Files
from
project data, documents, graphics, etc tend to proliferate. I
store all these directories and files in a single
place, preferably at the 'root' position on my computer, e.g.:
C:\0ldecola\projects\lyme\
and under the project you can create directories for docs,
spreads,
arc,
etc. Note also
that this naming convention means that my
directory will
always appear at the top of any list. I don't understand Microsoft's
logic, to "My Documents" etc., and I don't want to.
The
ESRI menu
system can be confusing, so begin with only the menus you need.
Right-click on the main menu
(showing text: "File
Edit...")
and only check Main, Standard, and
Tools.
Later on, if you need them,
you can add
Layout, Draw, etc.
Some of the extensions
require
licenses (see below).
Handling a
zipped file
Make sure there is a
directory where you want to
unzip the
data.
Click on the file link in
the HTML page.
When the 'Opening...' window
comes up select "Open with..."
then OK.
When the "Folder Tasks"
window comes
up select "Extract all
files" then Next and Browse to the directory where you want to unzip
the data and select that directory.
Select OK,
Next, and Finish. You should see a window
showing the directory containing your data.
Close
all the windows that opened during this process and
see if your data were unzipped where you want them.
Excel Data Analysis add-in
Excel comes with a useful collection of data analysis add-ins for e.g.
descriptive statistics, histograms, and regression. I'm not
sure why
they're not loaded automatically! To load them in Excel 2010:
File > Options
> Add-Ins > Analysis ToolPak > Go and select
Analysis ToolPak, then OK.
You should see these
functions at Data > Analysis > Data Analysis.
Composing an ArcMap for a
Word
report
Getting
an ArcMap result into a document can be difficult. You can work in Map
Layout with all its various cartographic elements, but you're still
going to get something that is probably too big to fit legibly into an
MS Word document.
In
order to have a
graphic in your report that will
look acceptable, I suggest the following:
Resize
the ArcMap window
using the Restore Down button on the upper-right of the Window.
Compose
the ArcMap window
(Table of Contents on the left, Map Display on the right) the way you
want it to appear in your report.
Make
a screenshot (with Alt-PrntScrn)
Paste
the screenshot
directly into your Word document
If
your map window is maximized to
the full
extent of your screen,
then, yes, it will probably be too big
for a Word document.
Here
is a screenshot
of my whole
computer screen that
contains what I see: ArcMap on the left and Word on the right.
ArcGIS formats, reports,
etc
The
Table of Contents
(left pane) has hard-to-read text,so if you are giving a demonstration
or (like me) have poor vision, you can make the text bigger:
Tools
> Options
> Table Of
Contents > Display Options: uncheck ‘use Windows...'
and
increase the font size (say to 14 points).
This can be useful if you want to create a screenshot
of just the window.
The background in data frame
is white
by
default, giving too much contrast with the map data, but you
can change it to a darker color:
Right-click
anywhere in
the data frame > Data Frame Properties > Frame >
Background: select a gray, etc.
Moving a project may mean
that a map won’t find
its data. If you are keeping a map file (.mxd)
with its data, you need to set the following:
File
> Document
Properties > Data Source Options > Store Relative Path
Names...
Clean
up any
unwanted data files, especially as ArcGIS generates lots of files for
each feature and often many features that are intermediate to some
result. Use ArcCatalog for this houskeeping, but sometimes you need to
go to the operating systems (i.e. Windows Explorer) to get rid of
stuff.
ESRI map
data and documentation
ESRI supplies a great deal
of
documentation, exercises,
tutorials
with its products. Data (maps and shapefiles) for many of these can be
found at: C:\arcgis\ArcTutor
and documents (78 files currently on my computer!) can be found at C:\Program
Files\ArcGIS\Documentation
these consist of pdf's with names containing words like "Guide",
"Tutorial", and "What's New..." for various Arc programs and
extensions.
The base data for world and
US
mapping is at: C:\Program
Files\ArcGIS\bin\TemplateData\TemplateData.gdb
ESRI Extensions (from ArcGIS Spatial
Analyst
Tutorial) p. 7
Checking out a Spatial
Analyst license:
Click
the Tools menu and click Extensions.
Check the
Spatial Analyst check box.
Click Close.
Adding the Spatial Analyst toolbar:
Click View on the Main Menu, point to Toolbars, then click Spatial
Analyst.
The Spatial Analyst toolbar is added to your ArcMap session.
ArcMap
statistical functions
HISTOGRAMSare
the fundamental visual tool
in descriptive statistics.
In various formats they can be found in the following places:
Attribute
Table is quick and dirty:
Select
a layer > Right click > Open Attribute Table and
right-click
on a field (column) > Statistics. You can select other
fields
in the Fields: window
Graphs
is
the most flexible:
Tools
Menu > Graphs
> Create > Histogram
Layer
Properties
gives histograms for field classification (binning)
Select
a layer > Right click > Symbology > Quantities
> Value: and
select the attribute then Classify and you'll see a histogram whose
number of bars you can modify.
Geostatistical
Analyst
also provides statistics (but requires this extension)
Geostatistical
Analyst
> Explore Data > Histogram
SCATTERPLOTS are
the fundamental visual tool for multivariate data. Tools for making
them can be found in:
Graphs
produces bivariate plots and "trends" but no coefficient
estimates (as does Excel):
Tools
> Graph
> Create > Scatter Plot, and remember to select the
Y-value
(called Value field) first!
Geostatistical
Analyst (GA)
offers a much more sophisticated tool for the analysis of Z
= f(X,
Y)
data where X
and
Y
are
spatial coordinates.
GA > Explore Data > Trend
Analysis and make sure you select the Attribute you want to analyze.
I have used this to visualize non-spatial variables in 3 (although they
can be any
continuous
variables) attribute dimensions.
Miscellany
Screenshots:
A useful way to create graphics is to carefully compose a program's
window
then hit the Alt-'Prnt Scrn' key combination, which saves the
window only. You can then insert it in a report, although some editing
is almost always useful (e.g. with a graphics program like Paint).
