MITAB

MITAB is an Open Source (i.e. Free!) C++ library to read and write MapInfo .TAB (binary) and .MIF/MID files. It is based on the OGR library which is an implementation of the Open GIS Consortium Simple Feature specification.

If what you need is not a library but a MapInfo conversion utility, then the "TAB2TAB" conversion program could possibly do what you want. See below.

Current Status:

The library has been tested in a number of environments and is known to be quite stable. However, since it has been built based on the analysis of binary datasets, it is always possible that some files might not work with it. If you encounter datasets that do not work, please send a note to the MITAB list (see below), describing the problem and pointing us to where we can get a copy of the faulty dataset.

Unfortunately, the libary still lacks good documentation for the complete C++ API. However, for simple applications that do not need all the power of the C++ interface, a simple C API built on top of the C++ API comes with the library. See the MITAB C API documentation.

The latest version of the library is version 1.7.0 from April 21, 2008.

• Overview of the package... more complete documentation still on the ToDo list.

• HISTORY.TXT list of changes, known problems, ToDo list, etc.

• MITAB C API documentation

• MITAB-1.7.0-WIN32.ZIP: contains a precompiled version of the TAB2TAB command-line conversion program for WIN32 (DOS executable under Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP) and of mitab.dll+mitab_capi.h (all you need to use the C API on Windows).

  TAB2TAB replaces the former TAB2MIF and MIF2TAB programs. The same program can do tab-to-mif and mif-to-tab translations:

          Usage: tab2tab <src_filename> <dst_filename>
              Converts TAB or MIF file  to TAB or MIF format.
              The extension of  (.tab or .mif) defines the output format.
  

• mitab-1.7.0.tar.gz (or mitab-1.7.0.zip): The latest version of the library's source code.

Mailing list:

• You are invited to join the MITAB mailing list if you are using the MITAB library would like to be informed of new developments, etc.

  Any questions (e.g. "How do I do this or that?"), problem reports, and other issues related to the TAB format can (and should!) also be discussed on this list.

  Also, new users are invited to browse the mailing list archive at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mitab/ before posting their questions.

Bug Reports - Bugzilla:

• MITAB bugs can be reported using Bugzilla at http://bugzilla.maptools.org/.
  Use this link to query the list of open bugs.
  Use this link to enter new bugs.

Special Thanks to:

• Frank Warmerdam for his work on the projection conversion code and on the OGR architecture.

• Stephane Villeneuve for implementing .MIF/.MID support.

• To all those who have contributed test datasets, bug reports, and other useful pieces of information.

See also:

• Other GIS translators and utilities, format information, etc.