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Welcome to ArcGIS Desktop Help
Copyright information
Acknowledgements
GIS Dictionary
What's new in ArcGIS
Getting started
Fundamentals of GIS

Three views of GIS

How maps convey geographic information

Georeferencing and coordinate systems

Elements of geographic information

How GIS represents and organizes geographic information

How ArcGIS users work with geographic information

Users work with many data types and data formats in ArcGIS

Comparing Geoprocessing and Spatial Analysis
Introducing ArcGIS Desktop
Tutorials

Tutorials

3D Analyst Tutorial

Animation in ArcMap Tutorial

ArcCatalog Tutorial

ArcMap Tutorial

ArcGIS Publisher Tutorial

ArcReader Tutorial

ArcScan Tutorial

Building a Geodatabase Tutorial

Database Servers Tutorial

Data Interoperability Tutorial

Editing Geodatabases Tutorial

Editing GIS Features Tutorial

Geocoding Tutorial

Geoprocessing Tutorial

Geostatistical Analyst Tutorial

Getting Started with ArcGIS Tutorial

Linear Referencing Tutorial

Maplex Tutorial

Network Analyst Tutorial

Representations Tutorial

Schematics Tutorial

Spatial Analyst Tutorial

StreetMap Tutorial

Survey Analyst Tutorial

Tracking Analyst Tutorial
Toolbars
Getting more help
Map projections and coordinate systems
Getting started with map projections

An overview of map projections

Projection basics the GIS professional needs to know

About the geoid, ellipsoid, spheroid and datum, and how they are related

Identifying an unknown coordinate system

Converting Degrees Minutes Seconds values to Decimal Degree values
Geographic coordinate systems
Projected coordinate systems

About projected coordinate systems

About map projections

Projection types

Planar projections

Conic projections

Cylindrical projections

Other projections

Projection parameters
Geographic transformations

Geographic transformation methods

Equation-based methods

Grid-based methods
Supported map projections

List of supported map projections

Aitoff

Alaska Grid

Alaska Series E

Albers Equal Area Conic

Azimuthal Equidistant

Behrmann Equal Area Cylindrical

Bipolar Oblique Conformal Conic

Bonne

Cassini-Soldner

Chamberlin Trimetric

Craster Parabolic

Cube

Cylindrical Equal Area

Double Stereographic

Eckert I

Eckert II

Eckert III

Eckert IV

Eckert V

Eckert VI

Equidistant Conic

Equidistant Cylindrical

Equirectangular

Fuller

Gall's Stereographic

Gauss-Krüger

Geocentric Coordinate System

Geographic Coordinate System

Gnomonic

Goodes Homolosine

Great Britain National Grid

Hammer-Aitoff

Hotine Oblique Mercator

Krovak

Lambert Azimuthal Equal Area

Lambert Conformal Conic

Local Cartesian Projection

Loximuthal

McBryde-Thomas Flat-Polar Quartic

Mercator

Miller Cylindrical

Mollweide

New Zealand National Grid

Orthographic

Perspective

Plate Carrée

Polar Stereographic

Polyconic

Quartic Authalic

Rectified Skewed Orthomorphic

Robinson

Simple Conic

Sinusoidal

Space Oblique Mercator

State Plane Coordinate System

Stereographic

Times projection

Transverse Mercator

Two-Point Equidistant

Universal Polar Stereographic

Universal Transverse Mercator

Van der Grinten I

Vertical Near-Side Perspective

Winkel I

Winkel II

Winkel Tripel
Vertical coordinate systems
Mapping and visualization
An overview of mapping and visualization

An overview of ArcMap

Data frames

Map layers

Symbols and styles

Text on maps

Cartographic representations

Map layouts and map printing

Graphs, reports, and animations

Common tasks within ArcMap

Keyboard shortcuts for use within ArcMap

ArcMap application patterns
Using ArcMap
Working with layers
Navigating and interacting with maps
Navigating maps and layout pages
Interacting with maps
Adding graphics and text to maps
Symbolizing data
Animation
Using cartographic representations
Page layout and map composition
Working with graphs and reports
Working with web maps in ArcGIS
Publishing optimized map services in ArcGIS

Publishing optimized map services

Drawing differences between ArcMap and optimized map services
Map Service Publication Toolbar error messages
Map Service Publication Toolbar warning messages
Map Service Publishing Toolbar information messages
Editing and data compilation

An overview of editing and data compilation
Getting started with editing

About editing your geodatabase in ArcMap

Adding the data you want to edit

Editing ArcSDE geodatabases

The structure of vector datasets

Adding the editing toolbars

Starting and stopping an edit session

The sketch construction tools

Using the snapping environment

About setting distance units

Setting direction measuring systems and units

Editing features that have z-values

Shortcut keys for editing in ArcMap

Frequently asked questions about editing
Common editing tasks

Common point editing tasks

Common line editing tasks

Common polygon editing tasks

Common annotation editing tasks

Common multipoint editing tasks

Editing data in a different projection
Creating new features

About creating new features

Creating point features and vertices

Creating lines and polygons

Creating segments using angles and lengths

Creating segments using angles from existing segments

Creating segments that are circular arc curves

Creating segments by tracing features

Creating buffers

Mirroring features

Combining features from different layers

Intersecting features

Merging and separating features

Copying parallel line features

Creating a fillet curve between two lines

Creating cul-de-sac lines

Creating lines with the Traverse window

Creating lines with the 2-Point Line window

Creating lines with the Offset Line window
Editing existing features
Editing attributes

Editing attributes

Copying and pasting attributes

Deleting attributes

Editing with default values and attribute domains

About updating data using SQL
Editing annotation

An overview of editing annotation

Creating new annotation features

Creating and editing annotation that follows features

Editing the size and position of annotation features

Editing annotation in the Attributes dialog box

Editing the appearance of annotation features

Editing feature-linked annotation
Editing dimension features
Using a digitizer
Spatial adjustment
Editing topology
Editing relationships and related objects
COGO

An overview of COGO

Common COGO workflows

About COGO descriptions

Adding COGO fields to a feature class

Traverse file format

Offset points file format

Applying a ground to grid correction

Reporting COGO descriptions

Using the Curve Calculator command

Using the COGO Area command

Splitting features into COGO lines
Tables and attribute information
Understanding tables and attribute information

An overview of tables and attribute information

About tabular data sources

Common tables and attributes tasks

Keyboard shortcuts for working with tables
Creating tables and managing attribute information

Creating new tables

About ObjectID fields

Adding and deleting fields

Editing values in a table

Making field calculations

Working with date fields

Reloading the table cache

Exporting records

About joining and relating tables

Joining tables

Relating tables

Joining the attributes of features by location

Creating spatial data from tables

Working with Microsoft Excel files in ArcGIS

Working with Microsoft Access files in ArcGIS
Displaying tables and attribute information
Geoprocessing
Geoprocessing tool reference

An overview of commonly used tools

Geoprocessing commands quick reference guide

Licensing for geoprocessing tools

Data types for geoprocessing tool parameters
Input and output data considerations

Overview of input and output data considerations

Geoprocessing considerations for subtypes

Geoprocessing considerations for attribute domains

Geoprocessing considerations for shapefile output

Geoprocessing considerations for cartographic representations
3D Analyst toolbox

An overview of the 3D Analyst toolbox

Understanding 3D data

Concepts of surface analysis

Working with TIN surfaces

Working with raster surfaces

3D visualization
3D Analyst Conversion toolset
Functional Surface toolset
Raster Interpolation toolset
Raster Math toolset
Raster Reclass toolset
Raster Surface toolset
Terrain toolset
TIN Creation toolset
TIN Surface toolset
Analysis toolbox
Business Analyst toolbox

An overview of the Business Analyst toolbox
Analysis toolset
Customer Setup toolset
Modeling toolset
Reports toolset
Segmentation Analysis toolset
Segmentation Profiles toolset
Store Setup toolset
Thematic Maps toolset
Trade Areas toolset
Cartography toolbox

An overview of the Cartography toolbox

Cartography toolbox sample applications
Graphic Quality toolset
Masking toolset
Representation Management toolset
Symbolization Refinement toolset
Conversion toolbox

An overview of the Conversion toolbox
From Raster toolset
From WFS
Metadata toolset
To CAD toolset
To Coverage toolset
To dBASE toolset
To Geodatabase toolset
To Raster toolset
To Shapefile toolset
To KML toolset
Coverage toolbox
Data Interoperability toolbox

An overview of the Data Interoperability toolbox
Tools
Data Management toolbox
Geocoding toolbox
Geostatistical Analyst toolbox

An overview of the Geostatistical Analyst toolbox

Understanding geostatistical analysis

Working with a geostatistical layer

Creating a grid from a geostatistical layer

Geostatistical Analyst toolbox sample applications

Parallel processing with multiple CPUs
Tools
Linear Referencing toolbox
Military Analyst toolbox
Mobile toolbox
Military Overlay Editor toolbox
Multidimensional toolbox

An overview of the Multidimension toolbox
Tools
Network Analyst toolbox

An overview of the Network Analyst toolbox
Analysis toolset
Network Dataset toolset
Turn Feature Class toolset
Server toolbox
Schematics toolbox

An overview of the Schematics toolbox
Tools
Spatial Analyst toolbox
Spatial Statistics toolbox
Samples toolbox

An overview of the Samples toolbox
Conversion
Data Management
Tracking Analyst toolbox

An overview of the Tracking Analyst toolbox
Tools
Environment Settings
Tool errors and warnings
Geodatabases and ArcSDE
An overview of the geodatabase

An overview of the geodatabase

Essential readings about the geodatabase

Table basics

Feature class basics

Raster basics

Types of geodatabases

Client and geodatabase compatibility

Common geodatabase tasks
Architecture of a geodatabase
Designing a geodatabase
Building a geodatabase
Data management workflows, transactions, and versioning
Geodatabase data storage and schema
Administering ArcSDE geodatabases
Administering File and Personal geodatabases
Working with geodatabases using SQL

An overview of working with ST_Geometry storage using SQL

Spatial relationships

Spatial operations

Geometry properties

SQL implementation differences for the ST_Geometry type
Using spatial types with SQL
SQL functions reference
Data management with ArcCatalog

An overview of ArcCatalog

About workspaces
Getting started with ArcCatalog
Building the Catalog
Managing the Catalog's contents

The Contents tab

Working in Details view

Changing the columns in Details view

Modifying the default settings for exploring contents

Exploring an item's properties

Organizing your data

Converting data to a different format
Exploring an item's geography
Searching for items
Working with metadata
Image and raster data management
Understanding raster data

What is raster data?

Raster bands

Cell size of raster data

Representing features in a raster dataset

Discrete and continuous data

Raster dataset zones and regions

Raster dataset attribute tables

Raster data organization

Gathering basic raster dataset information
Supported raster data

Supported raster dataset file formats

Technical specifications for raster dataset formats

About the ESRI Grid format

About MrSID rasters

BIL, BIP, and BSQ raster files

Raster data with subdatasets

Building a customized raster format
Properties of raster data
Designing a raster database

Design methodology for a raster database

Why store rasters in a geodatabase

Example raster case studies including the storage decisions

Raster datasets as attributes

More details about rasters in ArcGIS
Building and managing a raster database

How raster data is stored in a geodatabase

Exploring geodatabase raster catalogs

Creating raster datasets in a geodatabase

Creating raster catalogs in a geodatabase

Importing raster datasets

Exporting or converting raster datasets

Exporting raster catalogs

Mosaicking raster datasets

Persisting a transformation to a raster dataset without rectifying it

Migrating your 8.x raster catalog

Updating your geodatabase raster catalog footprints

Loading large raster datasets into ArcSDE

Transferring large raster datasets

Building large raster datasets-case studies

Raster data and disconnected editing
Raster display and visualization
Raster analysis and geoprocessing

About analyzing raster data

Making selections using the geodatabase raster catalog

Raster conversion

Core geoprocessing tools for raster data

About environment settings for raster data

Specifying raster storage environment settings

Specifying raster analysis environment settings

Specifying the snap raster environment setting
Serving raster data
Serving raster data
Data support in ArcGIS
Extensions
Geocoding and address management
Getting started with geocoding

An overview of geocoding

Definition of the address locator
Understanding geocoding
Preparing for geocoding
Building an address locator

Defining the address locator components

Creating an address locator

Modifying an address locator's settings

Managing address locators in ArcMap

Managing address locators in ArcCatalog

Migrating address locators created with ArcGIS prior to version 9.2
Locating addresses
Additional geocoding techniques
Keeping an address locator current

Updating your reference data

Versioned data and the address locator

Rebuilding address locators
Distributing your address locator

Deciding to share an address locator

Collecting address locators

Making your address locator public

Accessing distributed address locators

Sharing pre-9.2 address locators
Adjusting your address locator file
About StreetMap data
Linear referencing
Network analysis

Using the Network Analyst extension
Analyzing geometric networks
Mobile GIS
Interoperability and standards support

Overview of interoperability

Overview of OGC and ISO support

ESRI protocols and programming interfaces
GML support in ArcGIS
WFS support in ArcGIS
WCS support in ArcGIS
WMS support in ArcGIS
KML support in ArcGIS
Customizing and developing with ArcGIS
Guide to data that comes with ArcGIS
Licensing and desktop administration
GIS Servers and services

An overview of GIS servers used with ArcGIS
Using ArcIMS with ArcGIS Desktop
Using ArcGIS Server with ArcGIS Desktop
Authoring and publishing services for ArcGIS Server

An overview of authoring and publishing services

Data access considerations for ArcGIS Server

Publishing resources
Administering ArcGIS Server with ArcCatalog

Overview of ArcGIS Server administration in ArcCatalog

Connecting to a GIS server

Running ArcCatalog under a different operating system account

Adding a server object container

Adding a new service

Adding multiple services at once

Removing a service

Starting, stopping, and pausing services

Displaying server statistics

Creating a server directory

Specifying the log file location

Using a proxy server to connect to the Internet

Setting the capacity of a server object container

Creating a map cache

Publishing a resource to ArcGIS Server

Creating a globe cache

Adding and removing folders
Creating and publishing web maps for ArcGIS Server