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Spatial Output

The Spatial Output tool writes spatial information in the MID/MIF, MapInfo TAB, or ESRI Shapefile file formats. The Spatial Output tool will write the following data types into the file:

  • Point: A coordinate consisting of an (X,Y) pair, typically latitude and longitude.

  • Polygon: A two-dimensional outline defined by a collection of points.

  • Multi-polygon: Two or more polygons in a single data item, which the Spatial Input tool converts to a single polygon by connecting the polygons to each other.

The Spatial Output tool outputs a table consisting of all non-spatial fields, plus a single spatial field named SPATIAL. This field has a type of Binary/Spatial, and can only be manipulated by the Spatial Join tool or spatial functions.

Spatial Output tool configuration parameters

The Spatial Output tool has a single set of configuration parameters in addition to the standard execution options:

Output file

The output file name. 

Note that these spatial formats cannot be saved to or read from the Data Management Repository.

Format

Output file format. This is optional and defaults to TAB.

Create index

If selected, will create an index appropriate to the Format.

Min latitude
Max latitude
Min longitude
Max longitude

MapInfo's TAB format stores coordinates as 32-bit integers, which are scaled relative to a boundary rectangle. By default, Data Management uses a boundary rectangle that is appropriate for data expressed in latitude/longitude degrees.

If Format is TAB, and your data uses an alternative coordinate system like UTM rather than latitude-longitude coordinates, you should select Override default and define a latitude-longitude boundary large enough to contain all your data points. Failure to do this may result in truncation errors and a loss of precision in the output data.

Configure the Spatial Output tool

To configure the Spatial Output tool

  1. Select the Spatial Output tool, and then go to the Configuration tab on the Properties pane.

  2. Specify the Output file.

  3. Select the Format: TAB, MID/MIF, or SHP.

    image-20240328-203804.png

  4. If you specify Format as SHP, you can optionally select Create index to create a shapefile index

  5. If you specify Format as TAB and your data uses an alternative coordinate system like UTM rather than latitude-longitude coordinates, select Override default and define a latitude-longitude boundary large enough to contain all your data points.

  6. Optionally, go to the Execution tab and Enable trigger output, configure reporting options, or set Web service options.

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