Issue importing contour shape file to correct location / coordinate system

[rebeccaU9SLP]

I'm having issues importing the 2' contour file attached. Coordinate system for the drawing is in WI83-CF. The contour file is also supposed to be in WI83-CF. When using MAPIMPORT, I have set the coordinate system to WI83-CF and have the data importing, but while the contours are clearly for my area, they import to the wrong location. Where am I going wrong?

[Pointdump]

Hi Rebecca,
Thanks for posting your drawing and data.
"The contour file is also supposed to be in WI83-CF."
Nope. Look at the PRJ file. It shows "NAD83(2011) / WISCRS Buffalo (ftUS)", which is one of the County Low Distortion Projections.
Dave

[Pointdump · Accepted solution]

This Coordinate System in MAPCSLIBRARY better matches your shapefile.

[ChicagoLooper · Accepted solution]

@rebeccaU9SLP wrote

<<The contour file is also supposed to be in WI83-CF. >>

Unfortunately, the coordinate system is not what you think it is.

A 'Best Practice' is to verify the Native Coordinate System of the shapefile. This is easily done by opening the shapefile's projection file (prj) using NotePad. The prj file is responsible for positioning the shapefile in modelspace. As long as you've assigned a coordinate system that's appropriate to your site, the shapefile will geolocate accurately. You don't need to edit or manipulate the prj, you just need to read it. Keep all the components of the shapefile (shp, shx, dbf and prj) in the same folder. You may even leave the prj open on your desktop while you perfrom MapImport. See image-1.

Image-1 

Perform the MapImport command. The command requires some active input from you, the user. Be careful when viewing the Input Coordinate System column, it's the native coordinate system of the shapefile. There are 3 possible displays you may see: (a) the CS is displayed correctly, (b) a CS is displayed but AutoCAD is NOT displaying the correct one, or (c) AutoCAD is displaying <None> because the prj is not understood or the shapefile doesn't have a prj to begin with. Situation (a) is good. Situations (b) and (c) are not good and require you to manually input the correct CS that you viewed earlier using NotePad . Refer to image-2.

Image-2

After performing MapImport, you can turn on Bing Maps and see how your imported shapefile compares to Bing's imagery. See image-3.

Image-3

[rebeccaU9SLP]

This makes a lot more sense, I'll make sure to double check the pjr from now on. Thank you Dave and Chicagolooper, I'll run with the accurate coordinate system!