Exercise 1

Familiarization with GIS software

 Table of contents

1.1 ArcCatalog
1.1.1 Introduction to ArcCatalog.
1.1.2 Purpose of ArcCatalog.
1.1.3 Data Exploration.
1.1.4 Exploring and creating Metadata.
1.1.5 ArcCatalog as a gateway to ArcMap.
1.2 ArcMap

1.2.1 Introduction to ArcMap

1.2.2 ArcMap basic

1.2.2.1 Starting ArcMap and opening Map document.

1.2.2.2 Exploration of Map document.

1.2.2.3 Data view and Layout view.

1.2.2.4 Use of Attribute Table for exploration of Data.

1.2.2.5 Introduction to ArcToolbox.

1.2.2.6 Creation of new map document from existing data.

1.2.2.7 Data structure.

1.2.3 Challenges.

1.2.4 Summary
1.1. ArcCatalog
1.1.1. Introduction to ArcCatalog
Why do we need ArcCatalog?

Introduction
The ArcCatalog application provides a catalog window that is used to organize and manage
various types of geographic information for ArcGIS Desktop. The kinds of information that can
be organized and managed in ArcCatalog includes:

- Geodatabases
- Raster files
- Map documents, globe documents, 3D scene documents, and layer files
- Geoprocessing toolboxes, models, and Python scripts
- GIS services published using ArcGIS Server
- Standards-based metadata for these GIS information items
- And much more

ArcCatalog organizes these contents into a tree view that you can work with to organize your
GIS datasets and ArcGIS documents, search and find information items, and to manage them.

Due to the unique character of ESRI map documents, the best way to move map files and folders
from one location to another is to use ArcCatalog. ArcCatalog is similar to Windows Explorer,
except it was designed by ESRI to transfer ESRI and other database documents without
corrupting their file structure. This program was specifically designed to recognize all the
relevant files that must be transferred with shapefiles, coverages and all of the other types of map
documents.
In this exercise you will explore ArcCatalog and get familiarized with the interface along with
important functions such as browsing, exploring data, creating metadata etc and also to learn,
how to use ArcCatalog as a gateway to Arcmap.

Starting ArcCatalog : The user interface

Here we are assuming that this is the first time that you are using this software. Therefore we are
showing you briefly the components of ArcCatalogs desktop. Before you start working with the
data, first have a look at the interface, how to open ArcCatalog etc.
How to start ArcCatalog:

Start\Programs\ArcGIS\ArcCatalog (see Figure 1.1)

 Figure 1.1 Open ArcCatalog from Desktop

ArcCatalog Interface
When ArcCatalog starts the Main Menu and Standard Toolbar appears by default on the
ArcCatalog window. These toolbars are the areas on the interface with icons which activates
(visible) and deactivates (invisible) various features and functions. This toolbars are application
based as there are different sets of toolbars for different application in ArcGIS. The position of
these toolbars on the interface is flexible as they can float on the desktop as per the user need.
Default toolbars which are activated as we open the ArcCatalog Window are Geography toolbar,
Metadata toolbar, Location toolbar and Standard toolbar. All the toolbars which open by default
are shown in the following Figure 1.2.

Figure 1.2: ArcCatalog Interface

There are other toolbars as well which can be activated as ArcGIS application requires. These
toolbars are activated by right click of the mouse onto the blank space of the ArcCatalog
interface anywhere at the top as shown in Figure 1.3.

Figure 1.3: Toolbars

In ArcCatalog, commands and function can be accessed through:

Menus Contains commands (by topic) in a list.

Icons and menu Execute a command when you click them.
items
Tools Requires interaction of the user and generally display a dialog before a
command is executed.
Combo boxes Let you choose options from a dropdown list.
Text boxes or edit Allow input of parameters.
boxes

1.1.2. Purpose of ArcCatalog :

ArcCatalog is mainly designed for two purposes:

- It allows user to explore, access, manage and existing geographic data irrespective of the
format in which it is stored or its location.
- In ArcCatalog, user can change the structure of the data.

The main applications of ArcCatalog are listed below:

Browsing of maps and data

To browse any data, user had to first establish a connection to the location where the data is
stored. This location can be local disk (C :\ or D:\ drive) or some network drive.
e.g : for users understanding we have taken D:\ drive for establishing connection so that we can
access data using ArcCatalog and data used is Delhi metro city.
The following steps will brief the method of connection which to be made:

In the Standard toolbar, find the connect to folder icon ( ) and click on it.
In the Dialog window, navigate to the D:\ drive see Figure 1.4.
Click OK

Figure 1.4: Connect to Folder dialog window

Click on the plus sign next to the icon of the D:\ drive in the Catalog tree to expand the
tree one level and see the contents.
Select the folder ArcGIS by clicking once on its icon. You will see all files, datasets
and subfolders stored under the selected folder.
Continue to expand the tree: double click on the icons of ArcGIS Delhi_metro.
There is a change in icon of Delhi_metro in the contents tab. This is because
Delhi_metro.mdb is a Personal Geodatabase.
Double click on the icon of the Delhi_metro.mdb Perosonal Geodatabase. There is a
dropdown in the icon of Personal Geodatabase. This new icon is Feature dataset of
personal Geodatabase Delhi_metro.mdb. Notice here that the name of Personal
Geodatabase as well as Feature dataset is same.
Now again double clicking onfeature dataset icon layers of Personal Geodatabase are
displayed which are known as Feature Classes
Now before going further, lets have a look on the content tab.
 Figure 1.5: Detail view of icon in the content
In Contents tab, user can view the contents of the folder or database and depending on how
the user wants to see these contents (i.e as small or large icons, in a list with details or as a
snapshot showing geographic content) there are icons in the standard toolbar as shown in
Figure 1.5.

Now change the view to thumbnail. See whether are proper thumbnail assigned to
each class. If it is not assigned then create a proper thumbnail for each class.
In the Content tab select a Feature class which is without a proper thumbnail.
Go to Standard toolbar, click on thumbnail icon.
Select the Preview tab. Preview of that feature class is displayed onto the screen
which can be used to create a thumbnail by taking a snapshot of the preview image.
From the Geographic toolbar select Create Thumbnail icon ( ) and click once.
Return to the content tab and notice the icon has changed into a small image of the
preview. These steps are shown in the following Figure 1.6 and Figure 1.7.

Figure 1.6: Creation of thumbnail process

 Figure 1.7: Thumbnail created

1.1.3. Data Exploration

Here we will see how to explore the data inside the ArcCatalog.
Almost all the GIS data sets have both spatial and non spatial component. ArcCatalog allows
user to preview either of them (i.e user can toggle between them using the dropdown list at
the bottom of the Preview window). For exploring data inside the Personal Geodatabase we
use preview tab which represents both geographic as well as non geographic information of
the selected Feature Class.
For exploring the data inside the database in the form of geographic information following
steps are listed below:

Select the file: roads Feature Class from the catalog tree.
Click on the preview tab. User will notice that preview is a vector dataset with the
boundaries of the roads inside the Delhi city. Geographic toolbar helps the user to
explore the Geographic data. Each icon inside the Geographic toolbar is shown in
the following Figure 1.8.

Figure 1.8: Geographic toolbar

Function of each icon of Geographic toolbar is listed in the following table.
Zoom(in/out) It allows user to control the level of details or the extent of the area that is
displayed in preview window.
Pan It allows user to move around the zoomed data maintaining the same
visualization.
Full Extent Instead of zoom out icon to be used we can use Full Extent icon so that whole
geographic region is displayed on the screen with optimum scale.
Identify It shows the details of the particular region inside the Feature Class.
Create It allows user to create a thumbnail of the Feature Class which can seen inside
Thumbnail the Content tab window.

Click the Zoom icon from the Geography toolbar.

Click and drag a box over the area of interest, then release the mouse. The area
inside that box will enlarge to occupy the entire display area of the Preview
window. This is shown in Figure 1.9 and Figure 1.10.

Figure 1.9: Area of interest that has to be enlarged

Figure 1.10: Enlarged area

 Click on Pan icon to explore around the enlarged area without changing the scale of the
enlarged display of area of interest.
After exploring the area of interest at a selected zoom level, use Full Extent icon which
allows user to return to the full extent of the feature class.
Use Identify icon, which allows user to retrieve attribute information of the feature- in
our case the particular road- if user points out with the mouse.

Figure 1.11: Process of identifying the feature attributes

For exploring the data inside the database in the form of tabular information following steps are
listed below:

Now open a Preview tab of Road Feature Class.

Go to a dropdown list panel at the bottom just below the snapshot display of Feature
Class and select Table.
Now user will see the attribute of this Road Feature Class.
To customize the appearance of the table by changing the default settings, go to
Customize tab in the Main Menu bar and select ArcCatalog options.
In ArcCatalog options, user will find many option of customizing the attribute table
depending upon his/her need ( i.e selection colour, changing width of column,
repositioning of column etc).
 Figure 1.12: Dialog window to set ArcCatalog Options.

Repositioning of column can be done as follow:

Click the column heading. User will notice that whole column is selected.
Click the column again and hold down the mouse button.
Drag the column heading to the location where user wants to place that column in
attribute table.
Release the mouse button.
Use of Freeze/Unfreeze option after selecting two or more columns when user had to
compare them.
Right click on the column heading.
Click Freeze/Unfreeze Column.
Scroll horizontally by moving the horizontal slider to the right. Notice that
column which was freeze is still seen as user scroll to the right. This helps user to
compare the column values with other columns.
Sorting of the records from the attribute table.
Right click on the column heading name.
In the drop down list, click the sorting option user wants to use. There are three
options in the drop down list: Sort Ascending, Sort descending and Advance
Sorting.
Sort Ascending Values increase
Sort Descending Values decrease
Advance Sorting Multi-sorting of the columns at the
same time

Columns can be added.

Fields can be added.

1.1.4.Exploring and Creating a Metadata

Metadata is critical for sharing tools, data, and maps and for searching to see if the resources user
need already exist. Metadata describes geographic information system (GIS) resources in the
same way a card in librarys card catalog describes a book. Once user has found a resource with
search, its metadata will help user decide whether its suitable for user purposes. To make a
decision, user may need to know how accurate or current the resources are and if there are any
restrictions on how it can be used. Metadata can answer these questions.
Any item in ArcCatalog, including folders and file types such as Word documents, can have
metadata. Once created, metadata is copied, moved and deleted along with the item when it is
managed with ArcCatalog or ArcInfo Workstation.
There are a several standards for metadata. Standards provide common terminology and
definations for the documentation of digital data. For geospatial data, two main standards are
defined by:

- The International Organization for Standardizations (ISO) with the documentation

19115 Geographic Information Metadata
- The Federal Geographic Data Committees (FGDC) of the United States.

Explore metadata

In the catalog tree select Wards

In the view area, click the Metadata tab to visualize the metadata information
window.
Scroll through the metadata and study its contents.

Metadata consist of properties and documentation. Properties are derived from the data itself and
documentation is additional descriptive information, generally supplied by the data creator. But
user with writing access can change or add content to the metadata.

Figure 1.13: Metadata window Default Stylesheet

ArcCatalog offers a number of ways to display the metadata, using different Stylesheets.
Stylesheets define the way in which the metadata is displayed. By default, ArcCatalog displays
metadata using the FGDC ESRI stylesheet.

Changing stylesheets.

In the Metadata toolbar, click the pull down list.

Select any of the stylesheets.
Notice the changes in the format of the metadata.

Editing metadata

You can create the metadata for a new data set, or change existing metadata, by using ArcCatalogs
metadata editor. For example, change the metadata of the wards feature class.

Click the button: Edit metadata in the metadata toolbar.

Add all the required information such as tilte, description, summary and credits.

1.1.5. ArcCatalog as a gateway to ArcMap

You have now explored some functions of ArcCatalog, and seen that its main purpose is data
browsing and basic data management. If you want to edit geo-spatial data, analyse it or create
maps, you need another application of the ArcGIS suite: ArcMap. Most of the exercises that
follow will be about the basics of geoinformation processing Arcmap.

- Access ArcMap:

From the standard toolbar select the ArcMap icon:

When ArcMap opens, you will be prompted to select one of the following: an empty
map, a new template or an existing map.
You will do this in the next exercise. So can stop here and exit ArcMap.

In the ArcMap dialog window ignore the different options and click OK.
From the File menu, sekect exit.
1.2. ArcMap

1.2.1. Introduction to ArcMap

This section provides an introduction and overview to ArcMap, which is the central application
used in ArcGIS. ArcMap is another interface of ArcGIS where user can display maps, explore
GIS datasets for study area, assign symbols and also can create map layouts for printing or
publication. ArcMap is alos the application where datasets can be edited as well created.
ArcMap represents geographic information as a collection of layers and other elements in a map.
Common map elements include the data frame containing map layers for a given extent plus a
scale bar, north arrow, title, descriptive text, a symbol legend and so on.

General task performed in ArcMap

ArcMap is the primary application used in ArcGIS and is used to perform a wide range of
common GIS tasks as well as specialized, user-specific tasks. Here is a list of some common
workflows user can perform:

- Works with maps ArcMaps document can be opened and used to explore information,
navigate around map documents, turn layers on and off, query features to access the rich
attribute data that is behind the map and to visualize geographic information.
- Print maps User can create maps from the simplest to very sophisticated print-quality
cartography using ArcMap.
- Compile and edit GIS datasets- ArcMap provides one of the primary ways that users
automate geodatabase datasets. ArcMap supports scalable full function editing (.i.e.
layers can be selected in the map document to edit and then the new and updated features
are saved in the layers dataset.
- Use geoprocessing to automate work and perform analysis GIS is both visual and
analytical. ArcMap has the ability to execute any geoprocessing model or script as well
as to view and work with the results through map visualization. Geoprocessing can be
used for analysis as well as to automate many mundane tasks such as map book
generation, repairing broken data links in a collection of map documents, and to perform
GIS data processing.
- Organize and manage geodatabases and ArcGIS documents - ArcMap includes the
Catalog Window that enables user to organize all of the GIS datasets and
geodatabases, map documents and other ArcGIS files, geoprocessing tools and man y
other GIS information sets. User can also setup and manage geodatabase schemas in the
Catalog Window.
- Publish map documents as map services using ArcGIS Server ArcGIS content is
brought to life on the web by publishing geographic information as a series of map
services. ArcMap provides a simple user ecperience for publishing map documents as
map services.
- Share maps, layers, geoprocessing models and geodatbases with other users ArcMap
includes tools that make it easy to package and share datasets with other users. This
includes abilty to share GIS maps and data using ArcGIS online.
 - Documenting geographic information A key goal in GIS communities is to describe
geographic information sets to help in documenting projects and for more effective
search and data sharing. Using Catalog Window, GIS contents can be documented.
- Customize the user experience ArcMap includes tools for customization, including the
ability t write software add-ins to add new functionality, to simplify and streamline the
user interface, and to use geoprocessing for task automation.

1.2.2 ArcMap basics

1.2.2.1 Starting ArcMap and opening ArcMap document

From the task bar, select All Programs-->>ArcGIS-->>ArcMap.

Start ArcMap.
Browse for maps inside the drives and respective folders and open required
map. ( .i.e in our case wards)

For visualization purpose, Figure 1.14, Figure 1.15 and Figure 1.16 is shown to demonstrate
the above steps.

Figure 1.14: Open ArcMap from the desktop

 Figure 1.15: Browsing of maps

Figure 1.16: The opened map document in ArcMap

There are number of ways other than mentioned above steps to open ArcMap. If user already
working in ArcMap, he/she can choose to open another map document. This will close existing
map and open the new one in its place. There are two more ways to change map to another one:

Left-click on a map document in the Catalog Window and hold the click button and drag
that map document onto the Table of Contents in ArcMap.
Use the Search Window to find a map and double-click to open it in ArcMap.

Be sure to save your work in your existing map as it will be closed when new map is opened.

Map Document
A Map Document stores a representation (map, graph, table) and the references to the location of
the geodata sources displayed. The map document does not store the actual data, but rather
references the data stored on disk along with information about how it should displayed. The
map document also stores other information about the map, such as its size and the map elements
it includes ( title, scale bar and so on).
Any geographic representation of the data will be displayed in the Map Window.

Table of Contents
The table of contents lists all the layers on the map and shows what the features in each layer
represent. The maps table of contents helps user to manage display order of map layers and
symbol assignment, as well as set the display and other properties of each map layer.

- The layers at the top of the table of contents draw on top of those below them. Thus, user
will put the layers that form the background of the map, such as the ocean or an image,
near the bottom of the table of contents and the layers to which user wants to draw the
map readers attention near the top. A typical map might have an image or a terrain base
(such as shaded relief or elevation contours) near the bottom. Next comes the basemap
polygon features, followed by line and point features near the top. And finally, user might
typically see some reference layers (such as road names and place-names) that provides
locational context.
- Check box or icon to the left of each map layer is there to turn it on or off. Holding down
the CTRL key and clicking turns all map layers on and off simultaneously.
- User can set the display properties for each layer so that it draws within a specific range
of map scales. When the map display is out of range for scale-dependent drawing, the
layers will not be visible. Layers that are out of range of the current map scale are
indicated in the table of contents by a gray check box with a scale bar under it.

Toolbars and Menus

Toolbars and Menus give organized access to functions, commands and tools that include all the
actions related to specific tasks. The first user opens ArcMap, it displays the Main Menu, The
Standard toolbar, and a floating window with the Tools toolbar.

1.2.2.2 Exploration of Map document

For changing the view on the area displayed and exploring them, same toolbars are present as it
was there in ArcCatalog. For exploring the map document same tools are used (such as Zoom
in/out, pan, Full Extent and Identify).
Zoom to a specific map scale
There is additional feature in Standard toolbar which is not the in ArcCatalog is zoom to a
specific map scale. In the standard toolbar, the Map Scale tool allows user to specify the scale of
the map on the screen. Type the desired scale in the text box and then press Enter.
(Note if the documents spatial reference information is missing so it will not show any scale in
the text box of Standard toolbar but this data can be drawn in ArcMap but cannot be projected).
1.2.2.3 Data view and layout view
There are two ways to view a map : in Data view and in Layout view.

- Data view provides a geographic window for exploring, displaying, and querying the
data on user map. Here user will work in real world coordinates and measurements in
data.
- In Layout view, user will work with the map layout elements, such as titles, north arrows
and scale bars along with the data frame all of which are arranged on a page. In Layout
view, work is done primarily in page space (typically inches or centimeters).
How to switch from Data view to Layout view?
Steps-

Select the Layout view option from the View menu.

User will notice that one more toolbar popped up after click Layout view option. This
toolbar is called Layout tool bar. Display of Layout tool bar is shown in Figure 1.17.
This layout tool bar is a floating toolbar so that it can be moved throughout the interface
as user wants.

Figure 1.17: Layout toolbar

Navigation tools on the Layout Toolbar:

Icon Name Function

Zoom In Allows user to zoom in on the layout by
clicking a point or dragging a box.
Zoom Out Allows user to zoom out on layout by clicking
a point or dragging a box.
Pan Allows user to pan the layout.
Zoom Whole Page Allows user to zoom to full layout extent.
Zoom to 100% Allows user to zoom to 1:1 page scale.
Fixed Zoom In Allows user to zoom in on the center of layout.
Fixed Zoom Out Allows user to zoom out from the center of the
layout.
Go Back To Extent Allows user to go back to the previous extent.
 Go Forward To Extent Allows user to go forward to the next extent.
Zoom Control Allows user to set page size using percentage.

Display of Layout View will look like as shown in Figure 1.18.

Figure 1.18: Layout View

Note that user can always switch between Layout View and Data View, using the toggle
options of Layout View and Data View at the left side bottom of the ArcMap window.
In the Layout View, the orientation of the page is by default Portrait. User can change
the orientation as well as other characteristics of the page by clicking the Change
Layout present on the Layout Toolbar.
(NOTE Layout View depends upon the type of data which being used and also the
output of the data the user wants to create.)
There are number of layout options present and they are listed below in a table:

1. Architectural Page Sizes

2. ISO (A) Page Sizes
3. North American (ANSI) Page
Sizes
4. USA
5. Traditional Layout
6. Industry
7. World
1.2.2.4 Use of Attribute Table for exploration of Data
- Right click on the layer and select Open Attribute Table. That layers Attribute table will
be displayed.

Figure 1.19: Opening of Attribute Table of Ward Layer

- If the user wants to see the particular region attribute then click Identify icon present in
Geography toolbar and click on the particular feature to display that features attribute. In our case
as shown in Figure 1.19.

Figure 1.20: Use of Identify Icon to display the attribute of a particular region (in our case
Rajender Nagar)

- If the user wants to select the feature from an attribute table and also wants to see where
that feature lies inside the map, see following steps :
 Go to Table of Contents and open attribute table for Ward in our case.
Then select Rajender Nagar from the attribute table just by Left-Click in the
grey box of the record. As user can see the selection is highlighted, both in the
table as well as in the map.
To select the additional features, hold down the Ctrl key of keyboard and Left-
Click of the records in the attribute table.
If the user wants to deselect one of the features, click on its records grey box
while holding Ctrl key pressed and click on Clear selection option in the
appeared drop down list.
And if the user wants to deselect all the selection then use Clear Selection
Features option in Selection menu.
And if user only wants to see the selected features inside the attribute then at the
centre bottom of the attribute table there is an icon in which user can toggle

between show all the records ( ) or selected records ( ).

- If user wants to search or select features using mathematical expressions then see following steps:

From the main menu, point to Selections and click Select by attributes or open
attribute table of Ward and then Left-Click on Table options, a drop down list will
appear and then click Select by attribute.
Click the layer dropdown arrow to select the layer but in our case there is just one
layer so by default it will take Ward.
Click the method drop down and click Create a new selection.
Double-click the field: WARD_NAME, then, click the =sign, after that click
the get unique values icon and then, double click a name in the Unique values
list.

Figure 1.21: Select by attribute.

 - There other types expression for selection of features which can be performed depending
upon users requirement.

1.2.2.5 Introduction to ArcToolbox

The Arctoolbox window is the central place where user can find, manage and execute
geoprocessing tools. Tools can also be managed and executed from ArcCatalog. The ArcToolbox
window contains toolboxes, which in turn contain tools and toolsets (a toolset is just an
organizational device, like a system folder). Tools must be contained in a toolbox- they cannot
exist outside a toolbox. The organization of the system toolboxes- their names and the tools and
toolsets they contain- has been carefully thought out to provide a logical and coherent collections
of tools. User can even create his/her own tools, organize them into new toolsets and toolboxes,
and share them with any ArcGIS user.
Suites of Tools present inside the ArcToolbox are listed below in table along with their general
functions:

Suites
3D Analyst Tools
Analysis tools
Cartography Tools
Conversion Tools
Data Interoperability Tools
Data Management Tools
Editing Tools
Geocoding Tools
Geostatistical Analyst Tools
Linear Referencing Tools
Multidimension Tools
Parcel Fabric Tools
FUNCTIONALITY
It contains tools user can use on 3D surfaces to interpolate
heights for digitized points, lines, polygons or to create a contour
line, a line indicating steepest path, a line of sight, or a profile
graph for line results. Use these tools to gain an understanding of
patterns in 3D surfaces that are not readily apparent.
A suite of geoprocessing tools used to solve spatial or statistical
problems.
Contains tools designed to produce data for maps to meet
specific cartographic standards.
Contains tools that are used to convert data into various formats.
It contains a set of tools that covert a wide range of data formats
using Safe Softwares FME technology. The FME Suite is an
extract, transform, and load (ETL) tool for spatial data.
Contains the tools to develop, manage and manipulate feature
classes, datasets and layers.
Contains a set of geoprocessing tools to perform bulk edits to a
data.
Contains tools used to manage a geocoding service and run
geocoding actions.
Contains tools that can easily create a continous surface or map
from measurements stored in a point feature layer or raster layer
or by using polygon centroids.
Contains tools to model relative locations along linear features
and associate multiple sets of attributes to portions of linear
features.
Contains tools that operate on netCDF data. User can use these
tools to make a netCDF raster layer, feature layer or table view;
to convert to netCDF from a rater, feature or table and to select a
dimension of a netCDF layer or table.
Coordinate geometry (COGO) tools are available for adding and
computing parcel traverse lines and construction lines. COGO is

Spatial Analyst Tools
Schematic Tools
Spatial Statistics Tools
Tracking Analyst Tools
the method used to capture and define survey measurements and
descriptions that have been recorded on a plan or legal record of
survey.
This toolbox provides tools for performing cell-based (raster)
spatial analysis.
Contains tools to be used to prepare temporal data for use with
the Tracking Analyst extension.

1.2.2.6 Creation of new map document from existing data

After the above discussion now we will show how to actually create a new map document from
existing data.

Steps:

Start ArcMap.
In the Start Window, select a new empty map.
Click the Add Data button on the standard toolbar (Same procedure of adding the data).
In the Add data window, navigate to the folder Wards in the local drive ( :/D Drive).
Click the layer Ward and Add. The layer will be added to the map.

Figure 1.22: Warning displayed as the projection was not defined for Ward layer.

Now if the user wants to remove this layer form the table of content then Right Click on
the layer and click Remove.
 Data Symbolization
- Drawing a layer using s single symbol:

in the table of contents, double-click the temples.

In the Layer properties window, click the symbology tab.
Click Features- single symbol.
In the symbol selector box, select a symbol from the big window to show
the temples. You can also change some properties of the symbols, like
colour and size. Try some possibilities.
After you created your symbol, click Apply. The symbols of the temples
in the table of contents and in the map are changed according your
specifications.
To close the layer properties box, click ok.
Repeat this process for all the other layers.

The option single symbol displays all features is a map with the same symbol. E.g. if a
single symbol is used for roads, the difference between highways and main roads will not
be visible in the map. These unique values can be symbolized separately. Unique values
of records in a layer can be found in the layers attribute table.

- Drawing a layer showing unique values of records in the specific layer.

Right- Click the layer name Road_existing and click Attribute table.
Which field can be used to display the road classes?: Road classes are stored in
the field type. When you look at the values in the records, you will see width of
the roads, so the type field can be used to show these unique values of different
land use classes.
Close the attribute table.
In the table of contents, double-click the layer name : Road_existing
In the layer properties window, click the symbology tab.
Click Categories Unique values.
 Figure 1.23: The Symbology tab of the Layer properties window is used to define unique
symbols.

In the Value Field drop-down box, select the field Type.

Click on Add All Values. You will see a list of the road classes and a colour
representation of each type of road.
Switch off the checkbox next to all other values, because there are no other values.
Double-click, the line symbol of road types and change the colour and/or symbolization
of each road classes.
Click OK when finished, the road are now shown differently.
Save the map: File-Save.

Label Features
Labeling is the process of placing a descriptive text string next to one or more features on your
map.

- Label the major cities with their names:

Double-Click the name of the layer Road_existing to open the properties

window and select the tab Labels.
Switch on: Label features in this layer.
Method: Label all features in the same way.
Label field: select the attribute field that you can use for the names of the roads.
Select Name.
Click OK. The labels of the road names will appear in your map.
 Create a map page in layout view

Define the page set up: file, page and print set up. From the page size, select a
landscape orientation.
Switch to layout view, resize/ move the data frame (the box around the map) so
that the map fits onto the page.
In the main window, click Insert Title. Click and type a map title in the Title box
that will appear in your layout. Then press the Enter key on your keyboard. Next,
click the title and drag it to an appropriate position on your map.
Add a north arrow: Click Insert, North Arrow. Select an arrow and drag it to an
appropriate position.
Switch back to Data view.
Save the map.

1.2.2.7 DATA STRUCTURE

Geodatabase is a spatial database designed to store query and manipulate geographic information
and spatial data of low dimensionality. It is a specialized type of spatial database often with
optimizations for 2 and 3 dimensions, raster data and Euclidean distance.
There are three types of Geodatabases:

Personal 1. A geodatabase, which is a Microsoft Access database that can

Geodatabase store, query and manage both spatial and nonspatial data.
2. Only one person can access data in a personal geodatabase at one
time.
3. Maximum size of this database is 2 GB.
File Geodatabase 1. It is a collection of files in a folder on disk that can store, query
and manage both spatial and nonspatial data.
2. It is created in ArcGIS.
3. It can be used simultaneously by several users, but only one user
at a time can edit the same data.
4. Maximum size of this database is 1 TB.
ArcSDE 1. Its a relational database which is stored using Oracle, Microsoft
Geodatabase SQL Server, IBM DB2, IBM Informix or PostgreSQL.
2. This is a multiuser geodatabase but require the use of ArcSDE.
3. Size can be unlimited.

Data formats which can be edited in ArcGIS are:

Spatial files Its a vector data format for storing the location, shape and attributed of
geographic features. A shapefile is stored in a set of related files and contains one
feature class.
Types of shape files:
1. Point Shape file Point data
2. Line Shape file Line data
3. Polygon Shape file Polygon data
Feature Feature Classes are collections of geographic features that shares the same
Classes geometry type, attributes and spatial reference. When feature classes belong
together (contain data of the same extent and the same projection), they can be
grouped together in a Feature Data Set. Feature Classes are the part of Personal
Geodatabase.
Most common Feature Classes:
1. Point Feature Class Point data
2. Line Feature Class Line data
3. Polygon Feature Class Polygon data

1.2.3 Challenge

Challenge 1
One of the topic not treated in this exercise is the option to Search by geographic
location. Try find the geospatial data of the United States County called: Zapata, using
the Search by geographic location option.

Challenge 2
Try to discover more about ArcMap (as much as you can) using the above listed methods to get
online Help,

Challenge 3
Create your own map:
Create new shape files:
Follow the procedure explained above to create 5 shape files in the exercise folder.
One polygon shape file, name : My_land
One polygon shape file, name: My_cities
One polygon shape file, name: My_roads
One point shape file, name: My_villages
Add these shape files to a Arc_Map document.
Create features:
Start the editor and draw one large polygon in the My_land shape file to represent your own-
made country or province or island.
In the my_cities shape file, draw a number of points to represent your cities.
In the villages shape-files, draw a number of points to represent to represent your villages.
Save your edits and stop editing.
Open the attribute table of the roads layer and add a field to the attribute table (options button:
add field). Name the field Road_class and select for Type: Text. Then, close the attribute table.
Open the attribute table of the My_cities layer and add a field to the attribute table. Name the
field: Name, and select for the Type: Text. Then, close the attribute table.
Start editing and draw some lines representing the roads. After that, open the attribute table : In
the Road_class field, for each record, you can type its road class ( e.g. high way or main road).
Open the attribute table of the My_cities layer and type a name for each record.
Stop editing and save the edits.

Symbolize all features in the map and label the my_cities layer with the names.
1.2.4 Summary
Part 1
You have now experienced some of the main functions of ArcCatalog, but there are more
functions and options in the software than shown in the exercise.
With the topics covered in this exercise, you should now have basic skills in using ArcCatalog to
preview and manage geographic and attribute data that can be used for analyses and GIS
applications. You should have the basic skills/knowledge to:
a. browse and explore maps and tabular data.
b. View and create metadata.
c. Manage data sources.
d. Use ArcCatalog to access ArcMap.

Part 2
In this exercise you have learned the basics of ArcMap: how to tart the application and open a
Map Document, how to move around the map and explore your data, how to define basic
symbology for your map. At the end, you have learned where to find additional help, if required.
In the challenges you can learn more about ArcGIS help functions and how to create data files.