ArcGIS Chapter 19

This exercise really reminded me of the one with Africa where we had to create different maps for a geography class. It was fun to make maps of India for a presentation but all four parts were very tedious.

It took me a while to figure out how to make both maps of India the same size. In the end, I just typed in the exact size for the map so they could both be equal. Panning them out took me a little more time because I was trying to make the two maps look as close to one another as possible. The great amount of effort I put in was unnecessary though.

Putting in titles, north arrow, scale bar and legend sounded easy, but it took me a long time to complete this exercise. At least it felt like it.

ArcGIS Chapter 18

This chapter was extremely simple and was quickly completed.

In part b, I could not mark the typhoon points on the map. I tried it twice before I gave up and moved into part c. Part c was fairly easy and I could draw a curved line joining the points (because the points were already given).

ArcGIS Chapter 17

This was an interesting application. Looking up addresses as we do in yellow books, except we do it online and using the GIS software

It took me a long time to find the Address Locator and after I did, it was hard to find the file Atlanta Customers.

17 b was a little harder to do. The file Atlanta Customers was saved at a different location. Also after I found the address 1171 Piedmont Ave NE and typed in the zone, I could not find Add as Graphic(s) to Map on the context menu. Instead, I clicked on Add Point to to mark that location on the map. The exercise was a little hard to follow at first, but then I understood what I was doing.

17 c was relatively easier to complete though it was lengthy as well and it took me some time to figure out what I was doing.

ArcGIS Chapter 16

An important aspect of maintaining a database is making changes or editing the existing features. Features may be moved, deleted, divided, merged, resized, reshaped and buffered.

Part a was interesting because it was all about making changes to parcels in a new subdivision: deleting two parcels and then enlarging the boundaries of two parcels to make room for ponds etc.

This exercise used the Editor toolbar a lot. By the time I started part b, I could complete the initial and final stages of splitting and merging without looking at the tutorial.

ArcGIS Chapter 15

This exercise was fairly easy as I just had to follow what was being taught in the tutorial. There were no discrepancies between the tutorial and the software, so it was actually a relief.  I added two proposed parcels in the subdivision. I also measured the distance and the length and the intersection of two circular graphics to understand the plot was fun and interesting. This will be very helpful for developers and property owners for planning purposes.

ArcGIS Chapter 14

This chapter was about building geodatabases. There are many different formats for organizing spatial data into feature classes, some of which are shapefiles, coverages and CAD files. Geodatabases is one of them. But unlike a shapefile, geodatabases, coverages and CAD files contain several feature classes.

Part a was a little difficult for me because the software would not allow me to import Coverage to Geodatabase Wizard. I had to play around a little and make a few changes (that I don’t even remember) to complete this exercise.

The next part of the exercise taught how to create feature classes and specifying the feature class geometry — point, line or polygon. Fields and domains are then added to store attribute information. A field is defined by a name, data type and properties that vary according to both. A domain is wither a list or range of valid values for an attribute.  A domain can be applied to more than one field in a feature class and more than one feature class within a geodatabase.