Extract text from ESRI spatial index files (SBN)
To convert SBN spatial indexes to another format, you need ArcGIS or other GIS software.
To convert other file formats to the "Spatial Index File" file type, you need software like ArcGIS or a similar tool.
An .SBN file is a spatial index file used by ArcGIS and other GIS software to optimize location queries. It forms part of an ESRI Shapefile dataset. When you zoom or pan on a digital map, the .SBN file (often alongside an SBX file) speeds up the rendering of complex geographic shapes.
The main disadvantage of an .SBN file is that it is a proprietary, closed binary format. It contains no actual map data or geometry. It relies entirely on the presence of the core SHP, SHX, and DBF files in the exact same folder. You cannot open an .SBN file alone, and web browsers or basic text editors cannot read it.
Users often need to convert these old shapefile components into modern, single-file formats for web mapping, such as GeoJSON or KML. Standard online converters fail with .SBN files because they attempt to process the index in isolation without the parent data. Furthermore, some .SBN files belong to an entirely different ecosystem: they are signed binary firmware files used to update IP phones via Cisco Unified Communications Manager.
Because this file format is difficult to open or convert directly, only the original GIS software or Cisco network tools can properly read or export the data. If our analysis detects a supported underlying or embedded dataset, viewing or conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your SBN file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted SBX, CPG, PRJ, DBF, SHP, SHX, SNB, ZIP, XML, JPG, MAP, PDF and CRDOWNLOAD files.
If you want to convert SBN file to SHP, KML, KMZ, GPX, GEOJSON, TOPOJSON, TIF, TIFF, ECW, SID, IMG or DEM, you can use ArcGIS or similar software from the "Spatial Data Indexing" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert LAZ, KMZ, DTM, CSV, DEM, PRJ, LAS, GPX, DSM, SHP, DBF or KML files to SBN, try ArcGIS or another comparable tool in the "Spatial Data Indexing" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our SBN converter.