Merge Files
Add reference data columns quickly
Merge files are .IOK files containing columns of useful data you can quickly add to your own files using the Merge Data wizard (see tutorial below).
Geographic coordinate files:
Add data columns such as the latitudes and longitudes of capital or major cities or the geographic centres of countries to your files automatically using our By Countries, By Cities or By Post Codes merge files. Once merged into your data sets, these geographic coordinates will plot your records in the Map View, using either embedded vector maps (that work offline) or online mapping services such as Google Maps.
Below we offer a growing library of Omniscope .IOK format merge files containing decimal latitudes and longitude coordinates as well as other useful reference data. If you are a data publisher and would like to make files available (either free or by licensed download) for use as merge files in .IOK format, please contact us.
Map Coordinates by ISO Country Codes (with capital cities):
(click for larger image) |  By ISO Codes Countries Merge file (.IOK) 46 KB
Use this free merge file to import decimal map coordinates if your data includes ISO 2 or 3-letter, or numeric, codes. This file also includes official ISO spellings of Country Names and Capital cities in English. You can import coordinates of capital cities or the geographic centre of the countries, or both. |
Note: the flag images cannot be merged in with the data. Instead, you must download the flag images from the image catalogue, export the flag images to a folder, then associate the images with your file using the ISO 2-letter codes you can import from this file.
Map Coordinates by major cities and countries:
(click for larger image) | By Cities Merge file (.IOK) 1.0 MB Use this free merge file to add decimal coordinates of about 57,000 cities based on the city (and ideally also the country) names in your file. There are some duplicate city names, so either you must specify the country name/ISO code columns as additional join/merge criteria, or filter the file to remove countries and duplicate cities not in your file. Instructions and links to further help are contained in the file. |
Map Coordinates by Post Codes:
These Omniscope merge files contain columns of geographic coordinates (decimal longitudes and latitudes) keyed to post codes. If your data sets include a column of postal codes, you can use these .IOK files to add geographic coordinates to your files.
Note:for some countries, using Google Maps you can plot a column also containing text other than postal codes, like a full address...for more information on plotting without using existing or merged-in coordinates in your file, see Knowledge Base sections on Working with Google Maps and Google Earth.
GB Map Coordinates by Post Codes
(click for larger image) | GB Post Codes Merge File (.IOK) 0.1 MB Use this free merge file to add decimal longitude and latitude columns corresponding to the centres of British 4-character Post Codes, plus 6-digit British Ordinance Survey coordinates, to your files. This file can also be used to add Post Codes to files containing Ordinance Survey coordinates. Instructions and links to further help are contained in the file. |
US Map Coordinates by Zip Codes
(click for larger image)
| US Zip Codes Merge File (.IOK) 0.9 MB Use this free merge file to add decimal longitude and latitude columns corresponding to the centres of 42,192 5-digit Zip Code districts, including those located outside the 50 States. Contains two formats, 5 digits of zero-padded text, and unpadded integer numbers (up to 5 places). Instructions and links to further help are contained in the file. |
Other Countries- Add Map Coordinates by Zip/Postal Codes:
Use the above files to add map coordinates based on post code fields (columns) in your data. Other country files are available... if you need another country, please contact us. For a list of available Maps, see our Maps Library. A tutorial on Placing Markers manually to fill-in missing coordinate values and other map-related user information is available in our Knowledge Base Maps & Coordinates section.
Using the Merge Data wizard
To merge data from another file into your own .IOK file, you must have at least one column in your data matching one of the columns in the external merge file. For example, to use our Countries Merge File, you must have a column in your data that has the names of countries, or their ISO codes, or other standard identifiers.
To open the Merge Data wizard, click File > Import into Current File > Merge Data from another file:
 | 1. Choose external data file- select the Merge File containing the fields (columns) you wish to join into your data.
2. Choose type of merge- You have a choice of types of merge, Join or Concatenate. To add new fields (columns) to your data from a Merge File, choose Join.
3. Select fields to merge from external data- untick any columns in the drop down that you do not want to import from the external merge file.
4. Join by matching records where...specify one or more fields/columns present in your file and the Merge File you wish to Join. In the case of the By Countries Merge File, choose the field (column) in your data set that includes the country name or ISO code, and select the corresponding field (column) in the external By Countries Merge File.
Add Join criteria the By Cities merge file contains many cities which have the same name, but are located in different countries. If you have country in your data set, specify country as an additional join criterion to make sure you merge in the coordinates of London, England rather than London, Ontario (Canada).
5. Click Execute Merge and the wizard provides feedback on the matching process, reporting records in your file that do not match Merge File records, records that do match (and how many duplicate matches there are). It also reports the number of records in the Merge File that do not match any records in your file.
6. Which record sets do you want to retain? Depending on your needs you can keep your non-matching records, the matching records, and/or the external Merge File records that do not match as well. Before accepting the merge, protect yourself in the event of duplicate column names (both files may contain columns called City and Country). If you tick this option, the wizard will modify the names of duplicated columns to, for example, City(2) and Country(2) to avoid mixing or overwriting dissimilar data. |
Click OK, Apply Merge to modify your file by adding in the corresponding columns from the Merge File.
Warning: If you click File > Save .IOK /.IOM (or Ctrl+S) after merging, your original file will be overwritten with the merged file. If you do this inadvertently, you can always recover the original file by deleting all the merged columns (highlighted in blue). If you want to preserve your original source data file (recommended) be sure to use File > Save As to save the new merged file with a different name.
See also the complete documentation for the Merge Data wizard .
Visokio Home
