2 Geographic Data Management

Importing and exporting metadata

If you have metadata that was created outside of ArcCatalog, you can import it if its stored in one of the input formats
supported by the FGDCs metadata parser utility.
You might export metadata to publish it on a data clearinghouse website. Exporting to HTML format creates a le that
represents the selected items metadata exactly as you see it in the Metadata tab. Exporting to XML format creates an
exact copy of the items metadata in a new XML le; this lets you work with metadata for geodatabase items outside

ArcCatalog.

Use the buttons on the Metadata toolbar to import a datasets metadata from (or
export it to) one of several standard formats.

101

Using ArcGIS Desktop

Creating a geodatabase
The process for building a geodatabase is to create the design for the geodatabase, build the structure for the
geodatabase (the schema) in ArcGIS, and then import existing data into the geodatabase, or create new datasets within
it. There are two ways to turn a geodatabase design into a geodatabase structure: create an empty geodatabase and
then use ArcCatalog tools to create the various components (as dened in the design); or copy an existing schema or

geodatabase template and modify it, if necessary.

After the geodatabase is constructed, you can import data (see Collecting, importing, and converting GIS data in
Chapter 3). You may want to start by importing a subset of data to test the design. You can then make changes to the
geodatabase design before loading all your data.

Creating a geodatabase using ArcCatalog tools

To build a geodatabase using tools in ArcCatalog, you rst create the geodatabase, which is initially empty. You then

use the tools provided in ArcCatalog to create or import the feature datasets, feature classes, tables, geometric networks,
topologies, and other items in the geodatabase. These tools are described in separate sections in this chapter. Use these
same tools to modify a geodatabase youve imported from a template.
There are three kinds of geodatabases: le geodatabases, personal geodatabases, and ArcSDE geodatabases. A le
geodatabase stores datasets as a folder of les on your computer. A personal geodatabase stores datasets in a Microsoft
Access le on disk. They both look the same in ArcCatalog (except for the extension.gdb and .mdb, respectively),
although they vary in functionality and performance. A le geodatabase can be up to 1TB in size (versus up to 2GB

for a personal geodatabase) and will perform searches and queries faster than will a personal geodatabase. A personal
geodatabase, however, provides the advanced table operations found in Microsoft Access (some GIS applications may
require these).
You create a le or personal geodatabase within a folder (usually for a workspace youve set up) by right-clicking the

folder.

Right-click a folder, click New, and click either

File Geodatabase or Personal Geodatabase.

A new, empty geodatabase is created in the foldertype over the name to

rename the geodatabase.

102