Objective:

• Become familiar with ArcGIS 's basic functionality and user interface.

Steps:

1. Examine the sample data
2. Download a few files
3. Start ArcGIS
4. Switch active data frames
5. Alter drawing properties
6. Identify features
7. Use help for dialogs
8. Use help for menus
9. Use context-sensitive help
10. Measure distances and areas
11. Examine the effect of projections
12. Get information about features
13. Display and modify a table
14. Display and modify a graph
15. Create a layout
16. Close the project

1. Open a Windows Explorer and navigate to C:\gistraining.
2. What directories do you see?
3. We will be using data in the directory packgis for this exercise.
4. Create a directory for yourself under C:\gistraining. You will use this directory to store all the files you download or create during these exercises, so make a note of the location.

1. Download the site_index.dbf file into your personal directory. (Note: make sure the file you downloaded has the name site_index.dbf. Web servers and browsers can arbitrarily rename files. If the file has a different name, rename it to the correct name. If you do not know how to view file names and extensions, go through this short tutorial.)
   
   
2. Download the arcgis_sampler.mxd file and save it in your personal directory. (Note: make sure the file you downloaded has the name arcgis_sampler.mxd. Web servers and browsers can arbitrarily rename files. If the file has a different name, rename it to the correct name.)
   
   These files will be used a short time later in the exercise.
   

1. The location of the ArcMap shortcut may vary from system to system. It should be in a path similar to this:
   
   
   
   During the first lab session, you will be shown where the ArcGIS shortcut is on the computers in the lab.
   
   
2. When ArcMap opens, a dialog may open with choices for what to do next. Click the radio button for A new empty map or close the dialog.
   
   
   
   The project will open with a single window (the Project Window, with Untitled in title bar) containing a few menu choices, a few toolbars icons, and a few buttons. Move the Tools toolbar to dock it between the table of contents and the map display. (Note: the menu & toolbars in the following images may be different than what you see in your ArcMap session. Do not worry, all of the basic functionality we will use for this exercise should be available.)
   
   

1. From the File menu, select Open and navigate to the location where you downloaded the arcgis_sampler.mxd file. It will open and automatically load datasets. You will see the table of contents on the left. On the right side, you will see a data frame containing several different features.
   
   
   
   
2. Save the project with your initials in the filename so you will be able to start over if necessary. From the File menu, select Save As and name the file with your initials (my file will be called arcgis_sampler_pmh.mxd).

Summary: You have just downloaded a few files from the course web page, including an ArcGIS map document file and a dBASE table. You then opened the map document file in ArcMap. This set of tasks will be performed during nearly every lab exercise during this course.

A single map document may have more than one data frame. A data frame contains a number of layers with similar thematic properties and covering the same area of ground. When the map document opens, you will notice that the Pack Forest data frame is active (it is printed in bold text). It is possible to switch between active data frames

1. Right-click on the Stands data frame title and select Activate.
   
   
2. You will see how the display changes.
   
   
   
   
3. Right-click back on the Pack Forest data frame title and select Activate. Note how the display changes back to the way it was before.

Summary: You have just learned to switch active data frames. Typically, a single map document will only contain references to data sources that have some reason to be included as a group. Likewise, a single data frame should only contain layers that have something to do with each other.

1. The project opens with a map of Pack Forest. Notice that there are several layers (in this case, Streams, Roads, Stands, Boundary, Culverts) in the view document. Also note that streams do not display, since the layer is not checked "on."
   
   
2. Click on checkbox to the left of the Streams layer in the Table of Contents to display the layer.
   
   
3. Now that all layers are turned on, notice that the points for the layer Culverts is not displayed. This is because layers draw in order, from bottom to top of the list of layers in the Table of Contents. Click on the Culverts layer name and holding the mouse button down, drag it up the list (above Stands). Now the points representing culverts should be visible.
   
   If you have layers loaded in a view and some do not appear visible as you think they should, check the drawing order.
   
   
4. Many of the Culverts are spaced so closely together that they are not discernible from each other at this scale. In order increase the scale to see the individual Culverts, click the Zoom In tool . The pointer will change to a magnifying glass when placed over the map display.
   
   Note that the cursor will always change to match the type of tool used. When you become familiar with ArcGIS, you will be able to tell which tool is active by just looking at the cursor.
   
   
5. Click and drag a rectangle (click the mouse button down at one corner of a rectangle, and drag to the opposite corner, then release the mouse button) near the center of Pack Forest. Now you will see the individual culverts when the map redraws at the new scale.
   
   
   
   Now you can see the individual culverts, roads, and streams.
   
   
6. Click the the Pan tool . Place the cursor on the map view, then click and drag in any direction. When you release the mouse button, the view will redraw in its new position. You can use this to move to a different area of interest without zooming out and back in. A lot of time is wasted by zooming in and out unnecessarily, because after each zoom, the view needs to completely redraw.
   
   
   
   
7. There are several buttons and tools on the Tools toolbar for controlling map extent. You have just used the Zoom in and Pan tools. Now examine the zoom buttons:
   
   
   
   In order from left to right, these perform
   
   1. zoom out (tool)
   2. zoom in (tool)
   3. fixed step zoom in (button)
   4. fixed step zoom out (button)
   5. pan (tool)
   6. go to previous extent (button)
   7. go to next extent (button)
   8. zoom to full extent of all layers (button)
      
      
8. Right-click the layer name for Culverts and select Zoom to layer, and you will zoom to the full extent of the Culverts layer.
   
   
   
   All the culverts are visible, but the rest of the view is truncated.
   
   
9. Now click the Zoom to full extent button and the view will zoom to contain the full extent of all layers. If you have several datasets that represent the same area of the earth, but not all the datasets display as you think they should, zooming to full extent can show you if the datasets were built with the same spatial referencing framework.
   
   
   
   
   
10. Click the Zoom to previous extent button a few times to see how you can return to a previous display extent. .
    
    
11. Experiment with the Fixed zoom in and Fixed zoom out buttons to see how they are used.

Summary: You have learned to turn layers on and off, to alter drawing order, and to navigate around the view by zooming and panning. The more layers you have displayed, and the more complex those layers, the longer it will take to draw your view. For this reason, you should get very familiar with these zooming tools and buttons so that you can work efficiently.

1. To find out some cursory information we will perform an identify.
   
   
   
2. Click the Identify tool in the tool bar. Move the cursor onto the map display of the view. You will see the cursor change from the pointer to the Identify cursor . The active area of the identify cursor is a 3-by-3 pixel window centered at the end of the pointer.
   
   
3. Click on one of the forest stand polygons. The Identify Results dialog will appear, listing the attributes of the stand you just selected. Keep the <CTRL> key pressed and click on a few more stands, and each successive stand will be added to the identify results window. You can click up and down in the Identify Results dialog to view attributes of already identified features.
   
   Using the identify tool is a good way to get a brief look at the attribute values for a selection of features in your spatial datasets.
   
   
   
   
4. Note the dropdown list for Layers. There is some control over which layers are identifiable. Use help to explain what these choices mean.
   
   
   
   
5. Turn off a few layers and change the dropdown to <Visible layers>. .
   
   
6. Perform another Identify where several features overlap. What do you see in the Identify Results dialog?
   
   
7. Keep the dialog open for the next step.

Summary: You have use the Identify tool to browse attributes for individual features. Use this whenever you are curious about the type of data you have, and what those datasets represent. If you are interested in the attributes of features at a particular location, Identify is the right tool for the job.

Note: the active area of the identify pointer is a 3-by-3 pixel window. Any features that fall within this window will be identified. If you are zoomed out to a very small scale, a single click of the identify tool will result in many features being identified; in this case you may need to zoom in to a smaller area.

Menu items have help popups associated with them. When you want a short description of what a menu choice does, highlight (but do not click) the menu choice and press <SHIFT-F1>.

1. Click Selection on the menu and move the pointer to Set selectable layers but do not click the menu choice.
   
   
   
   
2. Press <SHIFT-F1>. A help popup will display describing the menu choice.
   
   
   
   
3. Read the popup. Do you see how you can use this in conjunction with the Identify tool to limit the layers on which to identify features?
   
   
4. Click anywhere to dismiss the popup.

Summary: You have just learned how to view help for menu choices. Use this whenever you want to know more about what a particular menu does.

Dialogs frequently have help associated with them. If so, the <F1> or <SHIFT-F1> keyboard combination will open a help popup for the dialog.

1. Click inside the Identify Results dialog to activate it.
   
   
2. Press <F1>. The help popup will describe the contents of the dialog.
   
   

Summary: You have just learned how to view help for dialogs. Use this whenever you want to know more about the current dialog. Not all dialogs have help associated with them; in this case, search for the dialog name in the Help application.

1. Click the context-sensitive help button and then click the Add Data button . A help display will pop up describing what the button does.
   
   
   
   

Summary: You have just learned how to open context-sensitive help. Use this whenever you want to know more about different parts of ArcGIS, such as a document or button.

Here we will cover how to measure distance and area in a view. We will start by measuring the distance from one end of the forest to another.

1. To go back to a smaller scale extent, right-click the Stands layer select Zoom to layer.
   
   
2. Click the Measure tool . The pointer will change to an L-square , and when you click on a location, you will see a line between the place you clicked and the pointer. You will also notice that the status bar reports the length of the line.
   
   
3. To change the line's shape, single click again on the view. As you keep clicking, the shape of the line will change, adding a vertex at each point where you click.
   
   
4. As you click, glance frequently at the Status Bar at the bottom of the application window. The status bar will report the length of the current segment as well as the total length of the line.
   
   
   
   
5. To finish the line, double-click on the view, or hold the <CTRL> key and single-click the mouse.
   
   
6. You can also measure area of shapes by creating shapes using one of the Draw tools . The draw tool is a composite tool containing a dropdown list of individual tools, which allows you to add various different graphical primitives to the view. When you add polygonal shapes to the view, their measurements are reported in the status bar.
   
   
7. Click and hold the draw tool until it drops down, then select the Rectangle draw tool , add a box, and watch as its area changes as the size of the box changes. Press the <DELETE> key to delete the box. You can also use the Polygon draw tool to estimate the area of irregularly-shaped areas, or the Circle draw tool to estimate the area of circular or elliptical regions.
   
   
8. Note that you can find out the area and perimeter of a polygonal graphic, or the length of a linear graphic by right-clicking and selecting Properties.
   
   
9. If you have created a large number of graphical objects, you can delete them all by selecting Edit > Select All Elements from the menu, and then hitting the <DELETE> key.

Summary: You have just measured lengths and areas on a view. This is similar to using a measuring wheel or a dot grid or planimeter on a map, but this method is faster, easier, and potentially more accurate. One of the biggest differences between using this method and using a planimeter or other manual tool is that the line or polygon you have used to measure length or area is visible; after using a map wheel or planimeter, there is no traced outline on the paper map. Making simple measurements is one of the basic functions of a GIS. We will work later at getting more precise areas of polygonal features such as vegetation patches.

You may frequently have datasets representing the same location that are already stored in different projections and coordinate systems. At ArcGIS, there is a Projection Engine that allows you to convert datasets from one projection to another. In this exercise, you will project one dataset to match another.

NOTE: the ArcGIS projection engine may be slow. When you are projecting datasets, you will need to be patient, especially if you are on a slow computer. A way to increase the speed is to turn off any anti-virus software during the use of the extension.

1. Download the file projection_files.exe (a self-extracting zip file of Pack Forest data stored in 4 different projections) to your personal directory.
   
   
2. Open a Windows Explorer and double-click this file. The WinZip self-extractor will open. The default Unzip to folder location will be C:\temp. Do not unzip to this directory, but to the your personal directory.
   
   
   
   
   The WinZip Self-Extractor will indicate that 32 files were unzipped. These files include the data sources for the 4 shapefiles.
   
   
   
   
   This will extract the components of the 4 shapefiles needed for the exercise, shown in the table below. The files will be placed in a directory called state_plane in your personal directory.
   
   Here are the projection parameters for each dataset:
   
   

   directory\name	data	projection	zone	datum	units
   state_plane\nwi_spn83	National Wetland Inventory	State Plane	WA-North	NAD83	feet
   state_plane\pls_sec_sps27	Public Land Survey sections	State Plane	WA-South	NAD27	feet
   state_plane\soils_spn27	soils	State Plane	WA-North	NAD27	feet
   state_plane\streams_sps83	streams	State Plane	WA-South	NAD83	feet

   
   
   
3. Add a new data frame to the map document (Insert > Data Frame) and rename it (by slowly double-clicking on the data frame's name) to Projection.
   
   
4. Open ArcCatalog by clicking its button in the ArcMap GUI , then navigate to your personal directory, and within that, the state_plane directory. You should see the 4 shapefiles.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Keep <CTRL> depressed as you click each data source, then drag them into your ArcMap session. You will see that there are now 4 layers in the data frame.
   
   
   
   
   
6. Turn each data set off sequentially to verify that they are displaying on top of each other. This is an example of projection "on the fly," as none of these data sets are stored in the same projection. Turn them all back on again.
   
   
7. To show that the data sets are not stored in the same projection, right click the Projection data frame name and select Properties > Coordinate System tab. Note that the Current coordinate system is set.
   
   
   
   
   
8. Click the Clear button to remove the projection on the data frame.
   
   
   
   
   It will appear that some of the layers have disappeared.
   
   
   
   
   
9. Click the Full Extent button to zoom to the full extent of all layers. Now you are seeing the data in their respective "true" positions with respect to a generic coordinate plane.
   
   
   

Summary: You have just looked at some data sets that are stored in different projections. When performing geoprocessing it is essential that all data sets are stored in the same projection. Using this technique will confirm that your data sets either are or are not in the same projection. We will not be performing any data set projections in this exercise, but see http://gis.washington.edu/esrm250/lessons/projection/exercise/ for a more complete tutorial on projections.

Next, we will find features within layers based on text-formatted attribute values in the attribute tables. You can use this to find features if you know specific text values within the attributes.

1. Turn off all layers but Stands. The easiest way to do this is to hold the <CTRL> key down and click any of the checked checkboxes, which turns off all layers. Then click the checkbox for Stands. Also right-click and Zoom to layer.
   
   
2. Right-click the Stands layer name, and select Open Attribute Table. The table contains a single record for each single stand polygon. The records contain various pieces of data about each stand.
   
   
   
   
3. Click Options and select Find & Replace. Search for a stand whose name contains the word "bethel" (one of the formed Deans of the College of Forest Resources was named James Bethel, for whom the stand is named). Make sure to uncheck Match Case and Search Only Selected Field(s).
   
   
   
   
   ArcGIS searches for all attributes in the layer's attribute table, and selects any features whose text attributes contain the text you typed in. You will see the stand selected (shaded in yellow) whose name contains the word "bethel," and the view will be centered on the selected feature. Searches using this method are by default case-insensitive, so this method will match any text string containing the letters "bethel," "Bethel," or "BETHEL." If you want to match by case, make sure Match Case is checked. The table will scroll to the first match, and the cell containing the text will be outlined in bold.
   
   
   
   
4. Click the leftmost column in the table (shown above with an arrowhead). This will select the record.
   
   
   
   Selecting the record will also select the related feature from the map.
   
   
   
   
5. Clicking Find Next finds the next stand matching the name search. Use the <CTRL> key to select the second matching record. You will see both features selected:
   
   
   
   
6. The table shows that two records are selected (note the text 2 out of 184 selected).
   
   
   
   To view only those records, click the Selected button.
   
   
   
   
7. Use the Identify tool to find out the names of these forest stands. You will see why they matched in the text attribute search.
   
   Continuing to click Find Next will ultimately result in no more matches. The reason for this is that the Find functionality searches only once through the attribute table. When it reaches the end of the table, it does not start again at the beginning. This prevents you from continuously cycling through a large table.
   
   This method is good for finding features if you already know something about the dataset's attribute values. The tool is only useful for searching for text attributes (numeric attributes cannot be searched in this manner). Of course, if you have no idea what text values are in the table, this method of finding features will be of little value.
   
   
8. Another way to select features is by using the Select tool . Click on single features or click and drag a rectangle. Any features that are clicked or which fall partially or completely within the rectangle will be added to the selected set. Your selection may vary, but it should look basically like this:
   
   
   
   When clicking features, the active area of the select pointer is a 3-by-3 pixel window. If you are zoomed to a very small scale, clicking on a single feature may result in too large of a selection, and you may need to zoom in closer.
   
   
9. Once you have selected a group of features, open the Stand layer's attribute table (if you have closed it). The layer's attribute table will open, with several records selected (the selected records, shown in cyan, represent the selected stands in the view). You may need to scroll down the table to see selected records.
   
   
   
   
10. To view only those records, click the Selected button.
    
    
    
    
11. The section of the course on tables will delve deeper into making selections using tabular queries. For now, unselect the selected records by clicking the All button and then Options > Clear Selection.

Summary: You have just searched for features containing specific values, selected features and looked at their values, opened a attribute table, and promoted records. This is the beginning of our exploration of the relationship between the coordinate features of a layer, and the tabular records of the layer's table. Nearly all of what we will do in GIS will take advantage of the relationship between layer coordinate and tabular databases.

Tables can be modified in their display properties. Fields can be hidden, renamed, resized, and the order of records can be changed. Often, data developers give fields cryptic names that are not easy to work with. If this is the case, you can change the text for a field's name display.

1. Right-click the Stands layer name and select Properties.
   
   
2. The layer's properties will be displayed in a dialog. Click the Fields tab. Each field is listed, with a checkbox for visibility, the Field name, and field Alias, and a number of different properties. To hide fields, uncheck their Visible property check box. To change the display name of a field, enter text in the Alias box.
   
   
   
   
3. Uncheck several of the fields.
   
   
4. Scroll down to the item Age_class_2003, and enter "Current Age Class" in the Alias box.
   
   
   
   
   1. While you are here, click the row for any field (you will see the row become highlighted) and hit the <SHIFT-F1> keyboard combination. This will open the help popup on the dialog. The help topic will describe the overall functionality of this part of the layer properties dialog as well as some of the different controls on the dialog.
      
      
      
      
   2. Close the Help topic by clicking anywhere.
      
      
5. When you OK the change, you will see the table's display change accordingly. These changes are temporary to the ArcGIS project, and do not change the files on the disk. This means that if you open the dataset in another project, or even again in the same project, it will appear the same as it did before you made these recent changes.
   
   This can be very handy if you get a layer with a table that contains many attribute fields, but you are interested in displaying only a few fields.
   
   
6. Now sort the table according to the Current Age Class item. If the table is not open, open it. Click on the field's name in the table to make it the active field (the field contents will be shaded in cyan), right-click, and then select Sort Ascending.
   
   
   
   As you scroll, note how the table is sorted. You will see that the table is sorted by alphabetical value, rather than numeric value (e.g., 190 < 20 in ASCII/alphabetical order). This is because the age class field is a character field, rather than a numeric field. Be aware that the field type will affect what type of functions can be performed on the field. We will look at fields in more detail later in the lesson on tables.
   
   
7. Make the Age_2003 field active, and click the Sort Ascending button again, and the records will be placed in the correct order.
   
   
8. Close the attribute table, and zoom to the full extent of all the layers by clicking the Zoom to Full Extent button .

Summary: You have just opened a layer's table, and altered its properties (turned field display off, altered the field name alias) . You have also sorted the table's records. None of these changes affect the table's file source on the disk.

1. Right-click the Stands data frame title and select Activate. This will switch data frames.
   
   
2. The Stands data frame shows Pack Forest's forest stands. The stands are classified into 5 natural-break classes based on the Site_index field in the feature attribute table. (For those of you that do not know, site index is an estimate of the height of a tree at 50 or 100 years for a particular area; the larger the site index, the more productive the location.)
   
   
   
   
3. Open the attribute table for the Stands layer. Note the item Site_index. I have prepared a summary table of the layer attribute table, in which the area per site index value is summed. This table is saved as Site Index. The actual file represented in the table is the site_index.dbf dBASE file you downloaded earlier.
   
   
4. Open this table by clicking the Source tab in the table of contents. Right-click the table and select Open. There is also a graph prepared which graphically represents the tabular data.
   
   
5. To open the graph, from the Tools menu, select Graphs > Manage. Double-click the entry for Site Index Distribution, then close the Graph Manager dialog.
   
   
   
   
6. You may need to resize the graph window. You can see the area (in acres) of each site index class.
   
   
   
   

7. Change the format of the graph into a pie graph by right-clicking the title bar for the graph and selecting Properties. On the Type tab, select Pie and click the first icon for Graph subtype.
   
   
   
   

8. On the Data tab, select Sum_ACRES as the field to graph.
   
   
   
   

9. On the Appearance tab, check the box for Label pie slices and select the SITE_INDEX field.
   
   
   

10. Click Advanced Options... and delete the entry for Left Title.
    
    
    
    
11. Click OK on both dialogs.
    
    
    
    Now your data show the relative proportion of area of each site class to the entire forest.
    
    
12. The problem with this graph is that the colors on the graph do not match the colors on the map in the view. It is difficult to see the spatial arrangement of the classes summarized in the graph. Finally, you will change the display properties of the view to match the colors of the pie graph. Presently the view displays site classes in a green monochrome color ramp, but we want the colors in the view to match the graph.
    
    
    1. Download the file site_index.lyr (place it in your personal directory). (Note: using the Windows Explorer, make sure the file you downloaded has the name site_index.lyr. Web servers and browsers can arbitrarily rename files that have been downloaded. If the file has a different name, rename it to the correct name.)
       
       
    2. Currently the legend displays the Site_index field in 5 classes, using a green monochromatic color ramp. Open the properties for the Stands layer in the table of contents. Click the Symbology tab.
       
       
       
       
       
    3. Click the Import button. Navigate to your personal directory and add the site_index.lyr file you just downloaded.
       
       
       
       
    4. Make sure the Value Field dropdown is set to SITE_INDEX. Click OK.
       
       
       
       You will see that the symbology has been updated. You are loading a pre-prepared ArcGIS legend file that will alter the colors of the display for the Stands layer. If you create a customized legend for a layer and you wish to use that legend over again, you can save it in one project, then load it in another. This saves the time of re-creating the legend from scratch.
       
       
       
       Click OK.
       
       
13. Now you can see not only the relative proportion, but also where the different site indexes are distributed across the forest. White polygons are unclassified or are outside the administrative boundary.
    
    

Summary: You have just looked at a graph and altered its properties. Charts are used to make numeric data more easily understood. You have also downloaded a ArcGIS legend file to load a predefined classification and legend for a layer. Later, you will learn to alter the layer legends on your own.

In a map layout, you can place graphical elements containing views, graphs, tables, images, and graphical primitives on a page. The layout can then be sent to a printer or plotter, or saved as a graphics file. This step in the exercise will create a simple map from the site index view.

1. Click the Layout View button at the lower left of the map display. This will change from data view to layout view.
   
   
   
   
2. Change from portrait to landscape orientation (File > Page and Print Setup, select Landscape). Also make sure that Scale Map Elements proportionally... is checked.
   
   
   
   
3. There are two data frames in the map. Click and drag the the data frame for the Pack Forest data frame off the layout. Resize and move the other data frame to fit the page better.
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Change the default text size at the bottom of the application window to 36 points. Click the New Text tool at the lower part of the application window. Click a location for a title. Enter the text Site Index.
   
   
   
   
5. From the menu, select Insert > Legend. Use all the defaults for the legend wizard.
   
   
   
   
   
   You may need to move the legend so it is visible.
   
   
   
   
6. Add a scale bar by selecting Insert > Scale Bar. Click the Properties button and specify Miles as the Division Units.
   
   
   
   
7. Click OK to add the scale bar. You may need to resize and/or reposition map elements.
   
   
   
   
8. Add a north arrow by selecting Insert > North Arrow. Select a north arrow style you like from the list.
   
   
   
   Click OK to add the north arrow. You may need to reposition and/or resize elements.
   
   
   

Summary: You have just created a simple map layout. As you know, one of the main uses of GIS is to create maps. This simple layout results in a map that is too generic for most purposes. We will spend one class session on creating and modifying layouts later in the course.

You can use the method described for creating PDF files to create PDF files of map compositions for distribution via e-mail or the web. It is also possible to export layouts in a number of different graphical file formats.

You have just experienced a cursory view of what ArcGIS has to offer. Each of the topics covered in this first exercise will be covered in greater detail later in the term.

For now, close ArcMap. When asked if you want to save the document, click Yes.

Open a Windows Explorer and view the contents ofyour personal directory. You should see the project you just downloaded and modified (arcgis_sampler.mxd), the dBASE file you downloaded (site_index.dbf), and the layer file (site_index.lyr). Get used to looking at the file system and knowing what files represent what datasets.

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Copyright © Phil Hurvitz, 1998-2005