Ubuntu Manpage: shp2pgsql - shapefile to postgis loader

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.

-w Output WKT format, instead of WKB. Note that this can introduce coordinate drifts
due to loss of precision.

-e Execute each statement on its own, without using a transaction. This allows
loading of the majority of good data when there are some bad geometries that
generate errors. Note that this cannot be used with the -D flag as the "dump"
format always uses a transaction.

-s [<FROM_SRID>:]<SRID>
Creates and populates the geometry tables with the specified SRID. If FROM_SRID is
given, the geometries will be reprojected. Reprojection cannot be used with -D.

-G Use the geography type instead of geometry. Geography is used to store lat/lon
data. At the moment the only spatial reference supported is 4326.

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

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

-m <filename>
Specify a file containing a set of mappings of (long) column names to 10 character
DBF column names. The content of the file is one or more lines of two names
separated by white space and no trailing or leading space:

COLUMNNAME DBFFIELD1\n
AVERYLONGCOLUMNNAME DBFFIELD2\n

etc.

-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 <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).

-T <tablespace>
Specify the tablespace for the new table. Indexes will still use the default
tablespace unless the -X parameter is also used. The PostgreSQL documentation has
a good description on when to use custom tablespaces.

-X <tablespace>
Specify the tablespace for the new table's indexes. This applies to the primary
key index, and the GIST spatial index if -I is also used.

-? 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@kbt.io>.   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.