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Dual Independent Map Encoding
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<p>Dual Independent Map Encoding (DIME) is an <a href="/facts/Code/CSntvnEo">encoding</a> scheme developed by the <a href="/facts/United_States_Census_Bureau/heKtzoXX">US Bureau of the Census</a> for efficiently storing <a href="/facts/Geography/TRd1Toyo">geographical</a> data. The committee behind the case study that eventually resulted in DIME was established in 1965, although the term <i>DIME</i> itself was first coined by George Farnsworth in August 1967. The <a href="/facts/File_format/qrXbwJaH">file format</a> developed for storing the DIME-encoded data was known as Geographic Base Files (GBF). The Census Bureau replaced the data format with <a href="/facts/Topologically_Integrated_Geographic_Encoding_and_Referencing/d2Ln1yoG">Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing</a> (TIGER) in 1990. </p>