I'm having a problem importing the NTAD files into my Geographic Information Services (GIS). The NTAD files were created in an ASCII fixed record length format to make it easier to
view and extract the data by establishing a common structure for each of the three geospatial
feature types: point, line, and polygon. The BTS has a number of translation options available
on the web site (http://www.bts.gov/gis/ntatlas/). The BTS Data
Viewer consists of two parts: a Pre-Processor and a Viewer. It works in the Windows NT/95
environment. The Pre-Processor reads the NTAD data format and converts it for use in the viewer.
It also provides the option of converting the data into several common GIS formats: ArcView,
ARC/INFO generate, Caliper (TransCAD/GIS Plus/Maptitude), and MapInfo. The pre-processor reads
and converts only the base NTAD files. The attribute files must be linked separately using the
GIS. The Viewer portion of the software allow users to view the NTAD geographically. It is
intended for use by those who do not have a GIS. It displays the data in map format and has
elementary mapping functions such as panning and zooming. Information from the base NTAD
files can be queried and displayed. The NTAD attribute files are NOT loaded into this
version of the viewer. Maps can also be printed/plotted from the viewer. Additional translation
software available on the BTS web site includes: a UNIX ARC/INFO macro, an ArcView script,
and a UNIX Bourne script for conversion to GRASS format.
