Well-Known Binary (OGC)
Open BetaWKB (Well-Known Binary) is the binary representation of vector geometry from the OGC Simple Features standard (1999), the foundation of nearly every GIS database: every geometry in PostGIS, MySQL Spatial, GeoPackage is WKB under the hood. The format is several times more compact than text WKT by packing coordinates into doubles without ASCII. Our exporter writes the geometries of the selected OSM layers into a .wkb file: each individual feature is standard OGC WKB, but the file is a container — an 8-byte header (magic WKB\x01 + feature count), then length-prefixed geometries, with the coordinate system in a companion .prj file. Honestly: parsing the file requires reading the header and the length prefixes — it is not a single «bare» blob for a direct ST_GeomFromWKB. Multiple layers are packed into a ZIP.
Key Features
What Program Opens WKB Files
The following programs and applications can open, edit, and work with Well-Known Binary (OGC) (.wkb) files exported from OSM2CDR:
Format specifications
- Open standard
- 2D only
- Lossless (no quality loss)
- No attributes
- Output: 1 file
- An OGC WKB container: an 8-byte header then length-prefixed per-feature geometries, with the CRS in a companion .prj; not a single bare blob, multiple layers as a ZIP.
Who Uses WKB Maps
How to Export WKB
Popular maps in WKB
Get Well-Known Binary (OGC) map exports
Download professional WKB maps from OpenStreetMap. Instant generation, any area.