Monday, October 4, 2010

Deleting an attribute field from a shape file using Global Mapper

Sometimes I want to remove an attribute field from a shape file for some housekeeping reason. I could use Global Mapper to do the job. The workflow in Global Mapper is straightforward - basically you load in the shape file, select all the features, then edit and delete the field(s) you desired. Finally, the changes must be saved back to the original shape file. The steps in more detail are illustrated below.

  1. Start up Global Mapper. Load in a shape file, e.g. Incidents.shp.
  2. Click the Digitizer tool button.


  3. Press down and drag the left mouse button and select all the features.


  4. Press down the right mouse button.

    A pop up menu appears.

  5. Choose Edit Selected Features.

    The Modify Selected Point Features dialog box appears.

  6. In the Feature Attributes combo box, choose the attribute field, e.g. OCCURRENCE.


  7. Click Delete.

    A confirmation prompt appears.

  8. Click Yes. Then Click OK.

    The attribute field is deleted from the features in RAM.
  9. Select File | Export Vector Data | Export Shape File.

    The Shapefile Export Options dialog box appears.

  10. Toggle on the geometry type, e.g. Export Points. Browse and select the original shape file, e.g. Incidents.shp.
  11. Click OK.

    The changes are saved permanently.

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