Guide to Direct Read/Write for Third-Party Vector Data 

For Shapefile, FileGDB, GeoPackage, and ArcSDE_Oracle vector data, the direct connection mechanism provided by the SuperMap platform supports directly reading source data and allows users to perform a full suite of operations such as real-time browsing, querying, editing, and spatial analysis. Simultaneously, the processing results can be directly saved to third-party vector files. This mode avoids the time consumption and potential information distortion caused by data conversion in traditional workflows. For large-volume vector data, it enables rapid integration and efficient processing, thereby significantly improving data value utilization. 

Table 1: Overview of Third-Party Vector Data Direct Connection Functions  

This table briefly describes the support status for direct connection to third-party data. Legend: "√" indicates support, "×" indicates no support.

Supported Format Read Edit Directly Save Analyst Results Remarks
ShapeFile √  × √

Use the vector file engine (EngineType.VECTORFILE) for connection.
FileGDB √ √ √
  • Use ArcSDE Oracle (EngineType.ARCSDE_ORACLE) for connection.
  • Only supports reading 2D/3D point, line, and region data.
  • If the GeoPackage file fails to open, it may be because it contains data with MultiCurve, CurvePolygon, or CompoundCurve geometry types. Currently, GeoPackage does not support parametric objects.
GeoPackage √ √ ×
ArcSDE_Oracle √ × ×

Table 2: Detailed Description of Third-Party Vector Data Direct Connection Functions

This table shows the support status of various functional modules for third-party vector data. Legend: "√" indicates support, "×" indicates no support, "--" indicates not applicable.

Function Module Function Name FileGDB Shapefile GeoPackage Remarks
Data Source Connection Directly Open FileGDB √ -- -- To open FileGDB, specify the folder path of the File GDB file. To open Shapefile or GeoPackage, specify the full path (including the .shp or .gpkg extension).
Directly Open Shapefile -- √ --
Directly Open GeoPackage -- -- √
Metadata Reading Read Layer Bounds √ √ √  
Read Coordinate System Definition √ √ √  
Read Geometry Type √ √ √
  • For supported dataset types, refer to Table 3.
  • Supports reading M values in geometries (parametric objects' M values are not supported). Specifically, for FileGDB source data, if the M values of all vertices in a line/region object are NAN, the M value is read as 0; if M values of some vertices are NAN, the M value is read as the minimum value of the M value range. For Shapefile source data, if the M value is NAN, it is uniformly read as -1.7976931348623157E308.
Read Field Structure √ √ √ For supported types, refer to Table 4.
Geometry and Attribute Query Spatial Query √ √ √  
Attribute Query √ √ √  
SQL Query √ √ √
  • For supported SQL Query syntax, refer to Table 5.
  • When performing SQL Query on DATETIME fields in GeoPackage, if your input query condition value (e.g., "2025/08/21 17:08:07") needs to be modified to the actual date format stored in the file ("2025-08-21T17:08:07", with date and time connected by "T") to successfully query results, otherwise the query will fail. This is because DATETIME fields in GeoPackage files are stored in the "YYYY-MM-DDT00:00:00" format. If you use date values saved by the SuperMap platform, the query condition value here needs to be modified to "2025-08-21T17:08:07.000", because the SuperMap platform saves time with millisecond precision.
Geometry and Attribute Editing Edit Objects √ × √
  • Parametric objects in FileGDB will be fitted into polylines after editing. Shapefile and GeoPackage do not support parametric objects.
  • If the attribute dataset in FileGDB or GeoPackage only contains primary key fields, adding new records is not supported.
  • For FileGDB source data, if the M value of a point object is NAN, after geometry update, the M value will automatically be updated to the minimum value of the M value range.
New Field √ × √
  • For supported types, refer to Table 4.
  • WTEXT and CHAR fields created using the SuperMap platform will be automatically converted to TEXT fields.
  • DATE fields created using the SuperMap platform will be automatically converted to DATETIME fields.
  • BYTE fields created using the SuperMap platform will be automatically converted to INT16 fields.
Delete Field √ × √  
Modify Selected Fields (field name, length, default value, etc.) × × ×  
Advanced Features Domain × × ×  
Subtype × × ×  
Conditional Value × × ×  
Attachment Management × × ×  
Dataset Group √ -- --
  • Only supports reading FileGDB dataset groups, does not support creating or modifying them.
  • Deleting a dataset group only deletes all datasets under the group, not the group itself.
Version Control × × ×  
Attribute and Spatial Index √ √ √ Supports using the index that comes with the file; does not support creating an index.
Directly Save Analyst Results Save Analyst Results Directly as FileGDB √ -- --  
  Save Analyst Results Directly as Shapefile -- √ --  
  Save Analyst Results Directly as GeoPackage -- -- ×  
Dataset Management Create, Delete, Copy, Rename Dataset     √ -- √
  • FileGDB only supports EPSG projections. When creating a new dataset, set an EPSG projection to ensure normal data usage.
  • If a new dataset does not have dataset bounds set, the coordinate values of new objects are not allowed to be less than -2147483647 (i.e., not less than the minimum value of INTbit32), otherwise object creation will fail. If valid dataset bounds have been set in advance, the coordinate values of new objects are not affected by this restriction.
  • When copying a dataset to a vector file, if the source dataset contains INTbit64 fields, the INT64 fields will be lost after copying to the vector file because the current version does not support creating INT64 fields.
Multi-Process/Thread Multi-Thread Reading √ √ √  
Multi-Process Editing × × ×  
Transaction Commit × × ×  

Table 3: Supported Dataset Types

This table shows the support status for each classic dataset type in directly connected data sources. Legend: "√" indicates support for reading and editing, "Read-Only" indicates support only for reading, "×" indicates no support at all or that this dataset type is not contained in this format.

Dataset Type FileGDB Shapefile GeoPackage
Network × × ×
Text Read-Only × ×

Topology

 × × ×
Attribute Table √ × √
Multi-Point Read-Only Read-Only ×
Relationship Class × × ×
2D/3D Point, Line, Region √ Read-Only √

Table 4: Supported Field Types

This table shows the supported field types in datasets. Legend: "√" indicates support for reading and editing, "Read-Only" indicates support only for reading, "×" indicates no support at all or that this field type is not contained in this format.

Field Type FileGDB Shapefile GeoPackage
INT16 √ Read-Only √
INT32 √ Read-Only √
INT64 Read-Only Read-Only Read-Only
DOUBLE √ Read-Only √
SINGLE √ Read-Only √
TEXT √ Read-Only √
WTEXT × × ×
JSONB × × ×
CHAR × × ×
BOOLEAN × Read-Only Read-Only
DATETIME √ Read-Only √
DATE × × ×
TIME × × ×
BYTE  × × ×
LONGBINARY √ × √

Table 5: Supported SQL Query Functions

This table shows the support status for key SQL keywords in query functions. Legend: "√" indicates support, "×" indicates no support.

SQL Query Category SQL Keyword Support Status
Conditional Query WHERE Clause √
DISTINCT for Deduplication √
LIKE for Fuzzy Matching √
IN for Value List Matching √
BETWEEN for Range Matching √
Aggregation and Grouping GROUP BY for Grouping √
Aggregates like COUNT(), SUM(), AVG() √
HAVING for Post-Grouping Filtering ×
Sorting and Paging ORDER BY for Sorting √
LIMIT for Paging ×
Advanced Query JOIN for Multi-Table Associative Query ×
SELECT Nested Query ×
UNION for Union Query ×
AS for Alias √
Stored Procedure/Function ×

Related Topics

Open External Vector File

New Datasource

Manage Datasource