Shape files (.shp) are the standard ESRI format for geographic data. Converting these to Google-readable KML files is key to adding custom data generated by GIS software to Google Earth / Maps. It seems that this is still not as easy as pie, so we are investigating the possibilities starting here with this post.
A great series of articles provides background from earlier this year on the Free Geography Tools blog. Great place to start. The articles mention several tools which still seem to be prevalent:
1) Arc2Earth – by Brian Flood, which allows entire MXD files (the basic ESRI ArcGIS project file) to be converted, or at least a substantial portion. This software can be purchased in several different versions for prices from $199 - $2500. (Price seems up since FGT’s blog.) Requires that you have ArcGIS 9.
2) KMLer by Russian developer Valery Hronusov - converts single shape files from ArcGIS to KML.
3) Shape2KML does not require ArcGIS ownership. Described as “fast, easy to use, and produces good results”, and is also cheap (free).
4) Shape2Earth sounds like the best solution, not free, but cheap, no need to own ArcGIS, and described by FGT as superior to all the others.
5) ArcGIS Extension “KML Home Companion 3.2.0, converts shape files to KLM, but does not keep attributes.
6) Google Earth Pro reads shape files… unclear yet how it handles attribute data. More experimenting to do.
Now the fun begins (for me), testing all these options, and looking for other solutions, too.
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