shp2pgsql(1)                        PostGIS                       shp2pgsql(1)



NAME
       shp2pgsql - shapefile to postgis loader


SYNTAX
       shp2pgsql [options] shapefile [schema.]table


DESCRIPTION
       The shp2pgsql data loader converts ESRI Shape files into SQL suitable
       for insertion into a PostGIS/PostgreSQL database.

       Version: 1.1.5 (2006/10/06)


USAGE
       The <shapefile> is the name of the shape file, without any extension
       information. For example, 'roads' would be the name of the shapefile
       comprising the 'roads.shp', 'roads.shx', and 'roads.dbf' files.

       The <tablename> is the (optionally schema-qualified) name of the
       database table you want the data stored in in the database. Within that
       table, the geometry will be placed in the 'geo_value' column by
       default.


OPTIONS
       The loader has several operating modes distinguished by command line
       flags:

       (Note that -a, -c, -d and -p are mutually exclusive.)

       -d     Drops the database table before creating a new table with the
              data in the Shape file.

       -a     Appends data from the Shape file into the database table. Note
              that to use this option to load multiple files, the files must
              have the same attributes and same data types.

       -c     Creates a new table and populates it from the Shape file. This
              is the default mode.

       -p     Only produces the table creation SQL code, without adding any
              actual data.  This can be used if you need to completely
              separate the table creation and data loading steps.

       -D     Use the PostgreSQL "dump" format for the output data. This can
              be combined with -a, -c and -d. It is much faster to load than
              the default "insert" SQL format. Use this for very large data
              sets.

       -s <SRID>
              Creates and populates the geometry tables with the specified
              SRID.

       -g <geometry_column>
              Specify the name of the geometry column (mostly useful in append
              mode).

       -k     Keep idendifiers case (column, schema and attributes). Note that
              attributes in Shapefile are usually all UPPERCASE.

       -i     Coerce all integers to standard 32-bit integers, do not create
              64-bit bigints, even if the DBF header signature appears to
              warrant it.

       -S     Generate simple Geometries instead of MULTIgeometries. Shape
              files don't differ between LINESTRINGs and MULTILINESTRINGs, so
              shp2pgsql generates MULTILINESTRINGs by default. This switch
              will produce LINESTRINGs instead, but shp2pgsql will fail when
              it hits a real MULTILINESTRING. The same works for POLYGONs vs.
              MULTIPOLYGONs.

       -w     Output WKT format, for use with older (0.x) versions of PostGIS.
              Note that this will introduce coordinate drifts and will drop M
              values from shapefiles.

       -W <encoding>
              Specify the character encoding of Shapefile's attributes.  If
              this option is used the output will be encoded in UTF-8.

       -I     Create a GiST index on the geometry column.

       -N <policy>
              Specify NULL geometries handling policy (insert,skip,abort).

       -?     Display version and usage information.


INSTALLATION
       To compile the program from source, simply run "make" in the source
       directory.  Then copy the binary in your shell search path (or wherever
       you like). This text is also available as a man page in the ../doc/man/
       directory, ready for copying it into the manual search path on unixoid
       systems.


EXAMPLES
       An example session using the loader to create an input file and
       uploading it might look like this:

       # shp2pgsql shaperoads roadstable roadsdb > roads.sql
       # psql -d roadsdb -f roads.sql

       A conversion and upload can be done all in one step using UNIX pipes:

       # shp2pgsql shaperoads roadstable roadsdb | psql -d roadsdb


AUTHORS
       Originally written by Jeff Lounsbury <jeffloun@refractions.net>.
       Improved and maintained by Sandro Santilli <strk@refractions.net>.
       Includes small contributions and improvements by others.

       This application uses functionality from shapelib 1.2.9 by Frank
       Warmerdam <warmerda@gdal.velocet.ca> to read from ESRI Shape files.


SEE ALSO
       pgsql2shp(1)

       More information is available at http://postgis.refractions.net



                                                                  shp2pgsql(1)
