This command lists the contents of a shapefile attribute database.
q dbf shapefile <delimiter>
shapefile is the name of the shapefile.delimiter is an optional argument that provides an alternative string (max 3 characters) to serve as a delimiter between fields (default is a comma). This command is available with version 2.0.a8. The <delimiter> option was added with version 2.2.0.
It is not necessary to include the file extension (.dbf) on the end of shapefile, just the filename root is adequate.
If you put the three shapefile components (*.shp, *.shx, and *.dbf) in the GrADS data directory (pointed to by the GADDIR environment variable), then it is not necessary to include the full path in shapefile.
The first line of output contains a comma-delimited list of the names of all the attributes for each record in the database. Subsequent lines contain the comma-delimited list of all the attribute values for each record.
A companion command, q shp, lists the contents of the shapefile. There is a 1:1 correspondence between elements in the shapefile and records in the database.
Please see the documentation page on shapefiles for more details.
ga-> q dbf /home/GIS/climatedivs/divisions
RECORD#,AREA,PERIMETER,CLIMDIVS_,ST,DIV,NAME,DIVISION_I
0,4.463,11.489,2,MN,2,NORTH CENTRAL,2102
1,0.988,9.344,3,WA,3,PUGET SOUND LOWLANDS,4503
2,3.066,16.450,4,WA,4,E OLYMPIC CASCADE FOOTHILLS,4504
3,3.099,12.733,5,WA,6,EAST SLOPE CASCADES,4506<
.
.
.
385,0.958,5.437,59,OR,4,NORTHERN CASCADES,3504
386,2.712,9.973,49,OR,6,NORTH CENTRAL,3506
ga-> q dbf /home/GIS/climatedivs/divisions {}
RECORD#{}AREA{}PERIMETER{}CLIMDIVS_{}ST{}DIV{}NAME{}DIVISION_I
0{}4.463{}11.489{}2{}MN{}2{}NORTH CENTRAL{}2102
1{}0.988{}9.344{}3{}WA{}3{}PUGET SOUND LOWLANDS{}4503
2{}3.066{}16.450{}4{}WA{}4{}E OLYMPIC CASCADE FOOTHILLS{}4504
3{}3.099{}12.733{}5{}WA{}6{}EAST SLOPE CASCADES{}4506
.
.
.
385{}0.958{}5.437{}59{}OR{}4{}NORTHERN CASCADES{}3504
386{}2.712{}9.973{}49{}OR{}6{}NORTH CENTRAL{}3506