Improving Productivity with ArcGIS Desktop

Improving Productivity with ArcGIS Desktop Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. Copyright 1999 2006 All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. The information contained in this document is the exclusive property of. This work is protected under United States copyright law and the copyright laws of the given countries of origin and applicable international laws, treaties, and/or conventions. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any informationstorage or retrieval system, except as expressly permitted in writing by. All requests should be sent to Attention: Contracts Manager,, 380 New York Street, Redlands, CA 92373-8100, USA. The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice., ARC/INFO, ArcCAD,, BusinessMAP, MapObjects, PC ARC/INFO, SDE, and the globe logo are trademarks of Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., registered in the United States and certain other countries; registration is pending in the European Community. 3D Analyst, ADF, ARC COGO, the ARC COGO logo, ARC GRID, the ARC GRID logo, the ARC/INFO logo, AML, ARC NETWORK, the ARC NETWORK logo, ArcNews, ARC TIN, the ARC TIN logo, ArcInfo, the ArcInfo logo, ArcInfo LIBRARIAN, ArcInfo Professional GIS, ArcInfo The World's GIS, ArcAtlas, the ArcAtlas logo, the ArcCAD logo, the ArcCAD WorkBench logo, ArcCatalog, the ArcDatalogo, the ArcData Online logo, ArcDoc, ARCEDIT, the ARCEDIT logo, ArcEurope, the ArcEuropelogo, ArcEditor, ArcExplorer, the ArcExplorer logo, ArcExpress, the ArcExpress logo, ArcFM, the ArcFM logo, the ArcFM Viewer logo, ArcGIS, ArcIMS, the ArcIMS logo, ArcLogistics, the ArcLogistics Route logo, ArcMap, ArcObjects, ArcPad, the ArcPad logo, ARCPLOT, the ARCPLOT logo, ArcPress, the ArcPress logo, the ArcPress for logo, ArcScan, the ArcScan logo, ArcScene, the ArcScene logo, ArcSchool, ArcSDE, the ArcSDE logo, the ArcSDE CAD Client logo, ArcSdl, ArcStorm, the ArcStorm logo, ArcSurvey, ArcToolbox, ArcTools, the ArcToolslogo, ArcUSA, the ArcUSAlogo, ArcUser, the GIS logo, the 3D Analyst logo, the Business Analyst logo, the Data Publisher logo, the Image Analysis logo, the Internet Map Server logo, the Network Analyst logo, the Spatial Analyst logo, the StreetMap logo, the StreetMap 2000 logo, the Tracking Analyst logo, ArcVoyager, ArcWorld, the ArcWorld logo, Atlas GIS, the Atlas GIS logo, AtlasWare, Avenue, the Avenue logo, the BusinessMAPlogo, DAK, the DAK logo, DATABASE INTEGRATOR, DBI Kit, the Digital Chart of the World logo, the Data logo, the Press logo, Team GIS, The GIS People, FormEdit, Geographic Design System, Geography Matters, GIS by, GIS Day, the GIS Day logo, GIS for Everyone, GISData Server, InsiteMAP, MapBeans, MapCafé, the MapCafé logo, the MapObjects logo, the MapObjects Internet Map Server logo, ModelBuilder, MOLE, the MOLE logo, NetEngine, the NetEnginelogo, the PC ARC/INFO logo, PC ARCEDIT, PC ARCPLOT, PC ARCSHELL, PC DATA CONVERSION, PC NETWORK, PC OVERLAY, PC STARTER KIT, PC TABLES, the Production Line Tool Set logo, RouteMAP, the RouteMAP logo, the RouteMAP IMS logo, Spatial Database Engine, the SDE logo, SML, StreetEditor, StreetMap, TABLES, The World's Leading Desktop GIS, Water Writes, and Your Personal Geographic Information System are trademarks; and ArcData, ArcOpen, ArcQuest, ArcWatch, ArcWeb, Rent-a-Tech, Geography Network, the Geography Network logo, www.geographynetwork.com, @esri.com, and www.esri.com are service marks of. The names of other companies and products herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners. GIS uses Neuron Data s Open Interface. Copyright 1999-2006 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 1-1

Overview This session will focus on tips and tricks for improving productivity in ArcGIS. ArcCatalog File and Data Management ArcMap Map Documents Cartography Editing Some of the functionality we will show and/or discuss is not available for all ArcGIS licenses Not available with license (ArcEditor/ArcInfo) Available with license Software Products Casual Users Professional Mobile Workforce ArcPad GIS Platforms Desktop GIS Embedded GIS (Engines) Servers Mobile GIS ArcExplorer Network/Intranet Internet Web Services ArcIMS Geodatabase ArcSDE ArcGIS Desktop ArcGIS Server Engines Developers Servers Copyright 1999-2006 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 1-2

Scalable ArcGIS Desktop Products ArcInfo ArcEditor Advanced Geoprocessing + ArcReader Editing Data Access Map Viewing Simple Query + Data Access Map Authoring and Publishing Query Geocoding Simple Editing Customization ArcGIS 9.1 Product Maplex ArcScan ArcPress StreetMap USA ArcInfo Core Core Core Core ArcEditor Extension Core Core Core Extension Extension Core Core ArcGIS Engine (Dev Kit and Runtime) NA NA NA Core ArcGIS Server NA NA NA Core 9.1 Extension Licensing Copyright 1999-2006 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 1-3

ArcGIS 9.1 Desktop Whats_New_In_ArcGIS_Desktop_91.pdf..\ArcGIS\Documentation Help System 30 Pages! Geoprocessing Tools at ArcGIS 9.1 Geoprocessing: Add +60 tools to ArcEditor Add +40 tools to New Merge Tool http://support.esri.com/index.cfm?fa=downloads.geoprocessing.documentation downloads.geoprocessing.documentation Copyright 1999-2006 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 1-4

ArcCatalog Tips Disconnect Root Drive Letters Disconnect ALL Root folders (I.e. C:\, D:\, E:\) Especially Disconnect Root Network Drives on NFS or Samba file systems Copyright 1999-2006 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 1-5

Connect Directly to Folders Connect Directly Network folders Connect through Uniform Naming Convention (UNC) path \\computer1\share\mydata\shapefiles Options General Turning off data types you do not normally use can speed up ArcCatalog and the data browser. Tools -> Options When ArcCatalog opens and Return to the last used location is checked, this can be slow for network connections and locations with a lot of data. Copyright 1999-2006 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 1-6

Options Raster Turning off RASTER data types you do NOT normally use can speed up ArcCatalog and the data browser. Tools -> Options Managing file types visible in ArcCatalog Add AML macros, text files, or other file types Tools -> Options User Defined Copyright 1999-2006 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 1-7

ArcCatalog Creating Layer Files Layer files are pointers to data. Store symbology, labeling settings, field formatting, query definitions, and more. Dramatically simplify users need to memorize complicated directories and network file systems. Create Relative Paths ArcMap Tips Copyright 1999-2006 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 1-8

ArcMap Symbology Line Symbols with Dashed lines and patterned lines draw more slowly then solid lines. Especially with Polygon Boundaries. Complex Polygon Symbology (Picture Fill, Gradient Fill, etc.) will draw more slowly. ArcMap Text Halos Halos on a large amount of text is slow to display, thus halos should be used sparingly (i.e. for printing). Use Text Shadows Instead Text shadows provide the text background you need without the performance hit of using halos. Use a scale range on your labels. Halos Shadows Copyright 1999-2006 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 1-9

ArcGIS Symbol Library Downloadable PDF files with symbols for ALL styles Home > Knowledge Base > Product Documentation > ArcInfo Desktop > Map Tips Maptips can affect display performance. As more layers use maptips, performance may decrease. Map Tips Require a Spatial Index. If disabled, build a spatial index. Copyright 1999-2006 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 1-10

ArcMap - Layer Files Created in ArcCatalog or ArcMap Also stores a thumbnail Stored in a.lyr file In ArcCatalog Create layer file Set properties Create thumbnail Layer files allow you to share layer properties Full, Relative, or UNC Path? ArcMap Group Layer Combine a series of layers into a single layer. Could dramatically simplify map composition. Copyright 1999-2006 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 1-11

ArcMap Use Map Templates Use map templates like you did Layouts in 3.x Apply a template to your data Create Template Tabs Identify Tool Copy Attribute values to Clipboard Expand tree with CTRL key + click on +/- Set default Tool Option Tools > Options (New for ArcGIS 9.1) Copyright 1999-2006 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 1-12

Pan To Selected Center Map on feature(s) without changing the map scale (New for ArcGIS 9.1) Swipe Tool Interactively reveal layers in: ArcMap ArcGlobe ArcReader (New for ArcGIS 9.1) Copyright 1999-2006 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 1-13

Using layer masks Use a polygon layer to mask other layers Control which layers will be masked by another Create masked areas around symbols or annotation Use Masking Tools in Toolbox 1 2 3 ArcMap Printing When printing with transparency and/or with rasters in the map your plot file can be large. On the page setup dialog, you can control the output image quality and significantly reduce the plot file size. Often this may NOT have a significant impact on quality. NOTE: This is especially important when printing MrSID images, as these images are uncompressed to the appropriate resolution prior to printing. Copyright 1999-2006 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 1-15

Raster Display Performance Tuning Create Pyramids Pyramids are down sampled versions of the image. Without pyramids, the entire dataset must be read from disk and resampled to a smaller size. The pyramid will be a file named imagename.rrd and will be 8% of the original uncompressed file size. Pyramids for large image catalogs can be stored in an alternate location. Raster Display Alterations Display Resampling Nearest Neighbor (ArcMap/Layer File default) Bilinear Interpolation* (continuous rasters) Cubic Convolution* (continuous rasters) * Smoother looking raster but may take a little more time to draw Copyright 1999-2006 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 1-16

MAP CREATED FOR: ADDRESS: ADDRESS: JD1765 3003 3003 WILLET WILLET TER TER CINCINNATI OH 45238-2417 ZONING: R-3 PARCEL: 0062 TAXDISTRICT: 11 OWNER: SCHINNER STEVEN J 0 65 130 260 390 520 65 130 260 390 520 DATE: DATE: 4/11/2002 4/11/2002 8:04:28 8:04:28 AM Feet AM CITY PLANNING DEPARTMENT This map was created by the City of Cincinnati Planning Department to assist in the administration of local 801 PLUM STREET, ROOM 228 zoning regulations. Neither the City of Cincinnati or the Cincinnati MAP CREATED Area Geographic FOR: Information JD1765 System ZONING: R-3 CINCINNATI, OH 45202 assumes any legal responsibilities for the information contained in this map. Users noting errors or omissions CINCINNATI, OH 45202 are encouraged to contact the City of Cincinnati at (513) 352-1000. ADDRESS: ADDRESS: 3003 3003 WILLET WILLET TER TER (513) PARCEL: 352-100062 are encouraged to contact the City of Cincinnati at (513) 352-1000. 11 CINCINNATI OH 45238-2417 TAXDISTRICT: OWNER: SCHINNER STEVEN J 0 70 140 280 70140 280 DATE: DATE: 4/11/2002 4/11/2002 8:04:28 8:04:28 AM AM 420 560 420 560 Feet CITY PLANNING DEPARTMENT This map was created by the City of Cincinnati Planning Department to assist in the administration of local 801 PLUM STREET, ROOM 228 zoning regulations. Neither the City of Cincinnati or the Cincinnati MAP CREATED Area Geographic FOR: Information JD1765System ZONING: R-3 CINCINNATI, OH 45202 assumes any legal responsibilities for the information contained in this map. Users noting errors or omissions CINCINNATI, OH 45202 are encouraged to contact the City of Cincinnati at (513) 352-1000. ADDRESS: ADDRESS: 3003 3003 WILLET WILLET TER TER (513) PARCEL: 352-1000 0062 are encouraged to contact the City of Cincinnati at (513) 352-1000. CINCINNATI OH 45238-2417 TAXDISTRICT: 11 OWNER: SCHINNER STEVEN J 0 70 140 280 420 560 70140 280 420 560 DATE: DATE: 4/11/2002 4/11/2002 8:04:28 8:04:28 AM Feet AM CITY PLANNING DEPARTMENT This map was created by the City of Cincinnati Planning Department to assist in the administration of local 801 PLUM STREET, ROOM 228 zoning regulations. Neither the City of Cincinnati or the Cincinnati Area Geographic Information System CINCINNATI, OH 45202 assumes any legal responsibilities for the information contained in this map. Users noting errors or omissions CINCINNATI, OH 45202 are encouraged to contact the City of Cincinnati at (513) 352-1000. (513) 352-1000 are encouraged to contact the City of Cincinnati at (513) 352-1000. ArcGIS Productivity Tips and Tricks Map Book (DS Map Book Developer Sample) Great for making a series of maps from an index layer. Print or Export a Single Page, a Range of Pages, or ALL.!( R-2!( R-4!( B-4!(!(!( R-3 R-5!( R-4 R-5T!( B-4!(!( R-3T B-2 MIDWAY AV AV W TOWER TOWER AV AV!( R-2 NOVA NOVA AV AV!(I-R!( R-5!( R-4 HOPE LN KOENIG AV!( R-4!( R-2T!(R-4T!( O-1 BOUDINOT BOUDINOT AV AV!(O-1A!( R-2 EGGERS AV AV MAYRIDGE MAYRIDGE CT!( R-3 LISCHER LISCHER AV AV!( R-5 DIRHEIM DIRHEIM AV AV!( R-3 QUEEN CITY AV!( R-2 VEAZEY AV RUTH RUTH AV AV KLING AV MIGNONAV!( R-2 PICKBURY DR WESTBROOK DR!( R-5!( R-3T!(!( R-3!( R-3 R-4 DAY CT CT QUEEN QUEEN CITY CITY AV AV RATTERMANAV AV SUE LN!( R-2!( R-5 HANNA AV FISCHER FISCHER PL PL!(I-R!( R-3!( R-4 HARRISON AV AV UNNAMED R/W UNNAMED R/W SHAFFER AV AV WESTRIDGE AV MCKINLEYAV CORAL PARK DR ST CATHERINE PL!( R-4!( R-5T WERK WERK RD RD WUNDER AV!( B-4!( R-5 BOUDINOT AV IDEAL TER!( R-3 SANDRA SANDRA PL PL IRVELLA PL Create your own Style Create using layers and symbols in Map Document Tools -> Styles -> Export Map Styles Copyright 1999-2006 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 1-17

Context Sensitive Help On command in pulldown menu or button on toolbar, click the What's This? Tool On command in context menu - highlight command, press Shift + F1 On control in dialog box, click What's This? button from top of the dialog box 2 1 Shortcut keys: E, C, X, Z Use the Z key to zoom in Use the X key to zoom out Use the C key to pan Use the V key to show vertices Use the E shortcut key to toggle between the Sketch tool, Edit Tool, and Edit Annotation tool. To see a list of all the editing shortcut keys, in ArcGIS Desktop help, on the Index tab enter shortcuts, for editing in ArcMap Copyright 1999-2006 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 1-19

ArcMap Editing Shapefiles ArcMap does NOT have a Save As for Shapefiles. Users MUST Export the Layer in ArcMap (Prior to Editing) or use ArcCatalog to create a New Copy of the Shapefile before editing to accomplish this. ArcMap Editing Shapefiles Start Editing opens ALL Shapefiles for Editing in the Workspace (folder shapefiles reside in). Direct correlation between Performance and Number of Shapefiles open for editing First Edit to Shapefile should take longest (ArcMap builds Delta tables for Undo/Redo/Exit no save) Save Edits periodically to clean out edit cache (Undo/Redo). Copyright 1999-2006 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 1-20

Use the Magnifier Window Windows -> Magnifier Entering units other than map units Sketch dialog tools support different units Distance Meter - m Centimeter - cm Kilometer - km Foot - ft Inch - in Yard - yd Mile - mi Nautical mile - nm Chain - ch Link - lk Rod - rd US Survey Foot - ftus US Survey Chain - chus US Survey Link - lkus US Survey Rod - rdus US Survey Mile - mius Copyright 1999-2006 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 1-21

Using Different Angular Units ArcMap Editor supports entering different units into dialogs. Direction types and angular units are set on Units tab of Editing Options Quadrant Bearing; North Azimuth; South Azimuth; Polar Decimal Degrees; Degrees Minutes Seconds; Gradians; Gons, Radians Direction Types Quadrant bearing North azimuth South azimuth Polar Direction Units Decimal degrees Degrees Minutes Seconds Grads Gons Radians Sticky move tolerance Helps avoid accidental movement Feature will not move until past that tolerance Selected feature 25 pixels Copyright 1999-2006 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 1-22

Snap to Features on-the-fly Snapping on-the-fly Overrides snap environment settings Snap to feature geometry without setting individual snap agents Snap to midpoint of a line or polygon boundary 1 2 3 Snapping tolerance and priority Set snapping tolerance in the Editing Options dialog Or use the Snap Tolerance tool to interactively set the tolerance. You can also: Prioritize layers in the Snapping Environment dialog Snap tolerance tool 27 pixels Remember: Press the Spacebar to temporarily suspend snapping Use the V shortcut key to locate where vertices are Use the T shortcut key to display snapping tolerance Copyright 1999-2006 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 1-23

Select NEXT Edit Tool enhancement that selects next feature Select feature, then press the N key Must point to first feature within the Selection tolerance TOC FullLinePoly DottedLinePoly DashedLine Selection tolerance Selection tolerance Box selected Press N Poly selected Press N Line selected Use this technique with overlapping features Does not work with Shift and Ctrl keys Use the Auxiliary Selection Anchor With the Rotate tool Set snapping environment Select the line feature Press the S key Position the selection anchors Rotate the feature Also works with Scale tool Selection Anchor Auxiliary Selection Anchor You can also hold the Ctrl key down and use the Edit Tool to move selection anchors Pivot point Snapping point Copyright 1999-2006 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 1-24

How do I update attributes in batch? Batch update of feature attributes Select target features Open attributes window Choose layer 1 Choose target field Type new attribute value 2 Select Layer 3 Enter attribute value for selected features Editing shared geometry (topology) Create a Map Topology Topology toolbar contains shared editing tools Constructing features Map Map Topology Editing coincident geometry Coincident geometry editing tools Can create with Copyright 1999-2006 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 1-25

Coincident geometry Editing coincident geometry updates multiple features Topology Edit Tool Topology determined on-the-fly Edge Edge Coincident line geometry between features Nodes An independent line feature Node Vertices at the ends of an edge Topology cache Edge Nodes Built on current extent when you use the topology edit tool Editor Log WYSIWYG construction tools Provide visual feedback Place annotation where you want it the first time Productivity Improvements Hotkeys Find Text (Ctrl + W) E - toggles between Edit Tools) A - activates Text box input S - activates Symbol Selector box O - Follow Feature Options P Parallel/Perpendicular (Follow Feature) Predefined symbols to get desired symbolization Use of expression to derive text Copyright 1999-2006 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 1-26

Editor Log Store edit environments and playback editing steps Streamlines editing tasks Simplifies editing environment for new users Troubleshooting Problems Problem could be data specific. Test with new data. Network issue. Copy data locally and retest. Verify permissions for data, if an editing issue. Reboot the system and try to reproduce it. Rename normal.mxt, normal.gxt, and normal.sxt files. ArcMap ArcCatalog ArcScene Problem could be a specific map or scene document. Incapatibility in video drivers may cause ArcGlobe, ArcMap, and ArcScene to fail to start. System TEMP directory is full. System Registry is full Copyright 1999-2006 Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 1-27