SHP - ESRI Shapefiles Vector Geo Gis Data Exchange Format

ESRI Shape (SHP) file format is a vector geo gis format created by the Environmental System Research Institute. Shape files can be used to interchange data with many GIS systems.

Esri files are normally organized in folders because there are multiple files per layer that form a single entity. The SHP file stores the geometry data of the layer in a binary encoded vectordata forfmat.

The dbf file adds Database data organized in tables containing various fields that add additional data to the geometry object. This data can be used for affecting the visual appearance of the geometry or to offer additional information for the user viewing the data.

Optionally there are index files (SHX) to optimize geometry loading.

ESRI shapefiles SHP do not store any information about the graphical style of the geometry and vector objects. So actually it is your job to store the style information. Often this is done by layer instead of storing style data for each geometry object.

Shapefiledata can soon get huge, so intelligent data management and storage is necessary for fast viewing of the vector data.