&nbsp;.MIF/MID&nbsp;files.&nbsp;It&nbsp;is&nbsp;based&nbsp;on&nbsp;the&nbsp;OGR&nbsp;library&nbsp;which&nbsp;is&nbsp;an&nbsp;implementation&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;Open&nbsp;GIS&nbsp;Consortium&nbsp;Simple&nbsp;Feature&nbsp;specification.&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;&nbsp;  
&nbsp;Thanks&nbsp;  
&nbsp;James&nbsp;