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Introduction to ArcGIS Info Desktop 10

1. Objective
2. About the Software
2.1 Formats and file sizes
2.2 How data are represented: ArcGIS 10 icons
2.3 ArcCatalog
2.3.1 What can be done in ArcCatalog?
2.3.2 Find in ArcCatalog
2.3.3 Managing your data
2.4 ArcToolbox
2.5 ArcMap
2.5.1 What is in ArcMap?
2.5.2 Creating your own Map
2.5.3 Creating your own Map
3. How to Create Metadata
4. Tutorial

1. Objective
To familiarize:
· Modules of ESRI ArcGIS software
· Data display, queries
· Navigating ArcGIS
· Metadata

2. About the Software

ArcGIS is considered to be the industry standard for professional GIS users. ArcGIS is structured around
three main modules: ArcCatalog, ArcMap, and ArcToolbox. These modules represent the three basic
necessities of GIS: data management, data analysis, and creating maps.

1.1 Formats and file sizes

The geospatial data formats that we will be using are:
Geodatabase:
India – India geodatabase contains states, railroads, streams, Dams etc.
Coverage:
State - Coverage of the States of India
Shapefile:
IndiaCoastline - Shapefile of coastline of India
IndiaPoi - Shapefile of points of interest in India
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CAD Dataset:
IndiaCanal – A CAD dataset of Canal network of India
Raster:
StudyArea – A Digital Elevation Model of some area in India
Map Layout:
Information - Map file displaying the information about Dams, roads The geospatial data formats listed
above are the most common, there are many others formats. These will be covered in more detail in later
labs.

1.2 How data are represented: ArcGIS 10 icons

Notice that there are different icons at the top bar of ArcCatalog. When ArcCatalog is started, it
automatically looks in folders containing spatial data (connected working directories). Any spatial data will
be given a special icon (icons are different from thumbnails). The following table is showing different icon.
Folder containing
Folder connection containing
Attributes Window geographic data - inside a
geographic data (Workspace)
Workspace (second level)

Map file Grid data Add Data

Geodatabase Tin Shapefile - Polygon

Geodatabase feature dataset Cad Data set Shapefile - Line

Geodatabase feature class -

Coordinate Shapefile - Point
Polygon

Geodatabase feature class -

Coverage- Polygon Tool box
Line

Geodatabase feature class -

Coverage - Line Layers
Point

Geodatabase feature class -

Coverage - Point Data Frame
Empty

GeoProcessing Script Raster ArcMap mxd

There are several menus and toolbars associated with ArcCatalog interface. To find out what a particular
button does, hover your cursor over the button for a few seconds. A pop-up note will appear telling the
function associated with the button, and a more informative description will appear on the bottom of the
ArcCatalog window
For example If you hold your cursor over the upward pointing yellow arrow in the upper left of ArcCatalog
(the first button directly under 'File'), you will see a popup note reading 'Up One Level,' and the bottom of
the ArcCatalog window will read "Go to the next level up in the catalog tree".

1.3 ArcCatalog

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ArcCatalog is the ArcGIS module used for organizing, browsing, and managing data and map files, as well
as for viewing and editing metadata. In many ways, ArcCatalog is similar to Windows Explorer but different
in others.

When you modify a file's location (copy-paste, move), or create or delete a file, in ArcCatalog you do not
need to confirm or save the changes -- it is done automatically! Connecting to your working directory

· Start ArcCatalog and explore the contents of Lab1 data. Go to Start → Programs → ArcGIS →
ArcCatalog

· Connect to your working directory, by clicking on left side in the folder options ArcCatalog.

Once you connect to the working directory, the way contents are shown in ArcCatalog is similar in structure
to that by the Windows Explorer. On the left side is a "tree view" showing the hierarchical folder-subfolder-
file structure. The right side provides options for exploring the contents of the data shown in the Catalog
tree.

To access your data in ArcCatalog you have several choices. The best way is to establish a direct connection.
The other way is what you would have done in Windows Explorer using the hierarchical folder-subfolder
directory tree.

· To turn the tree view on-off in ArcCatalog go up to Window → Catalog Tree as shown.

This method, however, has the potential for causing confusion if your data is in more than one folder. A
direct connection will help avoid clutter and it is convenient if you have multiple working directories for
different projects (or labs). It is also a necessary step if the drive with your data is not shown in the
ArcCatalog tree (i.e. if you are using data saved on a network drive, or a Removable USB Drive).

The ArcCatalog has buttons for the view options similar to those in windows explorer.

2.3.1 What can be done in ArcCatalog?

Data organizing in ArcCatalog is similar to that in Windows Explorer. You can drag and drop coverages,
shapefiles, or geodatabases into new workspaces (ArcGIS folders, working directories), or you can use the
shortcut keys (Ctrl-x for cut and Ctrl-v for paste).

For organizing data, ArcCatalog is easy to use. If you delete, move, or otherwise alter the data using
ArcCatalog, it is permanent (i.e., if you delete a coverage, it is GONE - you cannot retrieve it). The
ArcCatalog tree displays in a hierarchical fashion all of the items in the Catalog. A folder that contains files
will have a box with a plus or minus sign to the left of the file name. This indicates whether or not the folder
has been expanded.

Take a moment to explore the data in the Catalog tree (the left side). You can use the arrow buttons on the
keyboard or the mouse to navigate. While navigating, pay attention to the changes in the right side of the
ArcCatalog window.

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The right hand side of the Catalog allows you to examine the data further, and read metadata (data about the
data). Highlight the State coverage on the left, under the Content tab on the right you will see the four
"feature classes" that comprise the coverage. You can also see these files if you click on the plus sign to the
left of the State icon on the left. If you click the Preview tab on the right you can see the geography or
attribute table. To change from geography view to table view (or vice versa), change the value listed in the
preview pull-down menu at the bottom of the ArcCatalog window.

2.3.2 Find in ArcCatalog

When previewing tabular data (use Table instead of Geography) in ArcCatalog it is possible to search for
specific entries in the table. To do this, open to the table view, click on the Options button, and go to Find.

Clicking on the Find option will open the Find window where you can enter the text to be searched. There
are several options for how a text string can be matched, Any, Whole, or Start. These options can be useful if
you're searching through thousands of records.

You can search down the attribute list, up the attribute list, or search the entire attribute list. Up and Down
are useful sometimes when you are looking for errors and there is some sort of sequential pattern to it. Also
useful are the Match Case and Search Only Selected Field(s), right now you are searching the whole table
but if this table had more than 50 fields it would reduce the search time considerably if you highlighted the
field (but again, for now just search the whole table).
Once the first match has been found, you can look for further matches by clicking the 'Find Next' button.

Also with this Options button in ArcCatalog Table Preview, you can add fields to the table, reload the table
to view recent changes, or export the table as a .dbf file (a format readable by many spreadsheet programs,
including Excel).

2.3.3 Managing your data

ArcCatalog can also be used for the data management. You can examine and/or modify the properties of your
data simply by right-clicking on the coverage, Shapefile, or geodatabase and selecting Properties. Try this
with the State coverage file.

When you right-click on State and open the Properties you should see a window similar to the image on the
left. This is the property page for the coverage - there are individual property pages for each of the four
feature classes within the coverage.

General -- describes the feature classes inside the coverage and other information such as if topology exists
or now, number of features, and data precision

Projection -- describes the projection of the data

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Tics & Extent -- describes the geographic extent of the coverage and the location of the four (or more) Tic
marks

Tolerances -- Shows the tolerances used when the coverage was last edited

When you are done exploring the coverage properties, click on OK to exit

Explore the property sheets for each of the feature classes for State. To do this, expand the State coverage by
clicking on the plus sign next to the coverage icon, right-click on one of the feature classes (arc, polygon, tic,
label), and select Properties.

State is coverage; it is fundamentally a different data format than Shapefile. If you look at Properties options
for one of the shapefiles, you will see that property tabs are different from those for a coverage. One of the
more critical differences is that a coverage has topology whereas shapefiles do not.

1.4 ArcToolbox
ArcToolbox is the ArcGIS module used for data processing, analysis, and conversion. With ArcToolbox you
can manipulate any type of information (spatial or non-spatial).

· Start ArcToolbox and click the toolbox button. You can start ArcToolbox either from
ArcCatalog, or ArcMap.

Although ArcToolbox is one of the major ArcGIS modules, it is actually "embedded" in the other modules
(ArcCatalog or ArcMap). You can also click and hold on the top two horizontal bars of the ArcToolbox
window and drag it to some place outside the ArcCatalog or ArcMap window (as shown in the screenshot
below).

The different functions are more-or-less logically grouped in a fashion similar to the Catalog tree in
ArcCatalog. If you click on any of the groupings, a short description of the tools under that heading is listed
at the bottom of the ArcToolbox window. By clicking on the + next to a tool heading (Data Management
Tools, Analysis Tools, etc.) you can view the tools available under that group. For an overview of the
functions of a tool group, right-click and choose Help.
A quick and easy way to find the appropriate tools within ArcToolbox is to use Search as long as you know
the appropriate terms for your search.

Double-clicking on a tool will open a window for setting the various inputs and outputs and other options.
Take a few minutes to explore the ArcToolbox and get a sense of the general groupings of the tools. You will
become more familiar with these in later labs. To search for a specific tool using a keyword or a specific
name, click on Search tab at the bottom (shown above) and type in a name.

1.5 ArcMap
ArcMap is the ArcGIS module used for mapping — creating, viewing, querying, editing, composing, and
publishing maps. ArcMap is what you will be using for the majority of your GIS work.

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· ArcMap can be opened via the Start menu (Start → Programs → ArcGIS → ArcMap) or from
ArcCatalog (click on the ArcMap icon in the toolbar).
· In addition, you can open ArcMap by double-clicking on a map file (.mxd) in ArcCatalog.

When you first start ArcMap, you may see the "Welcome to ArcMap" window.

This window provides the options

1) Create a new map,

2) Creating a new map using a map template,

3) Open an existing map, or

4) Open the last map you were using.

You will most often use options 1 (creating a new map, and opening existing maps).

Open the map layout file provided with the lab data (Information.mxd ). You can access this file in either of
ways: open it from the Welcome window, or when ArcMap is opened, click on File → Open File, and
navigate to the location of the map file.

What is important to recognize about this map is that,

1) All the data for this map are stored in a single file called India.mdb (a Geodatabase), and

2) The map layout itself (Information.mxd) does not contain any of the data.

In order to check where the source data are located on the hard drive, right-click on the layer in ArcMap,
choose Properties. In the Layer Properties dialog box click on the Source tab and you will see the Location
of your working directory. If you do the same for the stream layer (right-click → Properties) you will see that
this data too is stored in the Geodatabase India.mdb).

Geodatabase is exclusive to ESRI however, while other geospatial data formats, the shapefile and grid
formats for example, can be imported by other software.

2.5.1 What is in ArcMap?

· Create a new ArcMap layout, do not save the map file you just opened.
· To create new maps go to File →New, choose "Blank document" under My Template tab and click
OK.
· Add the State coverage to the layout either by clicking on the yellow plus button , or you can
drag-and-drop State coverage from the ArcCatalog into ArcMap provided you have positioned both
the ArcCatalog and ArcMap so that you can see one on top of the other on the screen (Drag and drop
will also sometimes work from Windows Explorer). Also you can go up to File → Add data.
· Once State is added to an empty ArcMap layout, go to the View pull-down menu (as seen in the
screenshot below). If unchecked, check the two toolbars viz. Layout and Tools on turn them on.

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· The toolbars can be moved around by clicking and holding the little embedded bar at the top, it can
be snapped into the ArcMap window.

The left portion of ArcMap shows a tree display of the layers (the "layer tree") added to the map, whether
they are currently displayed or not (checked on or off), and the position of layers (above or below with
respect to each other). The Data can be explored — using "Display", "Source" or "Selection". You can toggle
among the three by selecting the appropriate tab at the bottom of the table of content.

The Display tab shows the name of all the layers, whether they are checked on or off, and to see how the
layers are displayed (click on the + to the left of the names to expand the display). The Source tab shows the
appropriate layer icon (same as seen in ArcCatalog), as well as the location (or "source") of the data.

The right window of ArcMap provides a view of the data. You can choose to view the data in "data view" or
in "layout view" (shown in the screenshot below).

In the lower left of the right side or map area, the little globe icon represents the 'data view', the paper sheet
icon represents the 'layout view' and two arrow buttons represent refresh.

In the data view, you can zoom in and out, pan, identify, select, etc. using the available tools.

Try zooming in and out and otherwise exploring the data using the above tools. Also notice the coordinates
displayed in the window, at the bottom right of the interface. In Map View these coordinates are the
coordinates of the data.

After exploring the data view, switch to layout view - you can do this by either clicking on the sheet of paper
icon at the bottom of the view window, or by selecting View -> Layout View. A new set of tools are
provided for exploration of the Layout View.

In layout view, you also may use the tools to zoom in / out / pan, etc. that are also available in the data view.
However, the data view tools will only affect the data being displayed, not the layout similarly the layout
tools will not zoom in on the geographic area being displayed.

2.5.2 Creating your own Map

Save the map layout in your working directory (File → Save, or the little button that looks like an ancient
floppy disk.
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Project Properties

To move an entire working directory that has your map layout and all the data you used to make the map, it
is best to use WinZip (or a similar compression program). If you want to move or backup the working
directory, right-click on the folder and choose Add to zip. If you then extract the contents of the zipped file
on another computer your map layout will open again with all the data in it shown correctly if everything has
the exact same path as before (your working directory for example). If you unzip the working directory onto
a USB thumbdrive for example your map layout will be hosed (it will not be able to find the data the map
shows because the paths will be different). To remedy this issue use a "relative path" for ArcMap Layout, to
do this go up to File → Map Properties, click the Data Source Options ... button, select "Store relative path
names." Click OK.

Occasionally, even if you set the map file to use relative path names you will still have problems with
"broken sources" These will be indicated by a red ! next to the layer's name when you open ArcMap.

To fix this problem, right click on the file and go to Properties → Source, and re-set the appropriate data
source by clicking on the "Set Data Source" button. Using "Store relative path names" does alleviate this
problem somewhat, but not completely.

Symbology and Data appearance

Data properties: In ArcMap, to view the properties of a data layer, double click on the data layer's name.
This will take you to the properties window (or right-click on it and choose Properties). The ArcMap
properties window will provide different information than what was found in the ArcCatalog Properties
window.

From the properties window you can view and modify the display properties of a dataset - including the
layer's transparency, labeling options, symbology, and source. This lab will only cover a few of the options
(display, symbology, and labels), familiarize yourself with the other functions in the properties window.

Symbology: Under the symbology tab there are options for changing the display of data. From here you
can decide to display the data as Features (single symbol), Categories (unique values, unique values many
fields,or match to symbols in a field), Quantities (graduated colors, graduated symbols, proportional
symbols), or Multiple attributes (quantity by category). You can also decide what color(s) and symbol(s) to
use to represent the data.

For example, add the IndiaPoi shapefile to your map layout (and make sure it is above the states coverage).
If you want to use RaodNetwork to display types of road rather than simply location - double-click on
RaodNetwork to open the Properties window, and click on the Symbology tab. As the default, RaodNetwork
is drawn as a single symbol but since we want to show all of the different road values, we will use Categories
-> Unique values.

Divide the roads by administrative class (Value Field = Mediam Description). To add these values to the
display, select "Add all values."

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If you do not want all of the values to be displayed, you can add values individually using the "Add values"
button. To change the symbology of other data layers (even of other types of data -- shapefile, coverage, or
geodatabase) the process is the same.

After you have the different vectors symbolized according to Mediam Description, uncheck "other values"
then click Apply and OK to see how it looks.

To change the representation of With Median, Unknown double click on the line next to the name and select
an appropriate line symbol from the Symbol Selector. Change to appropriate symbols, noodle with line
color, thickness, line style etc.

Display
An important feature on the display tab is the option to set transparency. Add the India_poi shapefile so it is
on top of the layer, but under RailNetwork. Set the transparency of (right-click on IndiaCountry, choose
Properties, Display). Adjust the transparency until you can see the layer underneath (about 80%). With the
transparency function, you can even display a raster layer transparently to give a 3-D effect.

Now the Administrative boundaries are shown clearly, and the RailNetwork boundaries are less pronounced
in the display.

Labels
Using the labels tab under properties is an easy way of inserting the names of features on a map. Add Stream
to the map layout and change its symbology so it appears blue in color. Right-click on Stream and check on
Label Features. After you've added the labels to Stream zoom in and zoom out, notice how the labeling
changes according to your view extent.
Right-click on Stream hoose Properties and go to Labels tab. Click on the Symbol and change it to a more
appropriate labeling style.

2.5.3 Creating your own Map

ArcCatalog allows us to find text strings in attribute tables. ArcMap provides more options for querying
tabular data. For querying in ArcMap, start ArcMap and add the State Shapefile.

Right-click on State and select "open attribute table." This will open a new, floating window containing the
attributes of the shapefile (a table). Click the Options button, you will see the following.

Find & Replace - find text strings in the attribute table and/or replace them with another string

Select By Attributes / Select All / etc. - allows writing a query to select records matching the criteria
specified in a structured query, allows for changing the selection

Add Field - allows fields to be added from ArcMap (rather than switching to ArcCatalog)

Related Tables - lists which tables are connected as "Related tables"

Create Graph / Add table to map layout - options for displaying the attribute table data

Reload Cache - Re-loads the table, in case of changes

Export - Exports the table as a .dbf file

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Appearance - Changes the way in which the table is viewed (i.e., selected record highlight color)

Choose the Select By Attributes option, and select the "Help" option in the new window.

Read the help file on building a query and then write a query to select the counties that meet the following
criteria:

Name - Delhi
Population- 13850507
StateType - Union Territory
Hint - you can write the query as one string, or you can use the procedure options (Create new selection, Add
to current selection, Remove from current selection, Select from current selection). If you have not had much
practice writing queries, you may wish to write each part of the query separately and use the select from
current selection option.

When doing searches of this type, it can be handy to display only those records that are selected. To do this,
change the option to show selected:

Notice that the selected states are highlighted in the attribute table and the display map.

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3. How to Create Metadata

· Open ArcCatalog, Select IndiaCoastline.shp and go to the metadata tab.
· Now look at the Description tab for the Indiacoastline.shp. Following screenshot will be available on
your screen.

· Now Click on Edit and fill metadata.

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· Thumbnail of the metadata item is not available. Click preview tab and select IndiaCoastline.shp.

· Now click on Create Thumbnail. Thumbnail of the item will be created.

· Again click on Description tab. Now you will see following screenshot. Now Again Edit Description
about Item.

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· There are some standards defined for Metadata. Choose a different metadata style that provides
access to more of the metadata.

· Click ArcCatalog Options. Following screen shot will be available.

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· Now explore different metadata styles. And Create metadata for every data.

4. Tutorial
ArcCatalog
1. What is the function of each of the following buttons?

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2. How many individual files comprise the "IndiaPoi" shapefile?

3. “state" is seen as a folder in Windows Explorer. View “state" in ArcCatalog, what specific format of
geospatial data is it? Does this data appear as a folder or a single file in ArcCatalog?

4. What specific type of GIS data is the file "India"? Does this appear as one single file in Windows Explorer
or a folder?

5. When you preview Geography which icons become active in ArcCatalog?

6. In the Preview of Dam, what is the latitude longitude of Sardar Sarovar Dam? This is shown in the lower
right corner of ArcCatalog. Give answer in Degrees, Minutes and Seconds.

Metadata

7. Why do you think the fields are automatically filled in ISO 19139 Metadata Implementation Specification
style?

8. What is the "Horizontal coordinate system" (Datum) of these data?

ArcToolbox

9. Use the toolbox Search to find all the tools related to "overlay" operations. List the top three tools along
with a brief description (in your own words) of their functions.

ArcMap

10. What information is provided in the symbology tab when we select the Mediam Description field? From
this window, how can we change the data representation?

11. Where else do you think the transparency function might be (more) useful?

12. How would you remove duplicate labels? [hint: this has to do something with placement]

13. In which state is the Rihand Dam? Write the query that you have used for determining the answer.

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