Format
TIGER/ Line Shapefile
Summary
- Name
- TIGER/ Line Shapefile
- Version
- 2007 onwards
- Identifiers
- PUID: fmt/2114
- Format type
-
- Dataset
- GIS
- Description
- TIGER/Line Files are extracts of selected geographic and cartographic information from the US Census Bureau's Master Address File (MAF)/Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (TIGER) system. In the original 2007 specification, internal files had the structure: fe_2007_<extent>_<layer>.<extension> However, from 2008 the naming convention changed to: tl_YYYY_<extent>_<layer>.<extension> Further, TIGER/Line files related to Congressional Districts and Redistricting Data may follow the naming convention: tl_rdYY_<extent>_<layer>.<extension> ‘YYYY’ or ‘YY’ represents the year the data was produced. ‘Extent’ is a 2-5 digit value representing a geographical area. ‘Layer’ specifies the type of geography or feature that the file contains. ‘Extension’ refers to the specific file type, usually .shp, .dbf, .cpg, .shx, or .prj.
- Note
- Specifications for TIGER/Line can be found on the US Census Bureau website: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography/technical-documentation/complete-technical-documentation/tiger-geo-line.html
- File extensions
-
zip - Source
- Preservica / Preservica
Relationships
- Has priority over
Internal signatures
TIGER/Line Shapefile 2007
- Note
- Identification relies on two elements: the ‘PK’ 0x0304 ZIP declaration, following by the first record in the file listing following the naming convention: 'fe_2007_' {2-5} '_' {2-16} '.'
Byte sequences
- Min Frag Length
- Absolute from BOF
- Offset
- 0
- Max offset
- 0
- Byte Sequence
504B0304{26}66655F323030375F{2-5}5F{2-16}2E- Endianness
- None
TIGER/Line Shapefile 2008 onwards
- Note
- Identification relies on two elements: the ‘PK’ 0x0304 ZIP declaration, following by the first record in the file listing following the naming convention: tl_<YYYY>_<extent>_<layer>.<extension>.
Byte sequences
- Min Frag Length
- Absolute from BOF
- Offset
- 0
- Max offset
- 0
- Byte Sequence
504B0304{26}746C5F(3230|7264)[30:39][30:39]5F{2-5}5F{2-16}2E(637067|646266|70726A|736870|736878)- Endianness
- None
Changelog
-
Added in V125
- Release date
- 7 September 2026
TIGER/Line Shapefile 2007 onwards: Signature researched and samples provided by Preservica.
TIGER/Line Shapefile 2007 onwards: Full entry added. Submitted by Preservica.