Hello everyone, welcome to another Global Mapper tutorial for beginners. In this article, we will learn how to combine multiple shapefiles into a single shapefile. The software we are going to use is Global Mapper 20. You can use any other version of Global Mapper.
When we use Global Mapper to combine shapefiles, we can preserve the attribute data on each table. It is good to have all the tables with the same column names etc. But in most cases, the table design or column names are different for each table. Don’t worry, we can easily manage this in Global Mapper.
Steps to Combine Multiple Shapefiles in Global Mapper
Step 1. Open all the shapefiles
Of course, first, we need to load all the shapefiles into Global Mapper. Please note that this method only allows combining layers or files with the same geometry. Make sure all the shapefiles have the same geometry. For example, a polygon can only be combined with polygon shapefiles.
In the following example, I loaded some contour shapefiles to my Global Mapper.
Step 2. Export as Vector file
In order to combine the shapefiles, Global Mapper will export them into a new file. We can choose the format such as shapefile, Mapinfo table, DXF or any other supported formats.
Now go to File >> Export >> Export Vector/Lidar Format >> Choose Shapefile (or any other format you want). If you choose shapefile, you will see the following window.
From the File Selection tab, as shown above, click Export Lines and then provide the file name for the exported shapefile. If load shapefiles with multiple geometries, you will see the other option such as Export Areas or Export Points is active. But in this example, since I only have lines the other options are not available.
Step 3. Specify the Export Bound
After we provide the file name for the exported file, we can specify the export bound. If you skip this, then Global Mapper will export the whole data. Go to Export Bounds and specify the boundary here.
You can draw a box or use a layer bound. Click OK and the combine and export process will start. I also made a video showing how to combine shapefiles using Global Mapper 20 full version below.