GEODIST: A C++ program for calculating geodesic distances with a shapefile

In this project a GIS utility, GEODIST, was developed. It allows users to calculate geodesic distances with shapefiles. A C++ class for geodesic calculation was developed too. GEODIST supports 55 pre-defined ellipsoids and, in addition, users can use their own ellipsoids. The utility was tested with the US Interstate Highways dataset. Results showed that the utility is very effective in calculating accurate distances at regional and global scales.