ESRI Shape Files are vector files that contain geographical data and optional attributes. Shape files can support point, line and area features. Each layer is stored separately. An ESRI shape file consists of main file (.SHP), an index file (.SHX) and attributes dBASE table (.DBF).

Use the main menu / File / Open or Merge function to import an ESRI shape file and convert it into the Mapwel map. Then you can upload it into the GPS unit.

As the shape files are primarily not designed to use with GPS units and attributes of objects are specified by user, Mapwel cannot assign the shape file attributes (data) to the map object properties like Name, Comment, Type, etc. automatically. User is prompted to assign available shape file data to the map objects.

Because layers are stored in a separate shape files, it is necessary to Merge (with use of main menu>File>Merge command) all shape files to create complete map in Mapwel. Mapwel stores whole map in a single MPW file.

Loading of each SHP file involves three steps:

1. Selection of projection and datum used for representation of geographical data in SHP file.
2. Assignment of SHP attributes to types used by Mapwel.
3. Assignment of other SHP attributes representing name, comment, street name, phone number and other data to Mapwel data structures.

Step 1 - Selection of projection and datum

Use the first tab in the SHP open file dialog to select coordinate system of the SHP file. You have to know coordinate system of the SHP file. If chosen coordinate system is not the right one, map will be imported improperly. 

UTM Zone Number, UTM Latitude Band Letter and Planar Distance Units are controls for definition of additional information for UTM system.

Use Data Size Reduction control to decrease the number of imported vertices (in case of area and line objects). If imported data contain too many vertices, displaying of map on the GPS can be very slow. In such a case, reduce the size of imported data to speed-up the map displaying. Reduction of vertices decreases also precision of the map elements definition. The highest available accuracy of the map elements uploaded into the Garmin GPS is approximatelly ±1.2 m. Accuracy of imported data should be lower or equal to this value to optimize the speed of map displaying and data size.

Border is an empty space added around the map. Imported map may be clipped to bounding rectangle of all objects. Set Border to non-zero value if you need to add empty space around the map. Click left or right mouse button on the value to increase/decrease it, or click on 'Border' label to set value with keyboard. 

Click the Next>> button when you are finished with selection of coordinate system and data size reduction.

Step 2 - Assignment of attributes to Mapwel types

If any of the SHP file attributes defines the type of objects, you can use this tab to create attribute-to-Mapwel type conversion table.

Mapwel cannot recognize meaning of SHP attributes automatically, as they may contain any type of information. Definition of conversion table allows user to assign proper type to imported objects.

You can skip this step if:
- there is no attribute that defines type of objects
- some attribute already contains Garmin object types
- you do not wish to assign type to objects.

Follow these steps to create conversion table: 

A) Select attribute that defines the object types.

B) Click on the first line of the first column in conversion table. Select attribute value from the pop-up menu that appears.

C) Click on the second column in the same line. Select type of object from the pop-up menu. This type will be assigned to all imported objects that have attribute ROADCLASS set to value Primary.

D) Use Add button to create as many items in the table as neccessary. Define all attribute value - object type pairs.

When finished, click on the Next>> button.

Step 3 - Assignment of other SHP attributes to Mapwel data structures

If there are attributes, which define the name, comment or other Mapwel-compatible data like street name or phone number, use this tab to assign them to the respective Mapwel variables.

If imported file has an attribute that conforms the Garmin area, line and point indexing system,  assign this attribute to the Type variable. This condition is usually satisfied by shape files originally created for GPSmapper software. 

If type conversion table was defined in Step 2, Type is automatically set to the respective attribute.

Click the Finish button when the last step is finished. 

In this case, imported map has four types of lines: 3 types as defined in the Step 2 and the 4th (default) type for rest of the lines, which were left with the undefined type.