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Importing Layers

Mapit GIS can import feature data from several standard geospatial file formats into your active project. Imported data is stored as a new GeoPackage layer within the current project.

Supported Formats​

FormatExtensionNotes
GeoJSON.geojsonFull geometry and attribute support
ArcJSON.jsonEsri JSON format
Shapefile.zipMust be a ZIP archive containing at least .shp, .shx, and .dbf files
CSV.csvRequires coordinate columns; the app auto-detects latitude/longitude fields
KML.kmlGoogle Earth format - points, lines, and polygons

Starting an Import​

  1. Open the Layers screen from the main menu or the map menu.
  2. Tap the + button (floating action button).
  3. A bottom sheet appears with options including Create New Layer and Import Layer.
  4. Tap Import Layer.
  5. Choose an import source:
SourceDescription
DeviceOpens the Android file picker to select a file from local storage
DropboxBrowse and download layer files from your Dropbox /Apps/Mapit GIS/ folder (see Export to Dropbox)
note

The Dropbox option only appears if your Dropbox account is connected in Settings → Remote Connections → Dropbox.

Import Process​

Once a file is selected, the import runs in the background with a progress dialog showing three phases:

  1. Reading file - the file is parsed and features are extracted
  2. Importing features - features are written to the GeoPackage database in batches
  3. Building index - a spatial index is created for the new layer

The progress dialog displays the number of features imported so far.

How Features Are Imported​

  • A new layer is created in the current project, named after the source file.
  • The geometry type is determined from the source data (Point, LineString, Polygon, or their Multi equivalents).
  • Attributes from the source file become columns in the new layer's feature table.
  • If the source data uses a coordinate reference system other than WGS 84, geometry is automatically transformed to match the project's CRS.
  • Features are inserted in batches of 128 for performance.

Importing into an Existing Layer​

If you want to add features to an existing layer rather than creating a new one:

  1. The geometry type of the imported data must match the target layer.
  2. Attribute columns that exist in both the source and target are mapped automatically.
  3. Columns present in the source but not in the target are ignored.
caution

If the geometry type of the import file does not match the target layer (for example, importing polygons into a point layer), incompatible features are skipped.

Validation and Error Handling​

SituationBehaviour
Unsupported file formatImport is rejected with an error message
Empty file or no features foundImport completes with zero features
Mixed geometry types in sourceFeatures are normalised to the dominant geometry type
Corrupt or malformed fileImport fails with an error message

Feature Limits​

On the Free tier, layers have a maximum feature count. If the source file contains more features than the limit allows, the import is truncated and a message indicates how many features were imported out of the total.

On Pro and Pro+ tiers, there are no feature limits.

tip

For large imports (tens of thousands of features), GeoJSON and Shapefile formats perform best. KML is suitable for smaller datasets.

tip

When importing Shapefiles, ensure all component files (.shp, .shx, .dbf, and optionally .prj) are inside a single ZIP archive.

note

Layer import requires the Import/Export entitlement, available on Pro and Pro+ tiers.