CSV, TXT, and GPX files
In this topic
You can add features to your map that are stored in a delimited text file (.txt or .csv) or a GPS Exchange Format file (.gpx). The map viewer adds the location information, draws features on the map for each item in the file, and stores the information in the map as a layer. Once you've added your feature file to the map, you can edit the properties of the layer that is created. For example, you can configure pop-ups, change symbols, set the visibility range, enable editing, and remove pop-ups.
Text files
You can add features from a delimited text file (.txt) or comma-separated values text file (.csv) that include latitude and longitude or address information. The file needs to include at least one pair of coordinate fields or one or more address fields. The first row needs to contain the location field names. If your file has latitude and longitude fields, these are used to locate the features on the map. If your file has address information, or if the latitude and longitude information cannot be determined by the map viewer, you are prompted to review the location fields and change them, if necessary.
The following fields are supported:
- Latitude, Longitude
- Lat, Long
- Y, X
- Ycenter, Xcenter
- Point_y, Point_x
- Address
- City
- State
- Zip
Considerations for adding text files
- The more address fields you include, the more accurate your geocoding results will be. For example, address and ZIP Code will yield better results than just address.
- The address field can contain multiple parts of an address (sometimes called single-line geocoding).
- Fields can be separated with a comma, semicolon, or tab. Other separators are not supported.
- Latitude and longitude information needs to be in decimal degrees.
- The map viewer may not be able to create a layer from the text file if the file contains more spaces than separators in the field names (the first line of the file). Remove some spaces in the field names and try adding the file again.
- Order and case does not matter (for example, you could have 519 East 86 Street, New York, NY, 10028 or new york,10028,519 east 86 street,ny.
- When using addresses, the first 250 rows of features are displayed.
- Date fields included in the CSV or text file must be in the format MM/DD/YYYY or DD/MM/YYYY, with any separator between the numbers representing the day, month, and year. If time is included in the date, it must be 24-hour time in the format HH:MM:SS, with any separator between the numbers.
- Use Firefox or Chrome to drag and drop your file directly onto the map.
- If your data contains non-English characters, for example, characters specific to the French, Russian, Greek, Japanese, or Arabic alphabets, the file you import must be encoded as Unicode or UTF-8, and not ASCII. If you import an ASCII-encoded file containing non-English characters, it may display attribute values using unexpected characters. You can save a text file as UTF-8 or Unicode in Windows. Open the file in a text editor such as Notepad, click File > Save As, and choose UTF-8 or Unicode from the Encoding drop-down list shown at the bottom of the Save As dialog box.
- If your CSV or TXT file is stored on a publicly accessible website and contains latitude and longitude information, you can reference it as a layer on the web. Whenever the map is opened, it shows the latest data from your file. You can add a .csv or .txt file from the web that contains address information, but the file will be stored with the map. Any updates you make to the original .csv or .txt on the web won't be reflected in the map.
- If you are adding a CSV file from the web that includes number fields with decimals, the decimal characters in your file should match the format that your system language supports. For example, if your system is set to English, your file should use periods as decimals. If you system is set to French, your file should use commas as decimals.
- CSV files are projected in Web Mercator. The map viewer does not support datum transformations.
- You can add and share a CSV file (including one with address information) as an item on the website for others to download. The file cannot be viewed with the map viewer.
GPX files
You can add data captured with a GPS device by converting the data to a file in GPS Exchange Format (.gpx). Numerous third-party and GPS manufacturer utilities exist to perform this conversion. The following types of data are supported:
- Waypoints—These are points that the GPS user recorded manually, often specifying a name, to mark locations on the map.
- Tracks—These are points the GPS device recorded automatically at a periodic interval. Tracks are rendered as linear features.
- Routes—These are points the GPS device used to navigate to a specified location. Routes are rendered as linear features.
GPX files can contain multiple layers showing waypoints, tracks and routes.
If no symbol is specified or if the symbol isn't part of a symbol set included in the map viewer, a default waypoint symbol is used.