I normally work using .shp or .dwg files but have been asked by a client to supply survey data in "File Geo-Database (.fgdb)" format. Is this a recognized File geodatabase file extension? From what I can see this file extension is for Fontographer for Mac, and .gdb is the correct file extension. Or is .fdgb a legacy file format? Would someone be able to clarify this for me?
Also a ESRI File Geodatabase export from QGIS 2.18.3 seems to output a directory with contents (e.g. \myData.gdb…) rather than a singular file. Is this expected behavior?
Best Answer
An Esri File Geodatabase is a folder with contents. The entire folder makes up the geodatabase (if you remove any of the contents the geodatabase will likely stop working).
The extension for an Esri File Geodatabase is
.gdb- I don't believe it has ever been.fgdb, although "File Geodatabase" is shortened informally to "FGDB" when some users refer to it (i.e. referring to the database, not to the extension).