Importing ESRI files

Importing ESRI files

This process enables you to import data into DRAINS from one to six sets of ESRI or ArcView files, plus an optional background from a DXF file. The procedure is pretty much the reverse of the exporting process for ESRI files.

ArcView stores spatial information in a set of three ASCII files:

  • a SHP is the main file defining a number of records for shapes (points, lines, polylines or polygons), defined by the coordinates of their vertices,

  • a SHX file acting as an index to the records in the main file,

  • a DBF file containing a DBASE table of attributes associated with each record.

All files must have the same initial part to their name; for example for a set of pits and nodes the three files would be: Sturt_Nodes.shp, Sturt_Nodes.shx and Sturt_Nodes.dbf.

The records describe pits, pipes and other components of a drainage system. There are six types of inputs. The SHP files for a full set would be named: Sturt_Nodes.shp, Sturt_Pipes.shp, Sturt_Catchments.shp, Sturt_OverflowRoutes.shp, Sturt_Services.shp and Sturt_Survey.shp. The SHX and DBF files must have similar names. Not all of these are needed to make a transfer; DRAINS would accept the nodes and pipes alone.

If you wish to model an existing drainage system in DRAINS, and ArcView records are already available, you need to edit these into the format required by DRAINS, which is identical with the format generated in the export process  that creates ESRI files from DRAINS data. You can see this format by exporting a small system and examining the resulting DBASE tables.

For nodes, a table with the following 13 headers for columns or "fields' are required:


For pipes, a table with the following 12 headers for columns or "fields' are required:


For information on the other four components, refer to the exported ESRI file formats.

If this is an initial transfer, it is unlikely that all the information required by DRAINS will be available in the GIS. In the files to be transferred, all the required information that is already in the GIS should be included. It is then a matter of judgment as to whether you add additional data in these files, or use dummy values, and to illustrate the process, consider the following example, named "Oldtown".


The node "theme" is associated with the following table, which has been created by editing, which can take place in ArcView, Microsoft Access or Excel.


The corresponding pipes table is:


From the ArcView themes, a DXF file containing a background for the DRAINS model can be created. All layers in this will be included in the background.


You will need to place all the files to be transferred into the same Windows folder. The files to be transferred must include at least the nodes file.
To make the transfer, you need to set up a DRAINS model with the Horton (ILSAX) hydrological model and pit and pipe data bases that you require, and then use the

 File ► Import  ► ESRI Shapefiles option, which will display the following message:


After "Yes" is entered, a menu for opening files appears.  You must select the ESRI files to be transferred. Only one need be selected.

The transfer will then take place, and the pits and pipes will come into view. As the window below shows, the data information is transferred over, and further data can be added to the property sheets.


With this setup it is possible to import a new or additional background. Using the File ► Import ► Import DXF background option brings up a dialog box from which a DXF file can be opened. When a file is selected, the following window appears:

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When a choice is made, the background is replaced.


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