Importing MIF/MID, PICT, or MapInfo for DOS Files - MapBasic - 2023

Syntax

Import file_name 
	[ Type file_type ] 
	[ Into table_name [ Type { NATIVE | NATIVEX } ]  ] 
	[ Overwrite ]

file_name is a string that specifies the name of the file to import.

file_type is a string that specifies the import file format (MIF, MBI, MMI, IMG, or PICT).

table_name specifies the name of the new table to create.

Description

The Import statement creates a new MapInfo table by importing the contents of an existing file.

The optional Type clause specifies the format of the file you want to import. The Type clause can take one of the following forms:

If you omit the Type clause, MapInfo Pro assumes that the file's extension indicates the file format. For example, a file named "PARCELS.DXF" is assumed to be a DXF file. (For more about DXF, see Importing DXF Files.)

The Into clause lets you override the name and location of the MapInfo table that is created. If no Into clause is specified, the new table is created in the same directory location as the original file, with a corresponding file name. For example, on Windows, if you import the text file "WORLD.MIF", the new table's default name is "WORLD.TAB".

Use Into with the Type clause to specify whether to import into MapInfo (NATIVE) or MapInfo Extended (NATIVEX) format. The NATIVEX format supports table caches larger than 2GB in size and character sets UTF-8 and UTF-16. The optional Type clause must follow the Into clause if present. If not specified, then the NATIVE format is assumed. Note that this Type clause is different than the Type clause for the import file type.

If you include the optional Overwrite keyword, MapInfo Pro creates a new table, regardless of whether a table by that name already exists; the new table replaces the existing table. If you omit the Overwrite keyword, and the table already exists, MapInfo Pro does not overwrite the table.

Example

Sample importing using current MapInfo style:

Import "D:\midata\GML\test.gml" Type "GML" layer "TopographicLine" style 
auto off Into "D:\midata\GML\test_TopographicLine.TAB" Overwrite

The following example imports a MIF (MapInfo Interchange Format) file:

Import "WORLD.MIF"
	Type "MIF"
	Into "world_2.tab"

	Map From world_2