Name: Date: June 27th, 2011 GIS Boot Camps For Educators Practical: Explore ArcGIS 10 Desktop Tools and functionality Day_1 Lecture 1 Sources: o ArcGIS Desktop help o ESRI website o Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop for ArcGIS 10. ESRI Press 2010 This GIS exercise provides hands-on experience with ArcGIS 10.0 tools and functionality to enrich and extend your understanding of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) spatial technology. ArcGIS 10 Desktop level of product line functionality ArcReader: The entry level model which comes with every ArcGIS installation or can be downloaded for free from the ESRI website. You can view and print maps created by others, navigate to different part of the map and zoom to various levels of detail ArcView: You can query data. It provides all bases of mapping, editing, and analysis functions for shapefiles and geodatabases. (It includes ArcMap, ArcCatalog, and ArcToolbox functions) ArcEditor: Gives you complete ArcView functionality and has additional data creation and editing tools plus advanced aspects of the geodatabase, such as topology and network editing ArcInfo: The top of the line. Provides access to the full functionality of the ArcGIS Desktop tools and the full version of ArcToolbox. ArcInfo also comes bundled with ArcInfo Workstation, a parallel, self-standing GIS software product ArcView, ArcEditor, and ArcInfo share a common user interface and can freely exchange maps and data Answer the following general questions: 1. What happens when you right click on an icon on your desktop? When you left double click on an icon? 2. What is Task Manager? Describe a situation in which the Task Manager would be very useful. Take a minute to explore the Task Manager and notice what information it provides about the tasks running on your computer. Introduction to ArcGIS 10 In ArcGIS 10, all the icons have been re-created to take advantage of more colors and make them more attractive. The symbols used in the icons are the same, though, so you'll still be able to recognize them 1
ArcGIS 10 consists of Two Main Applications: 1. ArcMap: (include mapmaking, editing, and spatial analysis) 2. ArcCatalog: an application of managing geographic data. You can copy, move, and delete data; create new data, search for data; view data before deciding whether to add it to a map. You can access ArcToolbox through both applications. The ArcToolbox is available depend on your level of ArcGIS software license. Exploring ArcGIS 10: It is the first step to exploring your data. You can access ArcCatalog from the Start button on the Windows taskbar. How to start ArcCatalog 10 1. Click the Start button on the Windows taskbar. 2. Point to All Programs. 3. Click ArcGIS 4. Click ArcCatalog 10 Launch ArcCatalog from start You can also start ArcCatalog from ArcMap, ArcScene, or ArcGlobe by clicking the Launch ArcCatalog button on the Standard toolbar. 2
Connect to Folder and browse to the following directory to copy the data folder from: Y:\Sabah_2011_2012\GISBootCampForEducators\Day_1\ to your own workspace. (If you don t have one create one now). If you don t know how, please ask. Main menu toolbar Standard toolbar Metadata toolbar Location Address ArcCatalog is used to: Organize your GIS contents Manage geodatabase schemas Search for and add content to ArcGIS applications Document your contents Manage GIS servers Manage standards-based metadata 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 manage them. ArcCatalog presents this information in a tree view and allows you to select a GIS item, view its properties, and to access tools to operate on the selected item(s). 3
Catalog Tree The Catalog Tree is by default docked, but you can move it around. You can arrange it the way you like, although it is more convenient to keep it docked. Now explore ArcCatalog Toolbars The illustration below shows the Main menu, Standard, and Geography toolbars in ArcCatalog. Explore each toolbar menu and get yourself familiar with it by clicking each one of them. I understand that you are not going to remember the tools right away, but with practice you will get acquainted with it. 4
Main toolbar Metadata properties Right click in the Contents window of ArcCatalog or any folder to find what type of new data you can create in ArcCatalog. Write them down: Now browse to your directory Using ArcCatalog to Drive:\...\Week_1\UnitedStates on your own workspace. (If you don t have one create one now) 5
If the directory with the data is not currently available in your ArcCatalog window you need to connect using the "Connect to Folder" don t know how ask. button and browse to it. If you How many layers are there? Write down the layers with their extensions. If the layer extension is not shown, click on Customize on the standard toolbar then click ArcCatalog Options. On ArcCatalog Options dialogue window, make general tab active and Uncheck Hide file extensions and click Apply and Ok. Explore other tabs by clicking each one of them Click on a data layer named counties.shp and press the "Preview" tab. Here you can preview either the Geography or the Table associated with the file. Click the "Description" tab to examine any technical information that is available about the data set. 6
3. Right Click Counties shapefiles to open properties, and then activate X Y Coordinate System. Write down the Geographic Coordinate System of the Counties Shapefile? 4. Make a tree map of your folder in Y:\drive directory ArcMap 10 ArcMap is the ArcGIS module used for creating, viewing, querying, editing, composing, and publishing maps. Most of our analysis will be done in ArcMap. Start ArcMap by clicking the Start button and programs, then ArcGIS, ArcMap, or by clicking the Launch ArcMap icon in ArcCatalog Standard toolbar. When you launch ArcMap Untitled ArcMap_ (ArcInfo, ArcEditor or ArcView) window open with ArcMap Getting Started window dialog that give you many selections to start your map: 1. Existing Maps 7
o Recent or o Browse for more 2. New Maps o My Templates 3. My template 4. An existing map (yours will be different) Examine this dialog and click New Maps and select Blank Map from My Templates. Browse to your workspace to save your map 8
ArcMap contains a Table of Contents (on the left) to display the names of the data layers that you have added to your ArcMap file, which is a floating window, (if you don t know what it is, Ask! A View Window (on the right) for map display and several toolbars for working with your data appears. You can Hide table of contents by clicking Auto Hide icon. Auto Hide The Catalog Tree Window Nodes in the tree view In the Catalog window, you will see a series of high-level nodes in the tree view. These are used to establish connections to a number of workspace folders, geodatabases, toolboxes, GIS servers, and other resources: Home Folder This is the folder in which your map document is stored. You will always see the Home folder connection at the top of the Catalog tree. Default Geodatabase Used to connect to the default geodatabase for the map. Folder Connections These are any additional workspace folders to which you have established a connection. You'll see their contents listed under each folder. Toolboxes This node is used to organize and access geoprocessing tools. Right click in the grey area near one of the toolbars. What toolbars are available in ArcMap? List at least five of them. Click Add Data button and Browse to your data folder and add the Counties shapefile to your map Examine Data View, Layout View, and Refresh View. 9
Right click on countries in the table of content and open attribute table. Examine the information. ArcToolbox In any ArcGIS Desktop application, you open the ArcToolbox window with the Show/Hide ArcToolbox Window button found on the standard toolbar or by clicking Geoprocessing > ArcToolbox. The ArcToolbox window is the central place where you 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. ArcToolbox is used for data management and conversion. In ArcView, you have the ability to convert data between one format and another, and to re-project data. In the ArcInfo version of ArcGIS, more analysis tools are available. Most of the tools in ArcView are set up as "Wizards," which will simplify your task and walk you through it. Note: Prior to ArcGIS 10, the ArcToolbox window had Search, Index, and Results tabs. These have been replaced by the Search window and the Results window, available from the Geoprocessing menu. Conclusion: The more familiar you are with the computing and software systems tools and functionality, the more you will be able to learn about GIS. 10