file in a diffrent projection and map scale

[SD]

hi ,
i've converted my .dxf and .shp file to .tab using universal
translator..and i found that all this file in a diffrent projection
and map scale. i tried save as all this file into world projection
wgs84 but still cannot see in a same windows..and when i check the map
scale it also in a diffrent scale probably that's why i can't see all
the maps in a same windows (i think)..please help me on this
matters..thank you..

[dinesh d]

Hi,

 

Your dxf is geocode, if so convert this file into shp file using arcgis and then convert to tab files. it will works.

 

Same problem, i faced last time.

[SD]

hello,
thanks dinesh for your info..:)..but is it another way to do it
besides using arcgis?

[college.atlas]

SD,
Universal Translator can handle the job without ArcGIS.

In the case of CAD you need to check the drawing to ensure it's
actually geocoded as Dinesh suggests.

CAD files may have arbitrary coordinates, scales and rotations.

You have to prepare the CAD files BEFORE using Universal Translator.
Universal translator will not correct a CAD file that isn't
geographically correct.

For example, say you have a property boundary that is 50 meters by 20
meters. You can plot this in CAD as 5000 cm x 2000 cm. If you use UT
to convert this it will come in as 5000 m x 2000 m

Using the same example, CAD presumes rectangular coordinate system not
a spherical coordinate system. So it is unlikely (not impossible) that
your CAD plans are WGS84. They are most likely GRID projected
coordinates. As I don't know where you are in the world you'll need to
do some work.

Open one of your DXF files in a text editor. If they are large files I
recommend Notepad++. You can read a DXF file. Look for coordinate
pairs.

In the DXF you will see repeating patterns like this

10
368.25311510499449
20
219.32048154032009
30
0.0

Basically 10,20,30 tell CAD to read the following values as X,Y,Z. In
this example X = 368.253, Y = 219.320, Z = 0

When you look at your files do the coordinates make sense for the area
the map is supposed to cover?

This example tell me the file is not geocoded and so cannot be
translated and used directly in Mapinfo. in this case you could use
UT, nominating a Grid projection and then manually move each of the
elements to the correct location. The is a very rough method and not
considered unless you're really desperate.

The only way to do this properly is to open the CAD file in a CAD
editor and move the drawing elements to the correct location in CAD.
Then use UT to translate the corrected file.

Shape files can be difficult to manage. A minimum set of files for is
an SHP, SHX and DBF. However Universal Translator cannot determine
from this set of files what the projection is. You need to either
- Know the projection and tell UT
or
- Guess through trial and error until the TAB file lands in the right
spot.

SHP is a binary so you can open that and read it.

You might get lucky if you open the DBF file in Excel, Access or
Notepadd++ if the supplier has written coordinate data into the DBF
file.

If you are lucky the set of Shape files may have included a .PRJ file.
This will tell UT the projection of the file to be imported. in this
case the import should have the data land in the correct spot.

[David R Sherrod]

The summary just presented by the College Atlas contributor is an excellent offering for the MI-List---a reminder of why I (and many others) love this list-serve.  For those of us who don't bother much (if ever) with CAD conversions, I found it clear and helpful.

One additional suggestion.  MI-L has had past threads about Universal Translator and choosing the projection.  My experience (also echoed in some of those previous reports) is to set the projection personally and not to depend on UT's application of accompanying projection data;  that is, uncheck the box for "use projection setting in source file" and hit the projection button to select the correct projection.  I do this even when a "prj" file is part of the suite of shape files.  It's easy enough to open the prj file with a text editor and read the projection data for verification.  UT tends to reach for a default (lat-long) and ignore projection files.  That's my experience, from one still in the glorious bug-free slums of Pro v. 8.5.
-----------------------------------------

From:	"college.atlas" <colleg...@gmail.com>
To:	MapInfo-L <mapi...@googlegroups.com>
Date:	10/29/2009 04:16 PM
Subject:	[MI-L] Re: file in a diffrent projection and map scale
Sent by:	mapi...@googlegroups.com

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[SD]

thanks all..i really appreciate it..:)