Exporting a Terrain File (*.terx) to an ArcView Shape File
Updated September 21, 2023
This article applies to:
- Terrain 3D
- Terrain Forestry
- RoadEng Civil
- RoadEng Forestry
Download the files for the example HERE
(Note: it is a .zip file, you will need to save and extract the files first)
This example will demonstrate how to export a TERX file to ArcView shape format including attributes and geo-referenced coordinate information.
1- Start the Terrain module and open OriginalGroundGrading.terx from the attached folder.
Figure 1: Terrain module screen.
2- In the Setup tab, click on the Module Setup button. Set the Projection tab as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Projection tab.
3- Choose menu File | Save as and select Save as type: Arcview Shape (*.SHP). Choose a name for the file.
4- When the Export Options appears, choose Points and check the Write PRJ file and Include Z values items.
Figure 3: Export Options dialog.
NOTE: We must export in Points format because shape files will not allow Polyline features to have individual attributes. If you wish to also include the Polyline features you must save it in another shape file with the Shape File Organization set to Polylines.
5- Click on the Add/Remove button and add the point attributes you wish to include in the export.
Figure 4: Attribute Options dialog.
6- Press OK twice to save the shape file.
7- Again start from step 3 but select Polylines in Shape File Organization box.
8- Click on the Add/Remove button and add the attributes you wish to include in the export. Press OK twice to save the shape file.
Follow the below steps to merge 2 shape files in the Terrain module. Open the Terrain module.
1 - File | Open. Navigate to find the first shape file. In case you don't see the file in the folder you have it, you may consider selecting All Supported Files in the Drop-down list. Once you had found the file, press OK twice to see imported items on the screen. In the home tab click on Insert File button and add the other shape file into the current file.
2 - In the home tab click on Select button and select all features. Tag Modelled on the Properties box on the right side of the screen and click Apply button.
3 - The result will be like the next Figure below.
Figure 5: Modelled Surface.
Right click outside of the features to unselect them.
4 - Now in the Terrain Modeling tab click on the Generate button and then press OK. The below figure shows the generated TIN model of the project.
Figure 6: the 3D shape of the file.