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 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 <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@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)