DBF File – Creation and Manipulation Without Excel 2003

dbfexcel

My company just upgraded to Office 2007 and now I am no longer able to easily manipulate and create dbf's. I do not understand MS's decision by removing this capability but alas there is no use crying over spilled milk. I ask everyone here, what do you use (preferably free) to fill all your dbf needs?

Best Answer

I've used Open Office for working with dbf files.

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[GIS] Exporting data from DBF to Excel template using ModelBuilder

In python it's possible. I have done something similar.

This tutorial was very helpful for me: basic-excel-driving-with-python

With this, you can open an existing excel file and add/change values to whatever you want.

Once you have setup a python script that works for you, you can change it for reading parameters so you can add it as a script in ArcToolbox. Then you can call it in ModelBuilder.

Some code that can help you, basically it export to excel an attribute table:

import win32com.client as win32
excel = win32.gencache.EnsureDispatch('Excel.Application')
wb = excel.Workbooks.Add()
excel = win32.gencache.EnsureDispatch('Excel.Application')
wb = excel.Workbooks.Add()

#Fields List
desc=arcpy.Describe(LayerToExport)
Fields=[]
for Fi in desc.fields:
    if Fi.type != "Blob" and Fi.type != "Geometry": 
        Fields.append(Fi.Name)

iFi = 1
for Fi in Fields:
    excel.ActiveSheet.Cells(1,iFi).Value = Fi
    iFi+=1

#Each row
rows = arcpy.SearchCursor(LayerToExport) 
iRow=2
for row in rows:
    iFi = 1
    for Fi in Fields:
        excel.ActiveSheet.Cells(iRow,iFi).Value = row.getValue(Fi)
        iFi+=1
    iRow+=1

# Clean up cursor and row objects
del row
del rows
wb.SaveAs(outFile)          
wb.Close(False)

Note: As this use win32com, VBA function are supported. So it's possible you can use your "TransferSpreadsheet" function.

[GIS] Why does QGIS generate Shapefiles without DBF

If you don't have a .dbf file, you probably have an empty attribute table.

To get the X and Y of a point layer, you have to add them to the attribute table using the field calculator. $X and $Y from the Geometry section will add the coordinate values. Be sure to change the field type to real, and set the precision greater than zero if using degrees.

For a line or polygon layer, you can export the coordinates of the line vertices with the mmqgis plugin to a CSV file.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[GIS] Exporting data from DBF to Excel template using ModelBuilder

[GIS] Why does QGIS generate Shapefiles without DBF

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