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CSV

.csv
Supported

CSV is a plain text table format with comma-separated columns. In GIS, CSV is commonly used to store tabular data with coordinate columns (such as longitude, latitude). While CSV itself is not a geospatial format, by specifying coordinate fields, tabular data can be converted to geometric features like points, lines, or polygons. CSV is the most common way to export geographic data from spreadsheets, databases, and sensors.

Specifications

Standard: RFC 4180

MIME: text/csv, application/csv

Key Features

Advantages

  • Most universal format, can be generated and read by virtually all systems
  • Easy to manually edit and review
  • Suitable for batch conversion and import of coordinate data

Limitations

  • Does not support geometry types (point/line/polygon), only coordinate points
  • No coordinate reference system information
  • Lacks compression for large datasets

Common Use Cases

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