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KB10423 - World File and naming convention in TatukGIS products.

A World File holds information to georeference (i.e., georegister, register) an associated image file to coordinate values. Because a World File does not contain coordinate system information, it may be paired with a PRJ file containing the coordinate system information. So a World File and .prj file can work together to render an image layer to a coordinate system. (.prj file is described in KB10813).

TatukGIS products follow generally accepted convention for World File naming, which is First + Last Letter of the image file name extension + 'W', so:

  • *.bmp -> .bpw
  • *.tif -> .tfw
  • *.jpg -> .jgw
  • *.png -> .pgw

For JPG files, TatukGIS products additionally read and create a World File with the *.jfw ending, because some 3rd party GIS software products use that file ending. TatukGIS supports both endings for highest possible compatibility with 3rd party products.

TatukGIS products also read and write image georeference information to a TAB registration file, for compatibility with 3rd party GIS software products that understand TAB registration files and not World Files.

For files containing embedded georeference information, such as a GeoTIFF file, presence of a World File for the image means the georeference information from the World File takes precedence over the embedded information.

Created: April 12, 2004, Modified: August 17, 2016