Product(s):	WaterGEMS, WaterCAD, HAMMER, SewerGEMS, StormCAD, CivilStorm, SewerCAD
Version(s):	CONNECT Edition, V8i
Area:	Layout and Data Input

Problem

When selecting a Shapefiles in ModelBuilder the following errors appear.

• Invalid Esri ShapeType
• Data source is empty or contains cross referenced data
• Unexpected Shape Type

When running LoadBuilder a message appears that says "The file selected is not of the specified type".

Explanation

ModelBuilder and background layers currently cannot process multi-feature (multi-part) data type files.

LoadBuilder expects specific shapefile types for different methods. (polygon vs. point)

Solution - ModelBuilder and Background layers

First, open the ShapeFile in an external application like ArcGIS or QGIS and check the shape type of the Shapefile. 

In ModelBuilder, certain element types expect certain shape types. For example for polygons you will only be able to import them as polygon element types like pump stations and catchments. Nodes require a point shapefile and links (like pipes or channels) require a polyline shape type.

ModelBuilder

1. To use a Shapefile, it is required that the folder containing the .shp file also contains (at a minimum) the supporting .shx  and .dbf files. Make sure these three files are in the same folder.

2. Make sure the .shp and supporting files (ie. .shx, .dbf) files have matching names.

3. If the shapefile is of the correct type and is not multi-part, try creating a new copy of the Shapefile:

Open the Shapefile in ArcMap

Export it to a new Shapefile

Try using that new Shapefile in ModelBuilder or as a background layer.

4. If the shapefile is multi-part (multipoint), convert to Single Point. For example in ArcMap:

a. Open the file in ArcMap and right click on the layer name in the table of contents.

b. Open the attribute table and check to see if the file is a multipoint, multiline, or has another mutli- feature data type. Continue to step c if it is a multi- feature data type file.

c. Open ArcToolbox and open the "Multipoint to single point" geoprocessing tool.

d. Input the file that you having problems with and run that tool. This will convert the file to a regular single feature data type.

e. Try to use the newly created file in ModelBuilder or as a background layer.

5. If the file type is a geodatabase or ArcSDE file, export the files that are needed to a shapefile and use the shapefile with ModelBuilder or as a background layer..

Solution - LoadBuilder

For Billing Meter, Flow Monitoring, Flow Boundary and Population Layer's Loadbuilder is expecting a polygon Shapefile.

For Node Layers LoadBuilder is expecting a point Shapefile type.

If the shapefile is of the expected shape type, check for multi-part and use the information above to convert to single part if needed.

See Also

Wikipedia: Shapefiles

Error importing in ModelBuilder from ProjectWise: Invalid ESRI Shapefile

Importing external data using ModelBuilder - Building and updating