Autodesk VISION* GINA Reader/Writer

Licensing options for this format begin with FME Professional Edition.

The Autodesk GIS Design Server (VISION) GINA (General INterchange and Archive) file format is an open standard format used by VISION*® products.

Graphic, tabular, and coordinate system data are stored in VISION* GINA files. GINA is an ASCII file format that is used to

  • transfer data between VISION* and other systems
  • archive databases
  • copy data between VISION* databases

One GINA file defines one database or a portion of a database.

Versions

The FME GINA format currently supports:

  • reading: versions 3.0-3.4 files
  • writing: version 3.4 files

These are distinct in form from the version 2.6 or 2.7 files, which use fixed-formatting and are not supported.

Overview

In a VISION* system, spatial features such as roads and utility poles are essentially data units. Each feature can have both geometry and associated attribute data. Features are organized into VISION* layers and networks. Different feature codes are used for further grouping.

A feature’s coordinates are meaningful in a certain plan. Each plan has its own coordinate system (plan 0 is the main database). FME should deal with each plan separately (that is, one at a time). FME may convert several plans together only if those plans have the same coordinate system.

A feature’s associated attribute data includes its system attributes and primary attributes. A feature’s system attributes are always associated with it, representing its identification, grouping, and characteristics. A feature’s primary attributes, which may or may not exist, are stored in a VISION* primary table, so their names, types, and ordering must match a certain schema.

A feature’s data can be conditional or permanent. This can be recognized from the feature’s version (version 0 means permanent).

The FME GINA reader and writer use symbolic names for the different feature types stored in a GINA file. The table below gives a brief description of each of the different GINA feature types currently supported by the reader and writer. The features are described in more detail below.

FME GINA Feature

Description

gina_arc

Circular arc features

gina_c_point

Point features that are, or can be, centroids of polygons

gina_c_text

Point features each with an associated text string that are, or can be, centroids of polygons

gina_circle

Closed circle features

gina_line

Line features

gina_polygon

Polygon, donut, or point-in-polygon features

gina_point

Point features

gina_text

Point features each with an associated text string

Feature Grouping

GINA features are grouped according to their feature code, layer number, network number, and type.