A Hands-on Experience with Arc/Info 8 Desktop

Transcription

1 Demo of Arc/Info 8 Desktop page 1 of 17 A Hands-on Experience with Arc/Info 8 Desktop Prepared by Xun Shi and Ted Quinby Geography 377 December 2000 In this DEMO, we introduce a brand new edition of ArcInfo, ArcInfo 8 Desktop. We are going to use it to complete a small project. This project is actually a simplified version of the project we have completed this semester. 1. An Overview of Arc/Info 8 Desktop ArcInfo 8 Desktop is a Windows-based application. It has a Windows-style graphical user interface (GUI), in place of the command line interface of the ArcInfo Workstation. It has three basic components: ArcCatalog, ArcToolbox and ArcMap. ArcCatalog: An organizer. It organizes and manages your spatial data, allowing you to create, copy, delete and rename your spatial datasets, as well as create metadata for your data. It can also call functions from ArcToolbox and ArcMap to perform editing, analytical and cartographical operations on your specified dataset. ArcToolbox: As the name indicates, it is a toolbox. It provides access to all of ArcInfo s coverage processing and analytical functions. ArcMap: Much like an enhanced ArcView. It is used for visualizing, editing, analyzing, and outputting purposes. Note: This architecture is different from that of the ArcInfo Workstation, whose sub-systems, such as Arcedit, Arcplot, Tables and Grid, are organized within a big "shell", the Arc. ArcInfo Desktop can directly handle various types of data, such as coverage, shape file, and a new type, feature dataset. ArcInfo Desktop provides great flexibility to "developer users". Since it accepts custom tools in forms of EXE and DLL, users can develop their own tools within common development environments such as Visual Basic (VB), C++, Delphi, or Power Builder. 2. Preparing Data In this step, we are going to create a new workspace, put all the data layers we need into this workspace, and make them ready to use. (1) Launch the ArcCatalog of Arc/Info Desktop. Start -> Programs -> ArcInfo -> ArcCatalog You will get a panel very similar to the panel of Windows Explorer (see next page).

2 Demo of Arc/Info 8 Desktop page 2 of 17 (2) Connect all the file folders we are going to use in this project to Arc/Info a. Connecting the folder on your zip disk in which you are going to create a new workspace: In the File menu, select Connect Folder. In the prompted window (see below), select D: drive, click OK. This connects the root folder of D: drive to Arc/Info.

3 Demo of Arc/Info 8 Desktop page 3 of 17 b. Connecting the folders from which we are going to copy or import data: In the same way, connect S:\g377\lab5. (3) Create a new workspace a. Select the D: drive in the left window of the ArcCatalog panel; b. ArcCatalog -> File -> New -> ArcInfo Workspace, and type "ex8" as the name for the new workspace. (4) Copy coverages roads and sewers to the workspace ex8 a. Open the source folder and list its contents: In the left window of the ArcCatalog panel, double click the folder S:\g377\lab5 to open it. If the Contents button is not currently selected, click this button. You will see the content of the opened folder in the right window of the panel. b. Copy coverages roads and sewers to workspace ex8: Very simple! Copy these two coverages just in the way you copy a file or folder in Windows Explorer. You can tell if an item in the Contents window (right) is a coverage by checking its type. Note: You want to be very sure that you are not using Windows Explorer -- you never want to use Windows Explorer to copy coverages! c. Check the properties (tics, projections, topology, etc.) of the two coverages: Click the right button of your mouse on a coverage, and choose the Properties. d. Preview the maps: Double click the coverage; select the feature you want to preview, such as arc, click the Preview button. (5) Copy the coverage landuse to workspace ex8 In the same way, copy the final version of your landuse coverage to workspace ex8. If necessary, you may need to first connect to Arc/Info the folder (workspace) that holds landuse. Check the properties of the coverage and preview the map. (6) Import coverage soils to workspace ex8 a. Launch the ArcToobox of Arc/Info 8 Desktop Start -> Programs -> ArcInfo -> ArcToobox You will get a panel like below:

4 Demo of Arc/Info 8 Desktop page 4 of 17 b. Import the interchange file to coverage: ArcToolbox -> Conversion Tools -> Import to Coverage -> Interchange File to Coverage You will get a panel like below: Browse and make sure you choose S:\g377\lab5\soils_labeled.e00 as the input file, and set the correct path for your output coverage and call the output coverage soils. c. Check the properties and preview the map d. Link the soil attributes to the soil coverage i. Copy the table soils.dat from your sitedata workspace into the ex8 workspace, using ArcCatalog. ii. Check the properties of the table and preview the content of the table. You can do this in the same way you check and preview the graphic of a coverage. iii. ArcToolbox -> Data Management Tools -> Tables -> Join Tables You should get a panel like below: You should be able to link the soils.dat to your soils coverage through this panel. (7) Import the streams data layer into the workspace ex8 a. Import the streams data from a text file in Arc/Info Generate format

5 Demo of Arc/Info 8 Desktop page 5 of 17 ArcToolbox -> Conversion Tools -> Import to Coverage -> Generate to Coverage Wizard Use the following parameter values for the wizard: From a text file Lines S:\g377\lab5\streams.lin (you might have to list files of type All Files ) b. Build topology ArcToolbox -> Data Management Tools -> Topology -> Build With the panel below, you should be able to build the topology for the stream coverage. Note: If you got an error message as shown in next page, click the Help button on the panel to get information about the problem. c. Create the streams.dat from a text file i. ArcToolbox -> Data Management Tools -> Tables -> Define Table With the below panel, you can create and define an empty new table.

6 Demo of Arc/Info 8 Desktop page 6 of 17 ii. ArcToolbox -> Data Management Tools -> Tables -> Add from ASCII With the below panel, you can add data from an ASCII file (S:\g377\lab5\streams.txt) into the streams.dat table. d. Link the streams.dat to the streams coverage Refer to how we linked the soil attributes to the soil coverage. Remember that this time we want link the attributes to the arc (line) features. e. Check the properties of the coverage and preview the map 3. Doing Analysis We have done the preparation of all the required data. In this step, we are going to fulfill the task of site selection as we did in Ex 6. (1) Select the suitable landuse and soil types a. Select brush land and SUIT > 2 soils ArcToolbox -> Analysis Tools -> Extract -> Select You will get a panel like below:

7 Demo of Arc/Info 8 Desktop page 7 of 17 After you set the Input coverage (e.g., landuse) and Input feature class (should be poly), you are ready to build the selecting query. Click the icon besides Build a query, you will get an interface for building the query (see below). You may need some time to play with this interface before you feel comfortable to use this convenient tool. Remember the suitable landuse type is brush land, and suitable soils are those whose SUIT >= 2. Do not forget to set the name of the Output coverage on the Select panel. b. Extract those areas meeting both landuse and soil criteria ArcToolbox -> Analysis Tools - > Overlay -> Intersect (2) Build the buffer area with streams and sewers a. Build the buffer areas of streams and sewers

8 Demo of Arc/Info 8 Desktop page 8 of 17 ArcToolbox -> Analysis Tools - > Promixity Then you can use either Buffer tool or Buffer Wizard tool to create the buffers. For those options that you are not familiar with, just use the default values. b. Extract the areas that are within sewer buffer but outside stream buffer ArcToolbox -> Analysis Tools - > Overlay -> Erase (3) Combine them together Use the ArcToolbox -> Analysis Tools - > Overlay -> Intersect tool to do the overlay; Then use ArcToolbox -> Analysis Tools -> Extract -> Select tool to extract those areas that meet landuse, soil, sewer and stream criteria. The query should be built like below: (4) Extract the areas whose size is at least 2000 square meters. Use ArcToolbox -> Analysis Tools -> Extract -> Select tool to extract these areas. Save it to a new coverage called psites.

9 Demo of Arc/Info 8 Desktop page 9 of 17 (5) Calculate the cost for purchasing each of these lands a. Add a new item called COST to the psites.pat In the ArcCatalog window, find the coverage psites, double click on it; You will get a list of the content of this coverage; Double click on the polygon, a panel like below will show up (If the Item button at the upperleft corner is not selected, select it). On the above panel, select the Add button; You will see a panel prompting you to input the definition of the new item. The new item should be defined as below:

10 Demo of Arc/Info 8 Desktop page 10 of 17 b. Calculate the cost values i) Launch ArcMap Start -> Program -> ArcInfo -> ArcMap ii) Click the Start using ArcMap button on the cover panel iii) Load coverage psites into ArcMap ArcMap -> File -> Add Data iv) Open the psites.pat Use the right mouse button to click on the coverage name, then select Open Attribute Table v) Open the Editor ArcMap -> Tools -> Editor Toolbar Click the Editor button (see below), choose Start Editing vi) Calculate the cost value

11 Demo of Arc/Info 8 Desktop page 11 of 17 Use the right mouse button to click the heading of column COST, then choose Calculate Values. An expression builder will show up. You should define the calculating expression like below, and OK it vii) Save the result Editor -> Stop Editing Answer Yes to the question about saving. Close the attribute table window. 4. Creating a Map (1) Change the View from Data View to Layout View. ArcMap -> View -> Layout View (2) Prepare the data for the map a. Add other data layers (landuse, roads and streams). ArcMap -> File -> Add Data When you add the streams, you get a message like below (why?). Just ignore it.

12 Demo of Arc/Info 8 Desktop page 12 of 17 b. Adjust the order of the layers Use the left mouse button to drag the name of psites ("psites polygon") up, so that it becomes the top layer of all the data layers. c. Assign symbols to the features Right click the name "Landuse polygon"; Choose Properties; You will get a Properties panel like below. Select the Symbology button. Under the Categories, choose Unique values; Under the Value Field, choose LU-CODE; Select the Add All Values button; Check off the <all other values> If you want to change the symbol property of a specific category, double click its symbol. You will get a Symbol Selector like that in the next page.

13 Demo of Arc/Info 8 Desktop page 13 of 17 In the same way, you can set symbols for roads, streams and psites. d. Show polygon labels of psites Right click the name of psites, on the Properties panel, click the Labels button. You will see a panel as shown in the next page. On that panel, check the Label Features, and set the Label Field to be PSITES-ID. You can change the looking face of the label by playing with those options set by the buttons on this panel.

14 Demo of Arc/Info 8 Desktop page 14 of 17 (3) Insert legend a. Change the data layer names Right click the name of a data layer, select Properties ; On the Properties panel, select the General button. Change the layer name to a more meaningful one. For example, you can change "psites polygon" to "Candidate Sites". b. Insert legend ArcMap -> Insert -> Legend If you want to change the properties of the legend, first, press the selecting tool (see below), then move the cursor into the legend and select the legend by clicking on it. Then right click your mouse, choose Properties ; A Legend Properties panel will show up (see below). You can create a fancy legend by playing with the options on this panel.

15 Demo of Arc/Info 8 Desktop page 15 of 17 (4) Add map title and your name on the map ArcMap -> Insert -> Title (or Text) to insert the title and name. Then you can use the tools on the toolbar at the bottom of the ArcMap window to adjust your texts. (5) Insert the attribute table to your map ArcMap -> Tools -> Make Report On the Report Properties panel (as shown in the next page), be sure the Layer/Table is the psites coverage (now we call it "Candidate Sites"), and we need three items for our report: PSITES-ID, AREA and COST. Adjust the order of the items by using the arrow keys at the right margin of the panel. Then click the Display button. You will see many options for you to adjust the appearance of the report (see next page). Play with them until you are happy with your report.

16 Demo of Arc/Info 8 Desktop page 16 of 17 You always have the chance to see what your report looks like (see below) by clicking the Generate Report button.

17 Demo of Arc/Info 8 Desktop page 17 of 17 When you are done with the report, click Add on the panel above. This report will be added to your map. But you still need to manually adjust its size and position, and create a frame for it. b. Print the map ArcMap -> File -> Print As simple as that!