Got Enough GIS Data Formats?
ESRI doesn’t think so. So, for your convenience, the ArcPad development team is releasing the AXF format, as announced on their blog (via James Fee).
“Prior to ArcPad 7.1, shapefiles were ArcPad’s most common spatial file format for features. Shapefiles are great for many applications, but shapefiles lack the capabilities to support more sophisticated relational database requirments that exist in the ArcGIS Geodatabase. So ArcPad 7.1 introduced the AXF format, which we like to refer to as a "lightweight geodatabase".”
The post author, Elvin Slavik, is quick to announce that “AXF is not actually a new file format but rather it is built on top of existing proven database technology. In this case, AXF is built on top of Microsoft's SQL Server Compact Edition (SQLCE).” So, it’s not a new file format, after all.
This is probably true on some semantical level, but it doesn’t change the fact that AXF adds more complexity to an already complex and often confused marketplace.
Posted by Atanas Entchev at 6/18/2008 2:57 PM 
Categories: news,AXF,ArcPad,Opinion,Microsoft,GIS,Technology,ESRI,Data,blog
Tags: news AXF ArcPad Opinion Microsoft GIS Technology ESRI Data blog
Categories: news,AXF,ArcPad,Opinion,Microsoft,GIS,Technology,ESRI,Data,blog
Tags: news AXF ArcPad Opinion Microsoft GIS Technology ESRI Data blog
Given that shapefiles are not sophistaced enough to support a complex relational geodatabase, and mobile devices do not have the processing power to merely port desktop formats. What do you suggest instead?
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Elvin: I don't claim to have the solution. I am no fan of the shapefile myself, but as I have written elsewhere, it provided a commonly accepted and recognized GIS data-exchange platform, i.e., operational clarity and simplicity.
Having worked in the GIS trenches for 15+ years, I submit that simplicity is of paramount importance for the success of mobile, or "field" GIS.
Leica Geosystems is taking the field GIS in a different direction with their MobileMatriX (MMX) ArcGIS extension. The MMX allows users to collect field data directly into the geodatabase. Far from simple, but worth a look, IMHO.
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