shapelib ☆

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Description:
Library for reading and writing ArcView Shapefiles

Type: Formula | Tracked Since: Dec 28, 2025

Links: Homepage | formulae.brew.sh

Category: Developer tools

Tags: gis shapefile geospatial c-library vector-data

Install: brew install shapelib

About:
Shapelib is a lightweight C library designed for reading and writing ESRI Shapefiles, along with associated DBF and SHX files. It provides a simple API for developers to integrate geospatial data handling into applications without heavy dependencies. Its main value is enabling fast, low-level access to vector GIS data formats.

Key Features:

Minimal dependencies, written in C
Supports reading and writing Shapefiles and DBF tables
Simple, low-level API for direct file manipulation
Portable across multiple operating systems

Use Cases:

Building custom GIS tools that process Shapefile data
Converting geospatial data between formats
Embedding Shapefile support in embedded or performance-critical applications

Alternatives:

GDAL – GDAL is a much larger, comprehensive geospatial data library that supports many formats beyond Shapefiles, but Shapelib is lighter and more focused.
PyShp – PyShp is a pure Python library for Shapefiles, ideal for Python workflows, while Shapelib provides a C-based solution for lower-level integration.

Version History

Detected	Version	Rev	Change	Commit
Sep 23, 2025 5:22pm		0	VERSION_BUMP	37f1cb71
Sep 11, 2025 5:24am		0	VERSION_BUMP	2a24c705