The Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS), after nine years of development, was approved on July 29, 1992, as FIPS Publication 173. The SDTS consists of three distinct parts. Part 1 is concerned with logical specifications required for spatial data transfer and has three major components: a conceptual model of spatial data, data quality report specifications, and detailed logical transfer format specifications for SDTS data sets. Part 2 provides a model for the definition of real-world spatial features, attributes, and attribute values and includes a standard but working and expandable list with definitions. Part 3 specifies the byte-level format implementation of the logical specifications in SDTS Part 1 using ISO/ANSI 8211 (FIPS 123), a general data exchange standard.