GIS 1. a geographic data set containing boundaries, such as land-water boundaries, for use as a starting place in automating other geographic data sets that use this line —note 1. forest management units and soil type units both use the land-water boundary —note 2. templates save processing time during spatial overlays 2. a map containing neatlines, north arrow, logos, and similar map elements for a common map series, but lacking the central information that makes one map unique from another 3. an empty tabular data file containing only column definitionsThis definition last updated 09/25/2008