ArcGIS Tips and Tools

Interchange Files

Configure ArcCatalog to recognize ArcInfo interchange files

By default ArcCatalog does not list ArcInfo Interchange files (.e00) in the catalog tree.

�� Open ArcCatalog

�� Click on Tools from the menu, select Options.

�� Select File Types tab.

�� Click New Type button.

�� At the File Extension Line, type e00.

Make sure to use the number zero, not the letter O.

�� At the File Description Line, type ArcInfo Interchange File.

�� Optional – Click on the change icon button to change to different icon

representation.

�� Click O.K.

�� Click Apply>O.K.

Import ArcInfo interchange files in ArcGIS

�� Open  ArcCatalog.

�� Click on View from the menu>select Toolbars>Arcview 8.x toolbar.

�� The Conversion Tools toolbar will appear, and

contains many conversion options, including import

from interchange file.

�� *.e00 files can be imported individually or in batches.

Clipping Data Frames

A user can clip a data frame to specified extents for more refined

Mapping.

�� Double click your Data Frame > Click the Data Frame tab

> Check Enable under Clip to Shape > Specify shape

�� Under Clip Shapes, select Outline of Features

�� Choose Layer and Features

Notice that you can also draw a custom graphic in your view

And clip to that graphic as well.

�� Click OK > OK

This feature allows the user to make clean maps without having to go through a clipping process.

Transparency – Legend

Legends can display transparent fills, like the one applied earlier, but a few extra steps are needed.

�� In Arcmap, click Tools > Customize

�� Click the Commands tab > Categories =Page Layout > Commands= Eye Dropper

�� Click the Eye Dropper, drag and drop it onto a toolbar

�� Make sure you are in View mode

�� Click the Eye Dropper Tool you just added and click on a Lake in your View

�� Name your new color Lakes > OK

�� In Layout View, click the Select Elements tool > right click the legend >Convert to Graphics

�� On the Draw Toolbar, click Drawing > Ungroup

�� Do the above step one more time (this ungroups all the legend elements)

�� Select the Lakes polygon in the legend (now a graphic)

�� Click the Fill Color button in the drawing toolbar and select the recently saved Lakes fill

color

Your legend now better represents the transparent color in your map

Find & Replace Pathnames

ArcGIS 9 allows a user to replace pathnames in batch, unlike in 8.x

�� Open ArcCatalog

�� Browse to the folder that contains the .mxd you want to change the pathnames in

�� Right click the .mxd, Select Set Data Source(s)

A list of pathnames for the associated data layers appears. You can

Choose a new data source for a single layer or multiple layers.

�� Click Select All, then click Replace All

�� Set your “replace with” pathname to the location where the data is stored.

The mxd now points to the data layers in this location

�� Go to View > Refresh

You will see a copy of the .mxd.

Grouping/Ungrouping Layers

ArcGIS 8.x did not allow ungrouping of layers and the grouping function did not always maintain

the desired order of layers.

�� In the Table of Contents, highlight all the features in your table of contents by holding

down the shift key and selecting each one

�� Right click in the Table of Contents and Select Group Layers

�� Right click the new group layer > select Ungroup

New Layer Visibility

Several personal preferences can be set directly in ArcMap. Often times, you will be adding

large datasets that take a long time to draw in ArcMap. This can be frustrating as the ArcMap

default is to activate a feature class as soon as it’s added. You can change this however.

�� Go to <Tools<Options

�� Choose General > Uncheck New Layer Visibility

Cancel Drawing

There may be cases where you have large amounts of data that take a long time to load.

�� Click the Escape (Esc) button when you want to stop drawing

Pausing the Drawing in ArcMap

This command is added to an ArcMap pulldown menu or toolbar to suspend (temporarily) all

drawing in the ArcMap display. When you pause the display drawing you can still work in the

program.

When you have an extensive symbology and/or a display with a large, slow drawing image, this

allows you to make changes to the symbology for a number of layers without having the map redraw

each time you okay the symbol changes for each layer.

�� In ArcMap, right click in the blank area of a toolbar bar at the top of the

ArcMap window.

�� Scroll down to the bottom of the context menu and select Customize.

�� Click on the Commands tab.

�� Click on the Pan/Zoom in the Categories list

and click and drag Pause Drawing from the

Commands list onto a toolbar.

Note: As you hover over a toolbar you will be able to drop the Pan/Zoom tool

when you see the I

Tip: Remove a tool by opening the Customize window (as outlined in the above

steps) and dragging the tool from the toolbar back to the Customize dialog.

Removing Buttons

�� Open your customize dialog box (see above)

�� Click and drag the Pause Drawing button into the white space of the customize dialog box

CONNECTING TO AN EXCEL TABLE FOR USE IN ARCCATALOG AND ARCMAP (READ ONLY ACCESS) FOR PRE-9.2

To connect to an Excel table so you can use it in ArcCatalog and ArcMap, follow these instructions:

1. Close ArcCatalog before starting any of this.
2. In your Excel table highlight the rows/columns you want in your table, including the field names. This is done so you can possibly have more than one table within an Excel document.
3. From Worksheet Menu Bar, choose Insert > Name > Define. Give it a name.
4. Click OK and Save your document.

5. Open your system Control Panel and choose Administrative Tools > Data Sources (ODBC)
6. On User DSN tab, click Add…
7. Highlight Driver do Microsoft Excel Driver (*.xls) and click Finish.
8. Fill in the Data Source Name with any name you wish. It doesn’t have to be the name of the xls file you are working with.
9. Click Select Workbook…
10. Browse and select your Excel document.
11. In ODBC Microsoft Excel Setup window, click OK.
12. In ODBC Data Source Administrator, click OK.
13. Start ArcCatalog.
14. In the catalog tree, click Database Connections.
15. Double-click Add OLE DB Connection.
16. Highlight Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers. Click Next >>
17. In Use data source name click the down arrow. You should find the name you set in step 8. Choose it.
18. Click Test Connection to see if things are working OK.
19. Click OK. A new entry under Database Connections should be listed by the name of OLE DB Connection.
20. Open OLE DB Connection (or you may rename it first).
21. There should be a table listed by the name you assigned in Step 3 above.