Grid Reference Map Downloads
This page gives access to a facility for downloading a limited number of BDY files for Great Britain and some other countries. These files and data contained therein are for using with DMAP only. They must not be downloaded or used for any other purpose without prior permission from Alan Morton. Most of the data files available here have been converted to grid reference (metric) co-ordinates from latitude+longitude data files available in the public domain.
Datasets available for Great Britain and Ireland:
- GB7.ZIP (172KB)
- Outline of Great Britain with internal boundaries for counties.
- GB8.ZIP (183KB)
- Outline of Great Britain with internal boundaries for Watsonian vice-counties.
- GBALL.ZIP (513KB)
- Six separate BDY files for the following features: Coastline, 100km internal grid, Scottish + Welsh borders, internal boundaries for counties, internal boundaries for Watsonian vice-counties, and rivers + lakes.
- IRL7.ZIP (76KB)
- Outline of Ireland with internal boundaries for counties.
- IRL8.ZIP (75KB)
- Outline of Ireland with internal boundaries for vice-counties.
- IRLALL.ZIP (203KB)
- Six separate BDY files for the following features: Coastline, 100km internal grid, Northern Ireland border, internal boundaries for counties, internal boundaries for Watsonian vice-counties, and rivers + lakes.
- CI.ZIP (26KB)
- Outline of the Channel Islands.
- BI.HTM (2KB)
- Some notes about how to map Britain and Ireland together on the same map.
Installation:
The downloaded ZIP files are compressed folders. After downloading, simply double-click on the folder name and it will expand to show the contained Boundary (BDY), Parameter (PAR) files. After extracting these files, install the files in DMAP by following the instructions given in the DMAP Help topic Setting up a new File Group.
If you wish to extract an individual county or group of counties from the downloaded BDY file, use the utility program GRUTIL. The program GRUTIL.EXE and instructions for using it (in the text file GRUTIL.DOC) can be found in your DMAPW directory (folder). The resolution of the individual county boundaries is not very high but may be adequate at least until a more detailed version can be obtained. Note that earlier versions of GRUTIL fail with 'Runtime error 200' when run on computers with a fast processor (>200 MHz), so you are advised to download the new version (June 1999) from the Add-on Utilities page.
Other Web sites offering DMAP BDY files for areas within Britain:
Datasets available for other areas:
- Helsinki Museum FTP Server
- Several datasets for Finland - see index.txt for a list. Made available by Raino Lampinen.
- SWEDGR.ZIP (116KB)
- Sweden - Coastline, islands and international borders.
- CH2.ZIP (36KB)
- Switzerland - borders, major lakes and rivers. Made available by Steven Whitebread and Ruedi Bryner.
Installation:
The downloaded ZIP files are compressed folders. After downloading, simply double-click on the folder name and it will expand to show the contained Boundary (BDY), Parameter (PAR) files. After extracting these files, install the files in DMAP by following the instructions given in the DMAP Help topic Setting up a new File Group.
Queries or comments about this facility can be sent to Alan Morton
