Out of the Office and Into the Field: Introduction

to ArcPad and ArcPad Application Builder

A Yale Map Collection GIS Workshop

Preparing For the Tutorial

1. Navigate to the C:\Temp folder on your harddrive.

2. Make a New Folder using your initials as the name of the New Folder.
For example, if your name is John Jacob Jinglehymer-Smith, you would
make a new folder called C:\Temp\JJJ

3. Open the web browser available on your machine and navigate to the
Map Collection website at http://www.library.yale.edu/maps. Click on
the “Download GIS Workshop Materials” link under Quicklinks and look for
the Out of the Office and Into the Field: Introduction to ArcPad and
ArcPad Application Builder materials. Download the Data file to your
C:\Temp\intials folder.

Unzip the dataset to your initials folder (You should be able to simply right-click
on the file and select Extract Here…). This file contains the datasets we will
use for the exercises that follow.

Preparing the Data for Your ArcPad Application

1. Browse in to the folder that resulted from extracting the Zipfile you
downloaded.

2. Double-Click the Yale_Map.mxd map document to Open it.

This is the data that you will be exporting

to put into your ArcPad Application. What
you see now is the base data that
provided you reference while performing
the survey. This base dataset contains a
simple line file which shows features of
the built and natural environment on the
Yale Campus. It does not, however,
contain the information you are interested
in, which is where the bike racks are
located, and the attributes that apply to
them.

1
Creating the Empty
Shapefile for your
ArcPad Application
1. Open ArcCatalog

2. Browse to the
\Shapefiles\ folder in
the tutorial dataset.

3. Right-Click on the
\Shapefiles| folder
name in the
CatalogTree at the left
side of the ArcCatlog
window.

4. Select New>Shapefile.

5. Rename the Shapefile Bike_Racks.

6. Make sure the Feature Type is set to Point.

7. Click on the Edit Button, under the Spatial

Reference section of the Create New
Shapefile dialog box.

8. Click on the Import Button and

browse to the \Shapefile\ folder in
the tutorial dataset.

2
 9. Select the plain_polyline.shp file and Click Add.

10. Click OK to apply the Spatial Reference.

11. Leave the remaining items and click OK to create the new
Bike_Racks.shp shapefile.

12. Right-Click on the new

Bike_Racks.shp Shapefile
and Open its Properties dialog
box.

13. Click on the Fields Tab.

14. Click on the first empty Field

Name box in the list and begin
entering Field Names (in ALL
CAPS) to your new
Bike_Racks.shp Shapefile.

15. Enter the Field Names and

Data Types as shown below:

Field Name Data Type Other

DESIGN Text
CAPACITY Short Integer
INTACT Short Integer
CARCASS Short Integer
PHOTOTK Text
PHOTONUM Short Integer
NOTES Text Length=254
SURVDATE Date

16. Click OK to save the changes to the Attribute Table.

Exporting the Base Data for Use in ArcPad

1. Return to ArcMap and Add the empty Bike_Rack.shp Shapefile to the
layout.

2. Save your work.

3. If it is not already active, Right-Click on an

empty area of the Toolbar and activate the
ArcPad tools.

3
4. Click on the left-most button
to begin the “Get Data for
ArcPad” Wizard.

5. Click on the “Select All”

button to select all of the data
layer and Click Next.

6. Select the options in the next

window as shown below:

7. Save the resulting folder to the

\Data\ folder in the tutorial
dataset.

8. Click on Finish to export the

data.

9. Click OK on the results report

window, if all went well.

4
 10. Close ArcMap, saving your work if necessary.

Creating the Custom ArcPad

Form for Your BikeRacks.shp
Shapefile
1. In the Windows Start Menu, look
for the ArcGIS Program Group
and Open ArcPad Application
Builder 7.

2. When prompted, select “New

Layer Definition Project,” and
click OK.

3. Browse to the \Shapefiles\

Folder and select the
BikeRacks.shp Shapefile.

4. Click Open.

You will immediately be presented

with the Form Wizard. This wizard
interface will help automate many of
the initial tasks in building the new
custom form.

1. Change the Drop-Down

in the Layout Tab to “1/4
VGA – 240x320.”

2. Uncheck all but the “Page

Tabs” item.

3. Since the application is

ultimately to be used
outside, use a high
contrast Text/Color
scheme to allow for
bright sunlit conditions.

5
 4. Click on the Fields Tab.

5. Make sure that all fields are checked.

6. Click on the Controls Tab.

The Controls Tab is where you will begin entering some of the basic attributes of
the form items that will appear in your application. You can change the names of
the control labels, assign tooltips, make fields required, and assign ranges and
list values for drop-downs (we will do this using a values table). Fill out this tab
as shown below to finish the Form Wizard:

Click OK when you have completed the Forms Wizard. ArcPad Application
Developer will create the base ArcXML document which defines the form for the
BikeRacks.shp Shapefile.

Editing the Final

Form: Creating a
Drop-Down with List
The Form
Values Controls Design
Toolbar
1. Navigate to the
\Tables\ folder in the
tutorial dataset and
copy the
value_table.dbf file.

2. Navigate to the
\DataforArcPad1\

6
 folder and Paste the value_table.dbf file.

3. Double-click on the “<EDITFORMS> Bike_Racks” item in the

Bike_Racks.apl file (it should be the last line.

4. Your Custom Form will open, ready for editing.

5. Click and Highlight the Text Box for the “Design” Field.

6. On the Main Menu of the Bike_Racks

Form Editor, go to Control>Delete
Control.

7. From the Control Design Toolbar, Drag

the ComboBox Control to the space

where the TextBox for “Design” was.

8. Again, on the Main Menu, go to

Control>Control Properties…

9. In the General Tab, fill out the Control

Properties as shown on the right.

10. Click on the List Values Tab.

11. For the Table Item, Browse to the

\DataForArcPad1\ Folder and select
the value_table.dbf.

12. Click Open.

13. Set the other Control Properties as

show on the right.

14. Click OK.

Editing the Final Form: Creating

a Numeric Value Selector
1. Click on the Textbox Control next to
the Rack Capacity label to highlight it.

2. On the Main Menu, go to Control>Control Properties.

7
 3. Reduce the Textbox’s Size to
50.

4. Click OK.

5. From the Control Design

Toolbar, Drag the UPDOWN

Control to the right of the

TextBox for Rack Capacity.

6. Double-Click on the UPDOWN

Control to open the Control
Properties.

7. In the General Tab, name the

Control updCAPACITY and
assign its “Buddy” as
CAPACITY.

This will cause the values

resulting from this control to
be written to the CAPACITY
Textbox, in the final form.

8. Reduce the Height to 12.

9. Click on the Values Tab and

assign the Lower Limit=0
and Upper Limit=50.

10. Click OK.

Making Final Adjustments to the

Form Layout
1. Note that the Rack Capacity label is
partially obscured because it takes two
lines. Click on the TextBox next to this
label to highlight it.

2. On the Main Menu of your Form Editing

window, go to Control>Control

8
 Properties.

3. Change the Control Properties as follows:

X=55
Width=40

4. Click OK to apply the changes.

5. Now, click on the “Rack Capacity” label to highlight it.

6. Use the Resize Handles to drag the right side of the Label toward the
TextBox until the label changes to a single line.

More Clean-up…

1. Click on the “Page 2” Tab.

2. Click on the Survey Data/Time Label to highlight

it. Move it to the Bottom of the Form.

3. Use the Resize Handle to enlarge the Data/Time

Label until it is completely visible.

4. Click on the Drop-Down Control associated with

the Survey Date/Time Label to highlight it.

5. Drag the Drop-down Control Box to the bottom of the Form and place it
with the associated label.

And Still More Clean-up…

1. Click on the Text Box associated with the “Notes” label to highlight it.

2. Drag the bottom resize handle down until the TextBox fills the form
area.

3. Double-click on the TextBox to open the Control Properties.

4. Check the Multiline & Vertical Scroll checkboxes.

5. Click OK.

9
 6. Click OK on the Bike_Racks Form Editing window to apply the
changes.

7. Click on the Save Button .

8. Close ArcPad Application Developer.

Getting Familiar with ArcPad

Now you will open your newly created ArcPad Application in ArcPad. Aside from
the screensize, the application will look and operate in the same way it will look
and operate on the Windows Handheld device you intend to use it on. One
important difference, however, is that you are unlikely to have a GPS unit
connected to the desktop that you are working on. This section will demonstrate
the collection of data using the Drawing Tools (in this case you will place a point
at the location of your bike racks), but the difference between capturing this data
manually, or with a GPS point is really only a difference of pressing the capture
GPS point button, rather than the Point Drawing button.

1. From the Windows Start menu, launch

ArcPad.

2. When Prompted, Browse to the

\DataForArcPad1\ Folder and open the
arcpad.apm document.

3. Resize the Application Window so that it

looks similar to that on the right

4. Use the Drop-Down Arrow on the Zoom

Tool to activate the Pan Tool .

5. Pan around until you have duplicated the

view in the image on the right.

Review the diagram on the next page to quickly

familiarize yourself with the tools in ArcPad.
Most of the tools are duplicates of those found in ArcMap, so you will already
be familiar with how they work.

10
 GPS Settings Tools. For
setting up GPS Activity in
your Application.

The Select Edit Layer

menu. The Selected Layer
will be editable

Feature Attribute Tool.

Opens the Custom Form,
or Attribute Table of a
selected feature for editing

Capture GPS as Vertices,

for creating lines &
Polygons

Capture GPS as Vertex, for

creating Lines & Polygons

The Feature Selection Capture GPS point, for

Tools, for selecting and capturing point data
editing existing features

Drawing Tools for

Creating New Features.
Activate according to the
data type of the selected
Edit Layer

11
Creating New Features in Your ArcPad
Application
1. Using the Select Edit Layer Drop-down, make the
Bike_Racks layer the Active Layer. The Editing
Toolbar & Drawing Tools should become visible.

2. Using the Drawing Tools Drop-down, make the

Point Tool active. The mouse cursor will change
to a crosshair.

3. Place a point in front of Sterling Library by

clicking once on the map

If you were using GPS to capture your features, in this case,

you would have simply pressed the Capture GPS Point”
button.

4. The Bike_Racks
form will pop up,
ready for you to enter attributes.

5. Populate the attributes of the

digitized feature as shown below:

6. Click on the OK icon at the bottom left of the screen.

12
Changing Attributes for a Feature

1. Activate the Select Tool .

2. Click on the feature that you just placed.

3. It will be selected (indicated by a nearly imperceptible dashed bounding

box).

4. Click on the Feature Properties button and the form will be

presented, with the attributes for the currently selected feature.

5. Alter the attributes as needed and click OK.

Deleting Features
The easiest means of editing the position of a newly placed feature in ArcPad is
to simply delete the feature and replace it. Vertices can be edited for lines and
polygons using the Select & Vertex Editing tool.

1. Activate the Select Tool .

2. Click on the Feature that you just placed.

3. Using the Feature Properties Drop-down,

select Delete Feature.

13