ArcGIS Explorer: A basic guide

Contents
1

What is ArcGIS Explorer?.................................................................................2

1.1

What is GIS?.............................................................................................. 2

1.2

ArcGIS software......................................................................................... 2

Getting Started................................................................................................ 3
2.1

Where can I find ArcGIS Explorer?.............................................................3

2.2

Open ArcGIS Explorer................................................................................ 3

2.3

Moving around the map............................................................................5

2.4

3D Mode.................................................................................................... 6

Making a map.................................................................................................. 7
3.1

Types of data............................................................................................. 7

3.2

Sources of data......................................................................................... 8

3.3

Basemaps................................................................................................. 9

3.4

Drawing Objects...................................................................................... 10

3.5

Saving..................................................................................................... 10

Further features of ArcGIS Explorer...............................................................11

4.1

Queries.................................................................................................... 11

4.2

Add-Ins.................................................................................................... 11

4.3

Presentations.......................................................................................... 11

Sources of help.............................................................................................. 12
5.1

Online help.............................................................................................. 12

5.2

Courses................................................................................................... 12

5.3Books........................................................................................................... 12

Esri software graphical user interfaces are the intellectual property of Esri and
screenshots are reproduced herein by permission. All rights reserved.

Lizzie Atkinson, July 2012

1 What is ArcGIS Explorer?

1.1 What is GIS?
ArcGIS Explorer is GIS (geographic information system) software. GIS can be
used to store geographic data, draw digital maps and analyse the content of the
maps based on attribution data associated with the objects which make up the
map. Map data is organised into layers, so that the user can choose which layers
they want to view or query. For more information on GIS see the references in
section 5.3.

1.2 ArcGIS software

This guide is an introduction to ArcGIS Explorer Desktop, which is one of a
number of GIS products produced by Esri, some of which have confusingly similar
names. GIS software available from ESRI includes:

1. ArcGIS Desktop
Not to be confused with ArcGIS Explorer Desktop, ArcGIS Desktop is
the industry standard in GIS software, designed for advance mapping and
spatial analysis. It is expensive to buy and only available for the Windows
operating system, but is available in the Bodleian Map Room, the Training
Room at the Radcliffe Science Library and some Oxford University
departments.
ArcGIS for Desktop consists of a number of separate programs:
ArcCatalogue, ArcMap, ArcScene and ArcGlobe.

2. ArcGIS Explorer Desktop

ArcGIS Explorer Desktop is the software covered in this guide. It
is a freely available, much simplified version of ArcGIS Desktop. It
is only available for the Windows operating system.

3. ArcGIS Explorer Online

A freely available online version of ArcGIS Explorer, but with less
functionality.

4. ArcGIS Online
A very basic version of ArcGIS available freely on the web.

5. ArcGIS Apps for mobile

Allow viewing of maps and creation of field data from mobile devices.
See the helpsheet titled What is ArcGIS? for more information on the differences
between the different versions of ArcGIS. If you are unsure as to which software

Lizzie Atkinson, July 2012

best meets your needs contact the Bodleian Map Room for advice:
maps@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

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2 Getting Started
2.1 Where can I find ArcGIS Explorer?
In the Bodleian Libraries ArcGIS Explorer Desktop is installed on machines in:

The Map Room, which is temporarily (until 2015) located in the Duke
Humphreys Library in the Old Bodleian
The Radcliffe Science Library Training Room

ArcGIS Explorer is free to download onto your own machine. Instructions of how
to download ArcGIS Explorer can be found in section 4 of the course book for
ArcGIS Explorer: An Introduction (see section 5.2).

2.2 Open ArcGIS Explorer

This is the ArcGIS Explorer icon.
When you open ArcGIS Explorer you should see something like this:

Ribbon

Content
s
window
Map
window

The Explorer window consists of three panels: the ribbon, the contents window
and the map window.

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The Ribbon
The ribbon is where you will find most of the controls in Explorer. The ribbon has
different tabs (here Home and Display) with the controls on each tab organised
into groups. The ribbon has different tabs (here Home and Display) depending
on the type of content highlighted in the content window.
The Contents Window
The contents window will lists the files open in the map. An icon next the name
of the file indicates what the file type is and a check box tells you whether the
layer is visible. Clicking on the cross next to the file will show you the symbol
used on the map for that file. You can hide the contents window so that the map
can fill the entire width of the Explorer window and the contents it is just a tab on
the left hand side of the map window by clicking on the push pin in the top right
corner of the contents window.
The Explorer Button
You will also find some controls under the Explorer Button in the top left of the
screen (see screenshot below).

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2.3 Moving around the map

You can navigate the map using the keyboard, mouse or using the navigation
control.
Keyboard

Mouse

Move left
Move right
Move up/forward
Move
down/backward
Rotate clockwise
Rotate
anticlockwise
Zoom in
Zoom out
Zoom map to full
extent

A or
D or
W or
S or

Move the
map
Centre map

B or Shift +

V or Shift +

J or + or
Shift +
L or - or
Shift +
R

Zoom in/out

Zoom

Click and drag

Double click on the
point you want to
centre the map on
Roll mouse wheel.
Hold down Ctrl at the
same time to zoom in
smaller increments.
You can also zoom in
by holding down
Shift, clicking the left
mouse button and
dragging a box of the
area you wish to view.

Navigation control
The navigation control is in the bottom left of the map window.

When you move the mouse over the navigation mode it will change to navigation
mode as shown below.
Move the map
Rotate the map

Zoom in/out

Click on one of the

arrows
Drag one of the
arcs between the
arrows
Drag the slider or
use the + and buttons

Rotate so north is
at the top of the
map
Zoom out to view
whole map

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Lizzie Atkinson, July 2012

2.4 3D Mode
ArcGIS Explorer can also display your map in 3D. For information on navigating
in 3D mode see the Navigating and exploring maps section of the ArcGIS
Explorer online help (http://webhelp.esri.com/arcgisexplorer/1700/)

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3 Making a map
3.1 Types of data
Data stored and displayed in a GIS can be vector data, raster data or gridded
data. Explorer does not deal with gridded data, so only vector and raster data
are discussed here. See section 2.2 of the Course Book ArcGIS: An Introduction
or one of the many textbooks on GIS for an explanation of gridded data.
Raster data is an image composed of a grid of coloured pixels, such as an aerial
photograph or scanned paper map. To visualise this data in GIS it must have
spatial data associated with at least 3 points on the image. In ArcGIS this is
called georeferencing and in ArcGIS Explorer Desktop a georeferencing add-in is
required (see section 4.1). Raster data has an optimal scale to be viewed at.
Zoom in too much and the image becomes pixellated.
Vector data can be points, lines or polygons. Each object spatial data and
attribute data associated with it. The spatial data describes the location of the
object while attribute data gives more information, such as type of feature, name
and numerical data. Vector data is redrawn at different scales and the symbol
used to represent the data can be changed.
To add data to a map in ArcGIS Explorer go to Add Content in the
Map group on the Home tab.

ArcGIS Online find content available from www.arcgis.com (vector or

raster data)
Arc
GI
S
La
ye
rs
(.lp
k, .
lyr
or .
pki
nfo
)
lay
ers
cre
ate
d

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in
Arc
GIS
De
skt
op.
Sy
mb
olo
gy
is
ret
ain
ed.
(ve
cto
r
or
ras
ter
dat
a)
Map Content Files (.nmc) created when a user exports or emails an
ArcGIS Explorer map (vector or raster data)
KML Files (.kml, .kmz) vector geographic data file format (vector data)
GIS Services (ArcGIS Server, ArcIMS, WMS, GeoRSS) automated
geographic information services that are published and accessed online
(vector or raster data)
Shapefiles (.shp) standard geographic vector data file format in ArcGIS
(vector data)
Raster Data (various, including Bitmap, JPEG and TIF) (raster data)
Geodatabase Data a geodatabase is a collection of GIS datasets of
varying type (vector or raster data)
Text Files (.txt, .csv, .xls, .xlsx) tables of data including spatial and
attribute data. When this type of data is added to an ArcGIS Explorer
map a note (see section 3.4) is created for each record in the table (see
section 3.4). (vector data)

Geotagged Photographs (.jpg, .jpeg, .jpe) raster data which contains

spatial references, so does not need georeferencing (raster data)

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GPS Data Files (.gpx) (vector data)

More information on all these content types and specific instructions for adding
them is available in ArcGIS Explorer Help under Adding and working with
data sources Adding data sources
You can also add image overlays to your map. These are images which are not
map data, but are added to the map for printing, presentations, etc, such as a
logo.

3.2 Sources of data

Base maps provided with ArcGIS Explorer

Public domain or licensed maps

Scanned and georeferenced printed maps and

Database/spreadsheet with spatial referencing. In ArcGIS Explorer this

data must be points, not lines or polygons.

Draw your own data

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3.3 Basemaps
A number of basemaps are available in ArcGIS Explorer Desktop. They are
streamed off the internet, so will only be available when you have an internet
connection. It is not possible to modify a basemap and the basemap must be the
lowest layer (i.e. all other content is drawn on top of the basemap). If you do not
want to use a basemap select the Clear basemap option under the Basemap
menu (see below).

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3.4 Drawing Objects

User-drawn objects drawn in ArcGIS are called notes. Go to the Create group on
the Home tab and select the type of object you would like to create. When
drawing lines or polygons you can remove the previous vertex you added by
right clicking, but once the object is complete you cannot edit the vertices.

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13

Notes have a title and note content which can include text, links and html.

How an object is represented graphically in ArcGIS, for example the note above is
depicted as a red push pin, is called its symbology. You can change the
symbology of a note in the Appearance tab. The screenshot below shows some
of the options available for a polygon.

3.5 Saving
There are a few different things you can save in ArcGIS Explorer.
To save a view got to View in the Create group on the Home tab. This saves
this horizontal position and zoom level within the map you are viewing.
To save a whole map go the Explorer button in the top left. You will have the
choice under Save as to save your map as an ArcGIS Explorer map or as a new
basemap. In both cases you are saving a *.nmf file. The difference is that if you
save it as a basemap it will be a static map, i.e. it will not be editable. When you
save your map you are not saving the data that you see on the map, but a list of
which files contain the data and information about how you want to view the
data. That is except for note data which is saved as part of the map. Therefore
it is important not to move or rename the files that contain the data
used in your map.

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4 Further features of ArcGIS Explorer

4.1 Queries
In ArcGIS Explorer you can run queries on vector data. You can query the
attribute data or spatial data. For example, an attribute based query would be
Which cities have a population of more than 1 million?. Spatial queries
question the spatial relationship between features. For example, Which roads
cross the River Thames?. For more information on queries see section 3 of the
course handbook for ArcGIS Explorer: Intermediate (see section 5.2).

4.2 Add-Ins
You can extend the functionality of ArcGIS Explorer Desktop with Add-Ins
downloadable from http://www.arcgis.com/home/group.html?
owner=arcgis_explorer&title=ArcGIS%20Explorer%20Desktop%20Labs.
Add-Ins include:

Georeferencing create spatial data for your raster image so it can be

shown on your map

Terrain Profiler uses ESRI's sample server to generate a terrain profile

from a line drawn across the terrain

Feature Labeler labels features in a layer using values from the chosen
field

Street Viewer view the Google Street View (if available) for the location
you click on the map

Zoom to map scale zoom to a map scale chosen from a user-defined list
of scales

4.3 Presentations
ArcGIS Explorer can also be used to create presentations where each slide is a
map view. When the presentation is run ArcGIS will transition smoothly from
each map view to the next. It is possible to add image overlays and text to the
slides. For more information see the Creating a presentation section of
ArcGIS Explorer online help (http://webhelp.esri.com/arcgisexplorer/1700//en/).
An add-in is available to convert the presentation into PowerPoint format.

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5 Sources of help
5.1 Online help
ArcGIS Explorer Help
Online help pages for ArcGIS Explorer
Press F1 while ArcGIS Explorer is open or go to
http://webhelp.esri.com/arcgisexplorer/1700/

ArcGIS Explorer Desktop Product Webpages

With general information and links to forums, videos, help etc
http://resources.arcgis.com/content/arcgis-explorer/1750/about

5.2 Courses
ArcGIS Explorer: An Introduction
A 3-hour introductory course taught by Bodleian Library Map Room staff in
conjunction with Oxford University Computing Services (OUCS).
Details can be found here http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlp/courses/detail/TMPD.

ArcGIS Explorer: Intermediate

A 3-hour course taught by Bodleian Library Map Room staff in conjunction with
Oxford University Computing Services (OUCS), extending the knowledge gained
in ArcGIS Explorer: An Introduction.
Details can be found here http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlp/courses/detail/TMPE.
The course handbooks and exercise files for both ArcGIS Explorer courses are
available to download from
https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/portal/hierarchy/central/oucs/itlp_courses/portfolio
under Mapping Analysis (Oxford Single Sign-On required). It will help if you are
able to attend the courses, but the exercises are written such that you can work
through them on your own if necessary.

5.3 Books
If you want to learn more about GIS in general you will find a number of books in
the Radcliffe Science Library in the section G 70.212. Some titles aimed at GIS
novices are:
Getting started with geographic
information systems
By Keith Clarke
Location: G70.212 CLA 2011

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Geographical information
systems: an introduction
By Julie Delaney
Location: G70.212 DEL

16

An introduction to geographical
information systems
By Ian Heywood, Sarah Cornelius and
Steve Carver
Location: G70.212 HEY
GIS for ecology: an introduction
By Richard Wadsworth and Jo
Treweek
Location: G70.212 WAD 1999

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