Shapefile — Parcels Index (.shx)
The parcel index, whose second entry is markedly longer than the others because that record carries two rings. Use it together with the roads index to check that seek logic handles multi-part records as well as multi-record files.
| record | content length (words) | rings |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 64 | 1 |
| 2 | 106 | 2 |
| 3 | 64 | 1 |
Specifications
- Format
- Esri shapefile component
- Crs
- WGS 84 (EPSG:4326)
- Byte Order
- mixed — big-endian headers, little-endian records
- Sidecar Set
- .shp/.shx/.dbf/.prj/.cpg
- Records
- 3
- Entry Bytes
- 8
- Variable Record Lengths
- true
- Content
- offset and content length, both in 16-bit words, big-endian
Testing contract
Expected to pass- Scenario
- Read the record lengths from the index and predict which record has more than one ring.
- Expected result
- Record 2 is the longest entry, matching the two-ring Mill Court polygon, and every offset lands on a record boundary in the .shp.
What is a .shx file?
The .shx file is the positional index of an Esri shapefile. It repeats the .shp header and then stores one fixed 8-byte record per feature, giving the byte offset and content length of that feature in the .shp file, so a reader can seek directly to feature N instead of scanning from the start.
How to use this file
Use an example .shx file to test shapefile readers and repair tools, verifying that offsets resolve to real records in the .shp file and that a reader detects a mismatch between the index and the geometry rather than reading past the end.
How to use this file for testing
“Shapefile — Parcels Index (.shx)” is a deterministic Novus Examples fixture for Geospatial, Serialization testing, Performance testing. GeoJSON, GPX, and KML files with points, lines, polygons, and tracks — for testing map tools, route parsers, and geo importers.
Documented properties for this file: 3 records · Esri shapefile component. Compare results against paired or grouped companions on this page when present (clean↔damaged, searchable↔scanned, or format twins) so scores stay reproducible across runs.
Download the file once, keep the path stable in CI or local scripts, and treat the spec table as the contract: dimensions, seeds, field lists, and roles are intentional. Corrupt or invalid samples are labelled as such — expect parsers to fail loudly rather than silently accept them.
Geospatial fixtures publish one invented territory across formats, with the coordinate reference system and feature counts documented in specs. Convert or reproject and diff against the twin in the same group; edge-case geometries state exactly which assumption they are built to break.
Related files
- shxShapefile — Roads Index (.shx)Unlike the point index, these entries have different lengths because each PolyLine holds a different number of vertices. That makes it the useful case for testing seek logic — a reader that assumes a fixed stride reads the first record correctly and then garbage.
- shxShapefile — Towns Index (.shx)The index that lets a reader seek directly to record N of the .shp instead of walking the file. Its header duplicates the .shp header exactly, and a mismatch between the two is the most common way a hand-edited shapefile goes wrong.
- dbfShapefile — Roads Attributes (.dbf with a decimal field)The road attribute table, including a numeric field declared with two decimal places. DBF stores numbers as right-justified ASCII, so the declared width and decimal count are the only thing that says 9.40 is not 940.
- shpShapefile — Roads Geometry (.shp, 3 PolyLine records)Three single-part PolyLine records, each carrying its own bounding box, a part index and a run of little-endian coordinate doubles. PolyLine and Polygon share this layout, which is why the shape-type byte in the header is the only thing that distinguishes an open line from a closed ring.
- dbfShapefile — Towns Attributes (.dbf, dBase III)The attribute table as a dBase III file: fixed-width, space-padded, ASCII numerics. Field names are capped at ten characters and there is no type for dates-with-time or for nested values, which is why shapefile export loses so much of a modern schema.
- shpShapefile — Towns Geometry (.shp, 5 Point records)The geometry half of a point shapefile: a 100-byte header carrying the shape type and bounding box, then five 20-byte Point records. The file is useless on its own — attributes live in the .dbf and the coordinate system in the .prj, which is the point of shipping the whole component set.
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