The MapInfo Interchange File (MIF)
Format Specification
MapInfo Corporation
Troy, NY
Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of the vendor or
its representatives. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying without the written permission of MapInfo Corporation, One Global View, Troy, New York
12180–8399.
©
1992–1999 MapInfo Corporation. All rights reserved. MapInfo Help
©
1992–1999 MapInfo Corporation. All rights reserved.
MapInfo, MapInfo Professional, and the MapInfo “Rainbow” Logo are registered trademarks of MapInfo Corporation in the United
States Products named herein may be trademarks of their respective manufacturers and are hereby recognized. Trademarked names
are used editorially, to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intent to infringe on the trademark. MapInfo welcomes your
comments and suggestions.
Contact MapInfo Corporation on the Internet at: http://www.mapinfo.com
MapInfo Interchange File (MIF) Format Specification
October 1999
MapInfo Corporate Headquarters: MapInfo Europe Headquarters:
Voice: (518) 285–6000
England Germany
Fax: (518) 285–6060 voice: +44 (0)1753 848 200 voice: +49 6196 6700 0
Sales Info Hotline: (800) 327–8627 fax: +44 (0)1753 621 140 fax: +49 6196 6700 11
Federal Sales: (800) 619–2333
Technical Support Hotline: (518) 285–7283
Technical Support Fax: (518) 285–6080
Toll-free telephone support is available in the U.S. and Canada.
Contact your MapInfo sales representative for details. For
international customers, please use the Technical Support Fax
number.
Introduction
This specification provides information about the MapInfo Interchange File (MIF) format. MIF
is an ASCII text file format that fully describes the contents of a MapInfo table. MIF consists of
two related files: one for the graphical data, and one for the tabular data. The graphical data is
in a file with a .mif extension, and the tabular data is in a file with a .mid extension. MIF files
can be read and written by MapInfo Professional and translated into other formats with other
programs. In this guide, you will find information on:
Chapter 1: MapInfo Data Interchange Format
• MIF File Header
• MIF Data Section
• Pen Styles
•Brush Styles
• Symbol Styles
• Font Styles
• Colors
•MID File
Chapter 2: Creating Your Own Coordinate System
• Projections and Coordinate Systems
• Elements of a Coordinate System
• Editing the MAPINFOW.PRJ File
• Affine Transformations
• Frequently Asked Questions on Projections
• More Information on Projections
Chapter 1: MapInfo Data Interchange Format
This chapter describes the data interchange format for MapInfo. In this chapter, you will find
information on:
• MIF File Header
• MIF Data Section
• Pen Styles
• Brush Styles
• Symbol Styles
• Font Styles
• Colors
• MID File
This versatile format allows generic data to be attached to a variety of graphical items. Since it
is ASCII, it is editable, relatively easy to generate, and works on all platforms supported by
MapInfo. Perhaps the best way to understand the MapInfo Interchange Format (MIF) is to
study the sample file at the end of this chapter in conjunction with the explanation of the file
format. You can also create samples of your own by exporting files to MIF and then examining
those files in a text editor.
MapInfo data is in two files - the graphics reside in a .MIF file and textual data is contained in
a .MID file. The textual data is delimited data, with one row per record and either Carriage
Return, Carriage Return plus Line Feed, or Line Feed between lines. The MIF file has two
areas - the file header area and the data section. Information on how to create MapInfo tables
is in the header; the graphical object definitions are in the data section.
MIF File Header
This is a description of MIF file header with optional information in square brackets.
VERSION n
Charset ”
characterSetName
”
[ DELIMITER ”<c>” ]
[ UNIQUE n,n.. ]
[ INDEX n,n.. ]
[ COORDSYS...]
[ TRANSFORM...]
COLUMNS n
<name> <type>
<name> <type>
.
.
DATA
Chapter 1: MapInfo Data Interchange Format
3
Version
The Version clause states whether you are using VERSION 1, VERSION 2, VERSION 300 or
VERSION 450 of the format. Version 300, introduced with MapInfo 3.0, allows multiple–
section polyline objects. VERSION 450 introduced the expanded node limit: the maximum
number of nodes for regions and polylines is 1,048,572 nodes for a single polygon region or
polyline. The limit drops by seven nodes for every two additional polygons.If an object with
more than 32K nodes is saved and the table is read in a version of MapInfo prior to version 4.5,
the object(s) will not be visible. Objects in the table that do not exceed the 32K limit will be
visible. VERSION 450 also includes point sized pen width.
Charset
The Charset clause specifies which character set was used to create text in the table. For
example: Specify “WindowsLatin1” to indicate that the file was created using the Windows
US & Western Europe character set; specify “MacRoman” to specify the Macintosh US &
Western Europe character set; or specify “Neutral” to avoid converting the text into another
character set. If you are not using one of these character sets, you can determine the correct
syntax for your character set by exporting a table and examining the .MIF file in a text editor.
Delimiter
Specify the delimiting character in quotation marks, for example:
DELIMITER ”;”
The default delimiter is Tab; if you are using the default, you do not need the DELIMITER line.
Unique
Specify a number. This number refers to a database column; 3 is the third column, 7 is the
seventh column, and so forth. What happens to columns in the UNIQUE list is subtle. For
example, imagine that you have a database with highways in it. Each highway has only one
name, but it might be represented by several segments. You would put the NAME column in
the UNIQUE list, while the column containing data for the individual segments would not be
in that list. This has the effect of creating two related tables; one with names, and one with the
other attributes of the objects. This is how MapInfo’s various street maps (StreetInfo) are
prepared.
