Convert BNA to GDB Online - Free & Fast

What is BNA?

Atlas Boundaries (BNA) is a simple ASCII coordinate format for storing polygon boundary data, originally developed by Atlas GIS for representing area features like postal codes, sales territories, and administrative regions as coordinate lists.

What is GDB?

ESRI File Geodatabase (GDB) is a collection of files in a folder structure that stores vector feature classes, raster datasets, topology rules, and network datasets, serving as the primary geospatial data storage format in ArcGIS.

When Should You Use BNA vs GDB?

BNA vs GDB: Key Differences

• •The core technical difference: BNA relies on lossy compression whereas GDB uses lossless compression.
• •Converting from BNA to GDB changes compression type: lossless source becomes larger but with full quality preservation.
• •How transparency is handled: GDB supports transparency, so alpha information is preserved during conversion.
• •File sizes: BNA files typically range 1KB to 50MB depending on boundary complexity and GDB files 1MB to 1TB+ depending on data volume.
• •BNA is optimized for atlas gis boundary exchange, regional mapping, legacy spatial data conversion while GDB is designed for enterprise gis data management, esri ecosystem spatial storage — choose based on your specific workflow needs

Advantages of BNA

• ✓BNA applies lossy compression specifically calibrated for Atlas GIS boundary exchange, regional mapping, legacy spatial data conversion.
• ✓BNA enjoys broad native support across operating systems, browsers, and creative tools alike.
• ✓BNA delivers impressive compression ratios, shrinking files dramatically while keeping visual quality high.
• ✓You will find BNA support built into virtually every tool that handles Atlas GIS boundary exchange, regional mapping, legacy spatial data conversion — no plugins or converters needed.

Advantages of GDB

• ✓At its core, GDB relies on lossless encoding — a design choice that makes it perfect for Enterprise GIS data management, ESRI ecosystem spatial storage.
• ✓You won't run into compatibility issues with GDB — it's a universal standard across platforms.
• ✓File size management with GDB: larger files guaranteed to match the original exactly.
• ✓Every major application in the Enterprise GIS data management, ESRI ecosystem spatial storage space supports GDB natively.

Common Use Cases for BNA to GDB Conversion

Industry Applications

Best Practices for BNA to GDB Conversion

• →When converting BNA to GDB: confirm the coordinate reference system (CRS / projection) is preserved or explicitly reprojected
• →Keep attribute tables and feature metadata intact — GDB should retain all fields from BNA
• →Check geometry types (point, line, polygon) map cleanly between the two formats
• →Verify that z/elevation values and topology survive the conversion when working with terrain data
• →Always keep a backup of your original files before converting
• →Choose the appropriate quality settings for your specific use case

Troubleshooting BNA to GDB Conversion

• !Topology errors in the converted GDB → self-intersecting polygons or duplicate vertices may not transfer cleanly between formats
• !The GDB file coordinate values shifted slightly → datums (WGS84 vs NAD83) differ even when the projection looks similar
• !Time field values were corrupted after converting BNA to GDB → date and time field formatting varies across GIS formats
• !Null geometry features appear in the converted GDB → empty or null-shape records in BNA may cause validation errors in some formats

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