atn gis support arcgis: arctoolbox

ATN GIS Supporthttp://help.unc.edu/gis

ArcGIS: ArcToolbox


Goals

• Develop familiarity with ArcToolbox• Integrated use of the different ArcGIS components in

the context of a typical GIS project

• Review basic techniques learned in earlier classes• Introduce local (Orange county) data available from

AFS


Agenda

• About ArcToolbox• Toolsets in the Toolbox• Working in the Toolbox• Exercise


About ArcToolbox• What is ArcToolbox

ArcToolbox is a collection of common geoprocessing tools organized in an easy to navigate format, and provided with GUIs and wizards to ensure ease of use.

• Important details– ArcToolbox and ArcInfo Workstation - To get full functionality of ArcToolbox you

need ArcInfo workstation installed along-side ArcInfo Desktop– Coverages only - While the conversion tools inherently work with many different data

formats, most of the other items work off of ArcInfo Workstation, and as such are only available for use with ArcInfo Coverages

– License levels - The number of items available in the toolbox depends upon the license level your software is set to (ArcView, ArcEditor, or ArcInfo)

• Opening ArcToolbox– Open either ArcCatalog or ArcMap. Then in the menu select Window and click on

ArcToolbox. Or click on the ArcToolbox icon on the standard toolbar.– Using ArcToolbox and ArcCatalog together - This is the suggested method for using

ArcToolbox. You can click and drag items between the two applications, and it is easy to preview the output of ArcToolbox routines in the ArcCatalog Preview window.


Toolsets in the Toolbox• Analysis Tools

Core geoprocessing tools, extract, Overlay, Proximity, Statistics

• Conversion ToolsSeveral tools for converting between most common data formats

• Data Management ToolsTools for organizing and updating data


Working in the Toolbox• Locating tools

Tools are organized into logical groups to make them easy to find. If you still have trouble, there is a find tool item available from the Tools menu. Searches can be based on tool name, ArcInfo command name, or keyword

• Tools vs. WizardsTools are single dialogs which have spaces for you to provide input. If you want to perform a routine on several coverages, you can set up batch jobs in tool dialogs. Wizards consist of multiple dialogs. They are designed to be more user friendly and are often available for more complex tasks that require lots of user input.

• Getting info about a toolRight click on a tool to access its properties. You can access a help file for the tool as well as the ArcInfo command that it is built on.

• Getting help with a toolThere is an info file available in most toolboxes, there is access to help on the context menu if you right click on the item, and there are usually shortcuts to help on the tool windows and throughout the wizards.

atn gis support arcgis: arctoolbox

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