pyshp 1.2.12

Pure Python read/write support for ESRI Shapefile format

# PyShp

The Python Shapefile Library (pyshp) reads and writes ESRI Shapefiles in pure Python.


[](https://travis-ci.org/GeospatialPython/pyshp)

## Contents

[Overview](#overview)

[Examples](#examples)
- [Reading Shapefiles](#reading-shapefiles)
- [Reading Shapefiles from File-Like Objects](#reading-shapefiles-from-file-like-objects)
- [Reading Geometry](#reading-geometry)
- [Reading Records](#reading-records)
- [Reading Geometry and Records Simultaneously](#reading-geometry-and-records-simultaneously)
- [Writing Shapefiles](#writing-shapefiles)
- [Setting the Shape Type](#setting-the-shape-type)
- [Geometry and Record Balancing](#geometry-and-record-balancing)
- [Adding Geometry](#adding-geometry)
- [Creating Attributes](#creating-attributes)
- [File Names](#file-names)
- [Saving to File-Like Objects](#saving-to-file-like-objects)
- [Editing Shapefiles](#editing-shapefiles)
- [Geometry and Record Balancing](#geometry-and-record-balancing)
- [Python \_\_geo_interface\_\_](#python-\_\_geo\_interface\_\_)
- [Testing](#testing)

# Overview

The Python Shapefile Library (pyshp) provides read and write support for the
Esri Shapefile format. The Shapefile format is a popular Geographic
Information System vector data format created by Esri. For more information
about this format please read the well-written "ESRI Shapefile Technical
Description - July 1998" located at [http://www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/p
dfs/shapefile.pdf](http://www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/shapefile.pdf)
. The Esri document describes the shp and shx file formats. However a third
file format called dbf is also required. This format is documented on the web
as the "XBase File Format Description" and is a simple file-based database
format created in the 1960's. For more on this specification see: [http://www.clicketyclick.dk/databases/xbase/format/index.html](http://www.clicketyclick.d
k/databases/xbase/format/index.html)

Both the Esri and XBase file-formats are very simple in design and memory
efficient which is part of the reason the shapefile format remains popular
despite the numerous ways to store and exchange GIS data available today.

Pyshp is compatible with Python 2.4-3.x.

This document provides examples for using pyshp to read and write shapefiles. However
many more examples are continually added to the pyshp wiki on GitHub, the blog [http://GeospatialPython.com](http://GeospatialPython.com),
and by searching for pyshp on [https://gis.stackexchange.com](https://gis.stackexchange.com).

Currently the sample census blockgroup shapefile referenced in the examples is available on the GitHub project site at
[https://github.com/GeospatialPython/pyshp](https://github.com/GeospatialPython/pyshp). These
examples are straight-forward and you can also easily run them against your
own shapefiles with minimal modification.

Important: If you are new to GIS you should read about map projections.
Please visit: [https://github.com/GeospatialPython/pyshp/wiki/Map-Projections](https://github.com/GeospatialPython/pyshp/wiki/Map-Projections)

I sincerely hope this library eliminates the mundane distraction of simply
reading and writing data, and allows you to focus on the challenging and FUN
part of your geospatial project.

# Examples

Before doing anything you must import the library.

>>> import shapefile

The examples below will use a shapefile created from the U.S. Census Bureau
Blockgroups data set near San Francisco, CA and available in the git
repository of the pyshp GitHub site.

## Reading Shapefiles

To read a shapefile create a new "Reader" object and pass it the name of an
existing shapefile. The shapefile format is actually a collection of three
files. You specify the base filename of the shapefile or the complete filename
of any of the shapefile component files.


>>> sf = shapefile.Reader("shapefiles/blockgroups")

OR


>>> sf = shapefile.Reader("shapefiles/blockgroups.shp")

OR


>>> sf = shapefile.Reader("shapefiles/blockgroups.dbf")

OR any of the other 5+ formats which are potentially part of a shapefile. The
library does not care about file extensions.

### Reading Shapefiles from File-Like Objects

You can also load shapefiles from any Python file-like object using keyword
arguments to specify any of the three files. This feature is very powerful and
allows you to load shapefiles from a url, from a zip file, serialized object,
or in some cases a database.


>>> myshp = open("shapefiles/blockgroups.shp", "rb")
>>> mydbf = open("shapefiles/blockgroups.dbf", "rb")
>>> r = shapefile.Reader(shp=myshp, dbf=mydbf)

Notice in the examples above the shx file is never used. The shx file is a
very simple fixed-record index for the variable length records in the shp
file. This file is optional for reading. If it's available pyshp will use the
shx file to access shape records a little faster but will do just fine without
it.

### Reading Geometry

A shapefile's geometry is the collection of points or shapes made from
vertices and implied arcs representing physical locations. All types of
shapefiles just store points. The metadata about the points determine how they
are handled by software.

You can get the a list of the shapefile's geometry by calling the shapes()
method.


>>> shapes = sf.shapes()

The shapes method returns a list of Shape objects describing the geometry of
each shape record.


>>> len(shapes)
663

You can iterate through the shapefile's geometry using the iterShapes()
method.


>>> len(list(sf.iterShapes()))
663

Each shape record contains the following attributes:


>>> for name in dir(shapes[3]):
... if not name.startswith('__'):
... name
'bbox'
'parts'
'points'
'shapeType'

* shapeType: an integer representing the type of shape as defined by the
shapefile specification.


>>> shapes[3].shapeType
5

* bbox: If the shape type contains multiple points this tuple describes the
lower left (x,y) coordinate and upper right corner coordinate creating a
complete box around the points. If the shapeType is a
Null (shapeType == 0) then an AttributeError is raised.


>>> # Get the bounding box of the 4th shape.
>>> # Round coordinates to 3 decimal places
>>> bbox = shapes[3].bbox
>>> ['%.3f' % coord for coord in bbox]
['-122.486', '37.787', '-122.446', '37.811']

* parts: Parts simply group collections of points into shapes. If the shape
record has multiple parts this attribute contains the index of the first
point of each part. If there is only one part then a list containing 0 is
returned.

>>> shapes[3].parts
[0]

* points: The points attribute contains a list of tuples containing an
(x,y) coordinate for each point in the shape.

>>> len(shapes[3].points)
173
>>> # Get the 8th point of the fourth shape
>>> # Truncate coordinates to 3 decimal places
>>> shape = shapes[3].points[7]
>>> ['%.3f' % coord for coord in shape]
['-122.471', '37.787']

To read a single shape by calling its index use the shape() method. The index
is the shape's count from 0. So to read the 8th shape record you would use its
index which is 7.


>>> s = sf.shape(7)

>>> # Read the bbox of the 8th shape to verify
>>> # Round coordinates to 3 decimal places
>>> ['%.3f' % coord for coord in s.bbox]
['-122.450', '37.801', '-122.442', '37.808']

### Reading Records

A record in a shapefile contains the attributes for each shape in the
collection of geometry. Records are stored in the dbf file. The link between
geometry and attributes is the foundation of all geographic information systems.
This critical link is implied by the order of shapes and corresponding records
in the shp geometry file and the dbf attribute file.

The field names of a shapefile are available as soon as you read a shapefile.
You can call the "fields" attribute of the shapefile as a Python list. Each
field is a Python list with the following information:

* Field name: the name describing the data at this column index.
* Field type: the type of data at this column index. Types can be: Character,
Numbers, Longs, Dates, or Memo. The "Memo" type has no meaning within a
GIS and is part of the xbase spec instead.
* Field length: the length of the data found at this column index. Older GIS
software may truncate this length to 8 or 11 characters for "Character"
fields.
* Decimal length: the number of decimal places found in "Number" fields.

To see the fields for the Reader object above (sf) call the "fields"
attribute:


>>> fields = sf.fields

>>> assert fields == [("DeletionFlag", "C", 1, 0), ["AREA", "N", 18, 5],
... ["BKG_KEY", "C", 12, 0], ["POP1990", "N", 9, 0], ["POP90_SQMI", "N", 10, 1],
... ["HOUSEHOLDS", "N", 9, 0],
... ["MALES", "N", 9, 0], ["FEMALES", "N", 9, 0], ["WHITE", "N", 9, 0],
... ["BLACK", "N", 8, 0], ["AMERI_ES", "N", 7, 0], ["ASIAN_PI", "N", 8, 0],
... ["OTHER", "N", 8, 0], ["HISPANIC", "N", 8, 0], ["AGE_UNDER5", "N", 8, 0],
... ["AGE_5_17", "N", 8, 0], ["AGE_18_29", "N", 8, 0], ["AGE_30_49", "N", 8, 0],
... ["AGE_50_64", "N", 8, 0], ["AGE_65_UP", "N", 8, 0],
... ["NEVERMARRY", "N", 8, 0], ["MARRIED", "N", 9, 0], ["SEPARATED", "N", 7, 0],
... ["WIDOWED", "N", 8, 0], ["DIVORCED", "N", 8, 0], ["HSEHLD_1_M", "N", 8, 0],
... ["HSEHLD_1_F", "N", 8, 0], ["MARHH_CHD", "N", 8, 0],
... ["MARHH_NO_C", "N", 8, 0], ["MHH_CHILD", "N", 7, 0],
... ["FHH_CHILD", "N", 7, 0], ["HSE_UNITS", "N", 9, 0], ["VACANT", "N", 7, 0],
... ["OWNER_OCC", "N", 8, 0], ["RENTER_OCC", "N", 8, 0],
... ["MEDIAN_VAL", "N", 7, 0], ["MEDIANRENT", "N", 4, 0],
... ["UNITS_1DET", "N", 8, 0], ["UNITS_1ATT", "N", 7, 0], ["UNITS2", "N", 7, 0],
... ["UNITS3_9", "N", 8, 0], ["UNITS10_49", "N", 8, 0],
... ["UNITS50_UP", "N", 8, 0], ["MOBILEHOME", "N", 7, 0]]

You can get a list of the shapefile's records by calling the records() method:


>>> records = sf.records()

>>> len(records)
663

Similar to the geometry methods, you can iterate through dbf records using the
iterRecords() method.


>>> len(list(sf.iterRecords()))
663

Each record is a list containing an attribute corresponding to each field in
the field list.

For example in the 4th record of the blockgroups shapefile the 2nd and 3rd
fields are the blockgroup id and the 1990 population count of that San
Francisco blockgroup:


>>> records[3][1:3]
['060750601001', 4715]

To read a single record call the record() method with the record's index:


>>> rec = sf.record(3)

>>> rec[1:3]
['060750601001', 4715]

### Reading Geometry and Records Simultaneously

You may want to examine both the geometry and the attributes for a record at
the same time. The shapeRecord() and shapeRecords() method let you do just
that.

Calling the shapeRecords() method will return the geometry and attributes for
all shapes as a list of ShapeRecord objects. Each ShapeRecord instance has a
"shape" and "record" attribute. The shape attribute is a ShapeRecord object as
discussed in the first section "Reading Geometry". The record attribute is a
list of field values as demonstrated in the "Reading Records" section.


>>> shapeRecs = sf.shapeRecords()

Let's read the blockgroup key and the population for the 4th blockgroup:


>>> shapeRecs[3].record[1:3]
['060750601001', 4715]

Now let's read the first two points for that same record:


>>> points = shapeRecs[3].shape.points[0:2]

>>> len(points)
2

The shapeRecord() method reads a single shape/record pair at the specified index.
To get the 4th shape record from the blockgroups shapefile use the third index:


>>> shapeRec = sf.shapeRecord(3)

The blockgroup key and population count:


>>> shapeRec.record[1:3]
['060750601001', 4715]

>>> points = shapeRec.shape.points[0:2]

>>> len(points)
2

There is also an iterShapeRecords() method to iterate through large files:


>>> shapeRecs = sf.iterShapeRecords()
>>> for shapeRec in shapeRecs:
... # do something here
... pass


## Writing Shapefiles

PyShp tries to be as flexible as possible when writing shapefiles while
maintaining some degree of automatic validation to make sure you don't
accidentally write an invalid file.

PyShp can write just one of the component files such as the shp or dbf file
without writing the others. So in addition to being a complete shapefile
library, it can also be used as a basic dbf (xbase) library. Dbf files are a
common database format which are often useful as a standalone simple database
format. And even shp files occasionally have uses as a standalone format. Some
web-based GIS systems use an user-uploaded shp file to specify an area of
interest. Many precision agriculture chemical field sprayers also use the shp
format as a control file for the sprayer system (usually in combination with
custom database file formats).

To create a shapefile you add geometry and/or attributes using methods in the
Writer class until you are ready to save the file.

Create an instance of the Writer class to begin creating a shapefile:


>>> w = shapefile.Writer()

### Setting the Shape Type

The shape type defines the type of geometry contained in the shapefile. All of
the shapes must match the shape type setting.

Shape types are represented by numbers between 0 and 31 as defined by the
shapefile specification. It is important to note that numbering system has
several reserved numbers which have not been used yet therefore the numbers of
the existing shape types are not sequential.

There are three ways to set the shape type:
* Set it when creating the class instance.
* Set it by assigning a value to an existing class instance.
* Set it automatically to the type of the first non-null shape by saving the shapefile.

To manually set the shape type for a Writer object when creating the Writer:


>>> w = shapefile.Writer(shapeType=1)

>>> w.shapeType
1

OR you can set it after the Writer is created:


>>> w.shapeType = 3

>>> w.shapeType
3

### Geometry and Record Balancing

Because every shape must have a corresponding record it is critical that the
number of records equals the number of shapes to create a valid shapefile. You
must take care to add records and shapes in the same order so that the record
data lines up with the geometry data. For example:


>>> w.field("field1", "C")
>>> w.field("field2", "C")
>>> w.record("row", "one")
>>> w.record("row", "two")
>>> w.point(1, 1)
>>> w.point(2, 2)

### Adding Geometry

Geometry is added using one of three methods: "null", "point", or "poly". The
"null" method is used for null shapes, "point" is used for point shapes, "line" for lines, and
"poly" is used for polygons and everything else.

**Adding a Point shape**

Point shapes are added using the "point" method. A point is specified by an x,
y, and optional z (elevation) and m (measure) value.


>>> w = shapefile.Writer(shapefile.POINTM)

>>> w.point(122, 37) # No elevation or measure values

>>> w.shapes()[0].points
[[122, 37, 0, 0]]

>>> w.point(118, 36, 4, 8)

>>> w.shapes()[1].points
[[118, 36, 4, 8]]

>>> w.field('FIRST_FLD', 'C')
>>> w.field('SECOND_FLD', 'C')

>>> w.save('shapefiles/test/point')

**Adding a Polygon shape**

Shapefile polygons must have at
least 4 points and the last point must be the same as the first. PyShp
automatically enforces closed polygons.


>>> w = shapefile.Writer()

>>> w.poly(parts=[[[122,37,4,9], [117,36,3,4]], [[115,32,8,8],
... [118,20,6,4], [113,24]]])

>>> w.field('FIRST_FLD', 'C')
>>> w.field('SECOND_FLD', 'C')

>>> w.save('shapefiles/test/polygon')

**Adding a Line shape**

A line must have at least two points.
Because of the similarities between polygon and line types it is possible to create
a line shape using either the "line" or "poly" method.


>>> w = shapefile.Writer()

>>> w.line(parts=[[[1,5],[5,5],[5,1],[3,3],[1,1]]])
>>> w.poly(parts=[[[1,3],[5,3]]], shapeType=shapefile.POLYLINE)

>>> w.field('FIRST_FLD', 'C')
>>> w.field('SECOND_FLD', 'C')

>>> w.save('shapefiles/test/polygon')

**Adding a Null shape**

Because Null shape types (shape type 0) have no geometry the "null" method is
called without any arguments. This type of shapefile is rarely used but it is valid.


>>> w = shapefile.Writer()

>>> w.null()

The writer object's shapes list will now have one null shape:


>>> assert w.shapes()[0].shapeType == shapefile.NULL

### Creating Attributes

Creating attributes involves two steps. Step 1 is to create fields to contain
attribute values and step 2 is to populate the fields with values for each
shape record.

There are several different field types, all of which support storing None values as NULL.

Text fields are created using the 'C' type, and the third 'size' argument can be customized to the expected
length of text values to save space:


>>> w = shapefile.Writer()
>>> w.field('TEXT', 'C')
>>> w.field('SHORT_TEXT', 'C', size=5)
>>> w.field('LONG_TEXT', 'C', size=250)
>>> w.null()
>>> w.record('Hello', 'World', 'World'*50)
>>> w.save('shapefiles/test/dtype')

>>> r = shapefile.Reader('shapefiles/test/dtype')
>>> assert r.record(0) == ['Hello', 'World', 'World'*50]

Date fields are created using the 'D' type, and can be created using either
date objects, lists, or a YYYYMMDD formatted string.
Field length or decimal have no impact on this type:


>>> from datetime import date
>>> w = shapefile.Writer()
>>> w.field('DATE', 'D')
>>> w.null()
>>> w.null()
>>> w.null()
>>> w.null()
>>> w.record(date(1998,1,30))
>>> w.record([1998,1,30])
>>> w.record('19980130')
>>> w.record(None)
>>> w.save('shapefiles/test/dtype')

>>> r = shapefile.Reader('shapefiles/test/dtype')
>>> assert r.record(0) == [date(1998,1,30)]
>>> assert r.record(1) == [date(1998,1,30)]
>>> assert r.record(2) == [date(1998,1,30)]
>>> assert r.record(3) == [None]

Numeric fields are created using the 'N' type (or the 'F' type, which is exactly the same).
By default the fourth decimal argument is set to zero, essentially creating an integer field.
To store floats you must set the decimal argument to the precision of your choice.
To store very large numbers you must increase the field length size to the total number of digits
(including comma and minus).


>>> w = shapefile.Writer()
>>> w.field('INT', 'N')
>>> w.field('LOWPREC', 'N', decimal=2)
>>> w.field('MEDPREC', 'N', decimal=10)
>>> w.field('HIGHPREC', 'N', decimal=30)
>>> w.field('FTYPE', 'F', decimal=10)
>>> w.field('LARGENR', 'N', 101)
>>> nr = 1.3217328
>>> w.null()
>>> w.null()
>>> w.record(INT=int(nr), LOWPREC=nr, MEDPREC=nr, HIGHPREC=-3.2302e-25, FTYPE=nr, LARGENR=int(nr)*10**100)
>>> w.record(None, None, None, None, None, None)
>>> w.save('shapefiles/test/dtype')

>>> r = shapefile.Reader('shapefiles/test/dtype')
>>> assert r.record(0) == [1, 1.32, 1.3217328, -3.2302e-25, 1.3217328, 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000]
>>> assert r.record(1) == [None, None, None, None, None, None]


Finally, we can create boolean fields by setting the type to 'L'.
This field can take True or False values, or 1 (True) or 0 (False).
None is interpreted as missing.


>>> w = shapefile.Writer()
>>> w.field('BOOLEAN', 'L')
>>> w.null()
>>> w.null()
>>> w.null()
>>> w.null()
>>> w.null()
>>> w.record(True)
>>> w.record(1)
>>> w.record(False)
>>> w.record(0)
>>> w.record(None)
>>> w.record("Nonesense")
>>> w.save('shapefiles/test/dtype')

>>> r = shapefile.Reader('shapefiles/test/dtype')
>>> r.record(0)
[True]
>>> r.record(1)
[True]
>>> r.record(2)
[False]
>>> r.record(3)
[False]
>>> r.record(4)
[None]
>>> r.record(5)
[None]

You can also add attributes using keyword arguments where the keys are field names.


>>> w = shapefile.Writer()
>>> w.field('FIRST_FLD','C','40')
>>> w.field('SECOND_FLD','C','40')
>>> w.record('First', 'Line')
>>> w.record(FIRST_FLD='First', SECOND_FLD='Line')
>>> assert w.records[0] == w.records[1]



### File Names

File extensions are optional when reading or writing shapefiles. If you specify
them PyShp ignores them anyway. When you save files you can specify a base
file name that is used for all three file types. Or you can specify a name for
one or more file types. In that case, any file types not assigned will not
save and only file types with file names will be saved. If you do not specify
any file names (i.e. save()), then a unique file name is generated with the
prefix "shapefile_" followed by random characters which is used for all three
files. The unique file name is returned as a string.


>>> targetName = w.save()
>>> assert("shapefile_" in targetName)

### Saving to File-Like Objects

Just as you can read shapefiles from python file-like objects you can also
write them.


>>> try:
... from StringIO import StringIO
... except ImportError:
... from io import BytesIO as StringIO
>>> shp = StringIO()
>>> shx = StringIO()
>>> dbf = StringIO()
>>> w.saveShp(shp)
>>> w.saveShx(shx)
>>> w.saveDbf(dbf)
>>> # Normally you would call the "StringIO.getvalue()" method on these objects.
>>> shp = shx = dbf = None

## Editing Shapefiles

The Editor class attempts to make changing existing shapefiles easier by
handling the reading and writing details behind the scenes. This class is
experimental, has lots of issues, and should be avoided for production use. *You can do the same
thing by reading a shapefile into memory, making changes to the python objects,
and write out a new shapefile with the same or different name.*

Let's add shapes to existing shapefiles:

Add a point to a point shapefile:


>>> e = shapefile.Editor(shapefile="shapefiles/test/point.shp")
>>> e.point(0,0,10,2)
>>> e.record("Appended","Point")
>>> e.save('shapefiles/test/point')

Add a new line to a line shapefile:


>>> e = shapefile.Editor(shapefile="shapefiles/test/line.shp")
>>> e.line(parts=[[[10,5],[15,5],[15,1],[13,3],[11,1]]])
>>> e.record('Appended','Line')
>>> e.save('shapefiles/test/line')

Add a new polygon to a polygon shapefile:


>>> e = shapefile.Editor(shapefile="shapefiles/test/polygon.shp")
>>> e.poly(parts=[[[5.1,5],[9.9,5],[9.9,1],[7.5,3],[5.1,1]]])
>>> e.record("Appended","Polygon")
>>> e.save('shapefiles/test/polygon')

Remove the first point in each shapefile - for a point shapefile that is the
first shape and record":


>>> e = shapefile.Editor(shapefile="shapefiles/test/point.shp")
>>> e.delete(0)
>>> e.save('shapefiles/test/point')

Remove the last shape in the polygon shapefile:


>>> e = shapefile.Editor(shapefile="shapefiles/test/polygon.shp")
>>> e.delete(-1)
>>> e.save('shapefiles/test/polygon')

### Geometry and Record Balancing

Because every shape must have a corresponding record it is critical that the
number of records equals the number of shapes to create a valid shapefile. To
help prevent accidental misalignment pyshp has an "auto balance" feature to
make sure when you add either a shape or a record the two sides of the
equation line up. This feature is NOT turned on by default. To activate it set
the attribute autoBalance to 1 (True):


>>> e.autoBalance = 1

You also have the option of manually calling the balance() method each time
you add a shape or a record to ensure the other side is up to date. When
balancing is used null shapes are created on the geometry side or a record
with a value of "NULL" for each field is created on the attribute side.

The balancing option gives you flexibility in how you build the shapefile.

Without auto balancing you can add geometry or records at anytime. You can
create all of the shapes and then create all of the records or vice versa. You
can use the balance method after creating a shape or record each time and make
updates later. If you do not use the balance method and forget to manually
balance the geometry and attributes the shapefile will be viewed as corrupt by
most shapefile software.

With auto balancing you can add either shapes or geometry and update blank
entries on either side as needed. Even if you forget to update an entry the
shapefile will still be valid and handled correctly by most shapefile
software.

## Python \_\_geo_interface\_\_

The Python \_\_geo_interface\_\_ convention provides a data interchange interface
among geospatial Python libraries. The interface returns data as GeoJSON which gives you
nice compatibility with other libraries and tools including Shapely, Fiona, and PostGIS.
More information on the \_\_geo_interface\_\_ protocol can be found at:
[https://gist.github.com/sgillies/2217756](https://gist.github.com/sgillies/2217756).
More information on GeoJSON is available at [http://geojson.org](http://geojson.org).


>>> s = sf.shape(0)
>>> s.__geo_interface__["type"]
'MultiPolygon'

# Testing

The testing framework is doctest, which are located in this file README.md.
In the same folder as README.md and shapefile.py, from the command line run
```
$ python shapefile.py
```

Linux/Mac and similar platforms will need to run `$ dos2unix README.md` in order
correct line endings in README.md.