Shape File
A shape file is an Esri vector data storage format for storing the location, shape, and attributes of
geographic features. It is stored as a set of related files and contains one feature class.
Types of Shape File
Shp : The main file that stores the feature geometry; required.
.shx : The index file that stores the index of the feature geometry; required.
.dbf : The dbase table that stores the attribute information of features; required.
There is a one-to-one relationship between geometry and attributes, which is based on record
number. Attribute records in the dbase file must be in the same order as records in the main file.
.sbn and .sbx : The files that store the spatial index of the features.
.fbn and .fbx : The files that store the spatial index of the features for shapefiles that are read-only.
.ain and .aih : The files that store the attribute index of the active fields in a table or a theme’s
attribute table.
.atx : An .atx file is created for each shape file or dbase attribute index created in Arc Catalog.
ArcView GIS 3.x attribute indexes for shapefiles and dbase files are not used by ArcGIS. A new
attribute indexing model has been developed for shape files and dbase files.
.ixs : Geocoding index for read/write shape files.
.mxs : Geocoding index for read/write shapefiles (ODB format).
.prj : The file that stores the coordinate system information; used by ArcGIS.
.xml : Metadata for ArcGIS—stores information about the shape file.
.cpg : An optional file that can be used to specify the code page for identifying the character set to
be used.
