[GIS] How to convert ESRI personal geodatabase (.mdb) to shapefile using OGR in C#

cogr2ogrpersonal-geodatabaseshapefile

I have to create a class in C# in which I would like to insert a function that converts an ESRI personal geodatabase, extracting that features it contains in shp using OGR. I looked at library documentation and I saw that ogr2ogr can do the job. It looks to me that this utility is based on the command line. How can I embed its functions in a C# script?

Best Answer

Does the ogr2ogr command work? An easy one would be to run it from C#. Otherwise you can use the C# SWIG bindings, if you can get these for your programming environment with PGeo support.

If you are using GDAL 1.x use OGR_DS_CopyLayer/OGRDataSource::CopyLayer (or whatever it is called in the C# bindings). Or if you are using GDAL 2.x, use GDALDatasetCopyLayer.

The idea is you open a PGeo dataset/layer, create/open a shapefile dataset, then copy the layer(s) (i.e. shapefile) between the two.

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[GIS] Choosing File Geodatabase (.gdb), Personal Geodatabase (.mdb) or shapefile format

At a high level, it might be preferable to make a choice based on whether users are inexperienced and need nothing more than points, lines and polygons. Shapefiles could be suitable for this.

If they need annotation, domains for pick lists and validation, raster, longer field names, etc then File Geodatabases could be used which are easy to use, fast and can be massive in size.

Personal Geodatabases are based on MS Access. Unless there is a requirement for Access users to also interact with them, there is more restriction with this choice. The 2Gb size limit & inability to store rasters is restrictive.

[GIS] import esri Personal Geodatabase (.mdb) to PostGIS

Here is how to solve the "data source name not found" issue. ODBC reads the data source name (DSN) from a plain-text file in your home directory called ~/.odbc.ini . Each .mdb file needs a unique DSN written into this file. You may be able to auto-generate it using GUI apps, but the ODBC developer recommends just using your favorite text editor to edit the file.

I have seen and used typically five descriptors for each .mdb:

[nickname_for_odbc_connection]
Description = Whatever description you choose
Driver = {FULLPATH}/libmdbodbc.so
Database = {FULLPATH}/yourfile.mdb
Servername = localhost

Adapt the above five lines to your particular circumstances, and paste them into the ~/.obdc.ini file, and that constitutes a DSN for that file. This seems to solve the "driver not specified" error.

You will need to locate the driver you will use, in order to fill out that {FULLPATH}. Mine was not installed where others show it on their web postings from a few years ago, so the install-pattern of mdbtools may have changed; thus, seek it anew on your own system.

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[GIS] Choosing File Geodatabase (*.gdb), Personal Geodatabase (*.mdb) or shapefile format

[GIS] import esri Personal Geodatabase (.mdb) to PostGIS

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[GIS] Choosing File Geodatabase (.gdb), Personal Geodatabase (.mdb) or shapefile format