The TAB format (MapInfo tables) is the native format of MapInfo. This format can be read into most GIS packages. The TAB format consists of two files for tabular information, similar to a spreadsheet, and two files for geographic display. All four files are needed to display the geometry and attributes of geographically reference features. The four specific file extensions needed to display the geometry are as follows:
.dat
: The dBASE file that stores the attribute information of features.
.id
: The file that stores the index of the feature geometry to the attribute table.
.map
: The file that stores the geographic information to display each feature.
.tab
: The file that links the above three files and holds information about the dataset.
Layer | Country | Description |
---|---|---|
county (inc GLAs)
E
Polygon
county_electoral_division
E
Polygon
district_borough_unitary
E, S, W
Polygon
district_borough_unitary_ward
E, S
Polygon
english_region
E
Polygon
greater_london_const
E
Polygon
high_water
E, S, W
Polyline
parish
E, S, W
Polygon
unitary_electoral_division
E, W
Polygon
westminster_const
E, S, W
Polygon
scotland_and_wales_const
S, W
Polygon
scotland_and_wales
S, W
Polygon
polling_districts_england_region
E
Polygon
Boundary_line_historic_counties_region
E, S, W
Polygon
Boundary_line_ceremonial_counties_region
E, S, W
Polygon
community_ward
W
Polygon
historic_european_region
E, S, W
Polygon
country_region
E, S, W
Polygon