st_transform - 'proj_create: crs not found' error on MapInfo files since GDAL 3.3 (PROJ7) builds

[rdewit]

Since the release of GDAL 3.3 (with PROJ7), the SQLite function st_transform stopped working on MapInfo files. It works on release-1900-gdal-3-2-1-mapserver-7-6-2 but fails in the latest release: release-1916-gdal-3-4-1-mapserver-7-6-4.

This is the output on a sample MapInfo file (FOI_POINT from data.vic.gov.au, see attachment FOI_POINT.zip):

C:\Downloads\FOI_POINT>ogrinfo FOI_POINT.tab -sql "select st_transform ( geometry , 4326 ) as geometry from FOI_POINT" -dialect SQLite -so
INFO: Open of `FOI_POINT.tab'
      using driver `MapInfo File' successful.
proj_create: crs not found
ERROR 1: In ExecuteSQL(): sqlite3_step(select st_transform ( geometry , 4326 ) as geometry from FOI_POINT):
  ST_Transform exception - PROJ reports "".

Running ogr2ogr foi_point_WGS84.tab foi_point.tab -t_srs EPSG:4326 gives no errors.

Another windows build using Anaconda (https://anaconda.org/conda-forge/gdal) does not have the error, so I think it may be limited to the GisInternals builds).

Happy to assist with debugging if that helps!

[rdewit]

Version release-1900-gdal-3-2-1-mapserver-7-6-2 is the last version that still works. From release-1916-gdal-3-2-2-mapserver-7-6-2 onward the issue is present. That also marks the change from PROJ6 to PROJ7.