PHP ShapeFile 2.0.0

What’s new in Version 2.0.0

• Support for Z and M shape types
• Native DBF reading capabilities
• All strings read from DBF are returned already encoded in utf-8
• Code is now PHP FIG PSR-1, PSR-2 and PSR-4 compliant
• ShapeFile namespace and ShapeFileAutoloader class
• FLAG_SUPPRESS_Z and FLAG_SUPPRESS_M flags
• GEOMETRY_BOTH format for getRecord() method
• New DBF error codes
• PHP 7 compatible
• Support for big-endian machines
• Some other minor code improvements

Support for Z and M shape types

PointM, MultiPointM, PolyLineM, PolygonM, PointZ, MultiPointZ, PolyLineZ and PolygonZ are now supported. This means PHP ShapeFile can read all kinds of shapefiles (excluding MultiPatch ones, which I have never ever seen, really)!

Native DBF reading capabilities

The XBase dependency as fallback for dbase functions had been dropped. That was a brilliant project but unfortunately it’s not maintained anymore and it was causing major PHP 7 compatibility issues.
The solution was to drop both XBase and dbase dependencies and provide native DBF reading capabilities.
PHP ShapeFile is now 100% standalone, PHP 7 compatible and faster than ever!

All strings read from DBF are returned already encoded in utf-8

As a bonus for having native DBF reading capabilities, all the strings read from the DBF files are now returned already encoded in utf-8.

Code is now PHP-FIG PSR-1, PSR-2 and PSR-4 compliant

This should be self-explanatory. Even if I don’t fully agree with all the recommendation, I tried to follow them all in order to provide some standardized code.

ShapeFile namespace and ShapeFileAutoloader class

All the classes reside in a brand new \ShapeFile namespace and a static ShapeFileAutoloader is available to provide autoloading capabilities.

FLAG_SUPPRESS_Z and FLAG_SUPPRESS_M flags

Some good old school flags for the \ShapeFile\ShapeFile constructor. See flags for details.

GEOMETRY_BOTH format for getRecord() method

A new format is available for getRecord() method: ShapeFile::GEOMETRY_BOTH. See the output section for details.

New DBF error codes

Native DBF capabilities require some new ShapeFileException error codes. You can find all the error codes here.

PHP 7 compatible

Dropping the XBase dependency and rewriting part of the code should have made this library PHP 7 compatible. I don’t think there are many PHP libraries to read ESRI Shapefiles currently maintained out there.

Support for big-endian machines

It’s unlikely that you will run some PHP code on big-endian machines, but this library will now work nonetheless.

Download and documentation

Go to the Lab page: PHP ShapeFile