DRAINS provides transfers of system data and results to between GIS programs and DRAINS, reading from and creating ESRI (ArcView) shapefiles and Mapinfo MIF files, the most commonly-used GIS formats. This facility is not standard in DRAINS, but is available at an additional cost. Only pipe system data can be imported and exported at present.

The transfers take place through options in the File menu. To import data you must set up GIS files in a required format (which is explained in the importing information for ESRI and MapInfo files, and which can be viewed in exported demonstration files). The files involved are shown below:

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It is not necessary to created all the GIS files listed above. A single set of SHP, SHX and DBF or MID and MIF files can be transferred, or a complete set of data for six types of data and a DXF background.

The exporting process is similar to the transfer from DRAINS to a spreadsheet program. It is possible to export into ESRI and MapInfo files both the data for various components and the results of analyses using storms of different magnitudes.