# ESRI Shapefiles[¶](https://doc.dataiku.com/dss/latest/connecting/formats/shapefile.html#esri-shapefiles "Permalink to this headline")

DSS can parse ESRI shapefiles. You can either use a folder containing all the required files, or a .shp.zip

## Vecmath library[¶](https://doc.dataiku.com/dss/latest/connecting/formats/shapefile.html#vecmath-library "Permalink to this headline")

Shapefiles can contain data in a very large number of projections. Some projections require advanced math to parse. This capability is provided by a library called **Vecmath**. Vecmath is also required for some projections handling in data preparation

Vecmath is a GPL library. For licensing reasons, DSS is not provided with Vecmath. To open some Shapefiles, you need to download and install Vecmath manually. Please install vecmath-1.3.1.jar or later.

* Download it from MVN repository and review the licensing terms: https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/javax.vecmath/vecmath/1.5.2

* Put the downloaded jar in DSS\_DATA\_DIR/lib/jdbc

* Restart DSS:

§ ./bin/dss restart

You should now be able to read all Shapefiles.
