HOW TO DOWNLOAD GIS DATA

MRBDC download instructions




MRBDC GIS data files are available for ESRI ARC/INFO and ArcView in both DOS and UNIX environments. The ARC/INFO data files are export (.e00) file format and the ArcView data files are Shape file format. The ARC/INFO export file or Arcview Shape file is combined with metadata (.html) and data dictionary (.txt) documentation to make a tar file. The tar file is compressed using the gzip compression. The ARC/INFO files arc given a .tar.gz (tar and gzip) extension and the ArcView Shape files are given a .zip extention. To extract and import coverages please follow the instructions below pertaining to either ARC/INFO UNIX or ArcView DOS systems.


Most systems require that you hold down the shift key while clicking the ftp button to download.


To uncompress and untar an ARC/INFO export file on a UNIX system.
EXAMPLE:  You have downloaded mshed32.tar.gz onto your workstation.
                     You can uncompress and untar the file by typing:
% gunzip mshed32.tar.gz
% tar xvf mshed32.tar
To uncompress and untar an ArcView Shape file on a UNIX system.
EXAMPLE:  You have downloaded mshed32.zip onto your workstation.
                     First you must rename the file to match standard UNIX tar and gzip file extensions.
                     Then you can uncompress can untar the file.
% mv mshed32.zip mshed32.tar.gz
% gunzip mshed32.tar.gz
% tar xvf mshed32.tar

To uncompress and untar an ARC/INFO export file on a DOS system.
EXAMPLE:  You have downloaded mshed32.tar.gz onto your PC.
                     You can uncompress and untar the file by typing:
% gunzip mshed32.tar.gz
% tar xvf mshed32.tar
To uncompress and untar an ArcView Shape file on a UNIX system.
EXAMPLE:  You have downloaded mshed32.zip onto your workstation.
                     First you must rename the file to match standard UNIX tar and gzip file extensions.
                     Then you can uncompress aun untar the file.
% mv mshed32.zip mshed32.tar.gz
% gunzip mshed32.tar.gz
% tar xvf mshed32.tar