Geographic Coordinate Conversion - Basic Forms

Basic Forms

There are three basic forms of a coordinate.

1. Coordinate containing degrees (integer), minutes (integer), and seconds (integer, or real number) (DMS).
2. Coordinate containing degrees (integer) and minutes (real number) (MinDec).
3. Coordinate containing only degrees (real number) (DegDec).

All forms of coordinates are capable of representing the same amount of data and the same precision. Depending on which type of coordinate you are provided with, and which type you would like to work with, you may have to do some conversion.