[GIS] Reason for error when saving shapefile in a new projection

qgis

I tried to save a WG84 shapefile as a UTM 16N projection and got the following error: "Export to vector file failed.
Error: creation of layer failed (OGR error:Failed to open Shapefile `HF patients who are not 30 day readmissions in UTM 16N.shp'.

Best Answer

As @Andrej wrote in his comment, a shorter name without whitespaces should work.

Otherwise, I would also check the path length to the directory where the shapefile is to be stored. I have already have issues with long paths and solved them by saving my shapefile on D: directory (for instance).

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QGIS – How to Export a Linestring to a GPX File

The GPX format does support only a defined list of attributes, so if your vector has any attribute that does not match what the specifications say, you'll get that error.

When you export a vector to a gpx don't expect to have necessarily attributes with the coordinates, nevertheless they are present in the gpx file, example (obtained with QGIS):

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<gpx version="1.1" creator="GDAL 1.7.3" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1 http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1/gpx.xsd">
<metadata><bounds minlat="-0.406488549618321" minlon="-1.158778625954199" maxlat="0.674427480916031" maxlon="1.520610687022901"/></metadata>                    
<rte>
  <name>um</name>
  <rtept lat="0.660687022900763" lon="-1.158778625954199">
  </rtept>
  <rtept lat="0.674427480916031" lon="-0.409923664122138">
  </rtept>
  <rtept lat="-0.001145038167939" lon="-0.041221374045802">
  </rtept>
  <rtept lat="-0.406488549618321" lon="0.453435114503817">
  </rtept>
  <rtept lat="0.239312977099237" lon="1.520610687022901">
  </rtept>
</rte>
</gpx>

http://www.gdal.org/ogr/drv_gpx.html

QGIS KML – Editing or Converting KML to Editable Format

I'd recommend ogr2ogr. But your success with any method will depend on the kml file itself: kml is a hierarchical file format which can contain different geometry types with each a different set of attributes. Unless your KML file is well structured, you can not convert it to a shapefile (with one geometry and the same attributes everywhere). Perhaps you should check that first in google earth? Which format do your attributes have (extended data, xml,...)? You can post a part here for more help (ctrl copy from google earth and search for relevant bits).

Best Answer

Related Solutions

QGIS – How to Export a Linestring to a GPX File

QGIS KML – Editing or Converting KML to Editable Format

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