GIS Export

GIS Export

GIS Export lets you download everything about a location as standard GIS files, so you can continue your work in desktop GIS software such as ArcGIS Pro. It is the reverse of importing GIS files into the platform: instead of bringing data in, you pull a location's full spatial dataset back out.

Overview

A single export bundles every spatial layer of a location:

• Boundary — the project polygon
• Assets — points, lines, or polygons with their attributes
• Annotations — collaborative map drawings
• Inspections — geolocated inspection records
• Form responses — the complete history of asset form submissions, split into one layer per form (e.g. responses_tree, responses_pull_box), each with only that form's fields and human-readable column names

All coordinates are exported in WGS84 (EPSG:4326).

Who can export

The export action is available to location owners and managers. Members without export permission don't see the option. Native File Geodatabase export additionally requires an active Enterprise plan for that location; without it, the format remains visible but locked. White-label deployments with billing disabled expose all billing-gated capabilities by design.

How to export

1. Open the location and go to its Profile page.
2. Click Export to GIS at the top right.
3. Choose a format:
   • GeoJSON (.zip) — a ZIP containing one .geojson file per layer.
   • GeoPackage (.gpkg) — a single file with every layer and one response layer/table per form bundled together.
   • Shapefile (.zip) — one Shapefile set per spatial layer.
   • File Geodatabase (.gdb) — a native Esri multi-layer geodatabase inside a ZIP; available on Enterprise locations.
4. The file downloads automatically.

Choosing a format

All formats open in ArcGIS Pro. GeoPackage is the portable open-standard choice; File Geodatabase is intended for organizations that require native Esri delivery.

What's inside

GeoJSON ZIP

• boundary.geojson, assets.geojson, annotations.geojson, inspections.geojson, and one responses_<form>.geojson per form (empty layers are omitted)
• forms-schema.json — describes each form field (id, label, type, unit) and the column name used in the export
• manifest.json — location name, export timestamp, CRS, and per-layer counts

GeoPackage

• One feature layer per spatial layer, registered with EPSG:4326
• One responses_<form> layer per form, each carrying an asset_id column so you can relate responses back to assets in ArcGIS/QGIS

Shapefile ZIP

• One Shapefile set per spatial layer, with long field names mapped in columns.csv
• Geometryless response layers preserved as CSV files
• manifest.json, forms-schema.json, and bundled inspection media in the ZIP

File Geodatabase

• A {location}.gdb/ directory containing one feature class per spatial layer and one table/layer per form response set
• manifest.json and forms-schema.json alongside the .gdb directory in the downloaded ZIP
• WGS84 coordinates and native FileGDB types created by GDAL/OpenFileGDB
• Inspection photos embedded as native attachments on the Inspections layer and on asset layers that have photos
• Empty locations still download a valid File Geodatabase; it contains a zero-row export_metadata table indicating there were no exportable layers.

Form responses

Responses are split into one layer per form (named responses_<form>, e.g. responses_tree). Each layer contains only that form's fields, so there's no sparse table mixing different form types — you see exactly the columns relevant to each form. Every row is one response, and the layer carries asset_id, form_name, responded_at, and the responder.

Values use human-readable column names derived from the form field labels (for example Canopy_Diameter rather than an internal id). When two fields share a label, the export adds a numeric suffix to keep column names unique; the forms-schema.json sidecar records exactly which field each column came from.

The export includes the full history — every response ever submitted for each asset, not just the latest.

Media

Inspection photos are bundled into GeoJSON, GeoPackage, Shapefile, and File Geodatabase deliveries, organized into per-asset folders. Every inspection photo for the location is downloaded and each inspection's media_url is rewritten to a local path (media/inspections/{asset_id}/photo.jpg):

• GeoJSON → photos go in a media/inspections/ folder inside the ZIP.
• GeoPackage → the download becomes a ZIP containing the .gpkg plus the media/inspections/ folder (a .gpkg can't hold loose files on its own).
• Shapefile → photos are stored in media/inspections/ inside the Shapefile ZIP.
• File Geodatabase → photos sit beside the .gdb directory in the ZIP.

After extracting, point a QGIS/ArcGIS pop-up Image element at the media_url field to view the photos. Other media (asset pictures, form media fields) stay as URL attributes.

Photos as native attachments (File Geodatabase)

For File Geodatabase exports, inspection photos are additionally embedded as native Esri attachments. When you open the .gdb in ArcGIS Pro, photos appear directly in the feature pop-up (the paperclip Attachments), with no manual Add Attachments step — both on the Inspections layer and on each asset layer that has photos. The path columns above remain available too, so either workflow works. (This requires our export runtime to include the GDAL Python components; if they're unavailable, the export still downloads normally with the photo path columns only.)

Note: bundling photos makes the download larger and slower for locations with many inspections.

Working with the export in ArcGIS Pro

• GeoJSON: Add the .geojson files directly, or use the JSON To Features tool. To connect responses to assets, Join or Relate on asset_id.
• GeoPackage: Use Add Data and select the .gpkg; its layers appear ready to use, and each responses_<form> dataset can be related to assets on asset_id.
• Shapefile: Extract the ZIP, add each spatial layer's .shp, and use the CSV files for geometryless response tables.
• File Geodatabase: Extract the ZIP, then use Add Data and select the .gdb directory. Each exported dataset appears as a feature class or table, and inspection photos are already attached to their features — open a feature pop-up to see them under Attachments.

Related Features

• Projects — manage location boundaries
• Assets — the assets included in the export