Collapse all Welcome to ArcGIS Desktop Help Copyright information Acknowledgements GIS Dictionary

What's new in ArcGIS

What's new in ArcGIS 9.3 What's new in ArcGIS 9.3.1 Migration guides

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 What is ArcGIS 9.3 An overview of ArcGIS Desktop Using ArcGIS Desktop Mapping and visualization in ArcMap The geodatabase Workspace and dataset management with ArcCatalog Data compilation and editing Geoprocessing and analysis Tips and tricks within ArcGIS Tutorials Toolbars Getting more help

Map projections and coordinate systems

Mapping and visualization

An overview of mapping and visualization Using ArcMap Layers, data frames, and the table of contents Starting ArcMap Creating a new map Opening a map Using the table of contents About coordinate systems and map projections Specifying a coordinate system Referencing data in the map Working with data frames Pausing the map's drawing Saving a map and exiting ArcMap Saving to previous versions of ArcGIS Keyboard shortcuts in ArcMap Working with layers Adding layers to a map Adding a layer package to your map Adding x,y coordinate data as a layer Changing a layer's drawing order Changing a layer's text description Setting layer properties Managing group layers Saving a layer to disk Copying layers Displaying layers at certain scales Displaying a subset of features in a layer Repairing broken data links Viewing a layer's metadata in ArcMap Setting HTML pop-up properties for feature layers Navigating and interacting with maps Adding graphics and text to maps Working with graphics Working with text Symbolizing data Applying symbology Styles and symbols Animation Using cartographic representations Page layout and map composition Working with graphs and reports Looking at data with graphs (Pre-ArcGIS 9.2) Looking at data with graphs Creating reports Working with web maps in ArcGIS An overview of GIS Web map layers Working with ArcGIS Server in ArcGIS Desktop Using services from ArcGIS Server Using services from ArcIMS Using OGC Services Using KML Using ArcGIS Online Using image service layers Working with service layers in the table of contents Printing and exporting maps containing service layers Publishing optimized map services in ArcGIS

Editing and data compilation

An overview of editing and data compilation Getting started with editing Common editing tasks Creating new features Editing existing features Editing attributes Editing annotation Editing dimension features About editing dimension features Creating dimension features Modifying a dimension feature's geometry and style Using a digitizer Spatial adjustment An overview of spatial adjustment Adding the Spatial Adjustment toolbar Setting up the spatial adjustment Working with links Working with link files and control point files Previewing and performing the adjustment Transferring attributes between features Editing topology About topology Topology rules Topology error fixes Basic topology tasks Creating a map topology Editing features in a topology Editing shared geometry Topology validation Topology errors and exceptions Correcting topology errors Finding features with shared topology elements Clearing selected topology elements Changing the symbology for topology features Making new features with topology tools Editing relationships and related objects COGO

Tables and attribute information

Understanding tables and attribute information 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

What is geoprocessing? A whirlwind tour of geoprocessing Geoprocessing tools Geoprocessing framework Frequently Asked Questions about geoprocessing Fundamental tool concepts Using geoprocessing tools An overview of using tools Using the tool dialog Managing toolboxes Managing tools and toolsets An overview of managing tools and toolsets Tool types Basic tool management Using ArcGIS Server tools Tool licensing Basic toolset management Rules for using tools within an edit session Rules for working with schema locks Batch processing Using tools in the command line Tool layers Automating your work with models Automating your work with scripts Geoprocessing environments Documenting tools and toolboxes An overview of documenting tools and toolboxes An overview of the Documentation Editor Entering topics in the Documentation Editor Using the page editor Documenting models Documenting scripts Viewing documentation for tools Changing tool dialog appearance Referencing a compiled help file Exporting tool documentation to an HTML file Sharing tools and toolboxes An overview of sharing tools and toolboxes Methods for distributing tools Pathnames explained: Absolute, relative, UNC, and URL A structure for sharing tools Sharing and connecting to UNC pathnames Accessing ArcSDE data in tools Techniques for sharing Python scripts Managing intermediate data in shared models Sharing stylesheets Checklist for sharing tools and toolboxes Geoprocessing with ArcGIS Server Keeping track of geoprocessing history Advanced modeling through simulations

Geoprocessing tool reference

Geodatabases and ArcSDE

Data management with ArcCatalog

An overview of ArcCatalog About workspaces Getting started with ArcCatalog Starting ArcCatalog Browsing through the Catalog What's in the Catalog Repositioning the Catalog tree Stopping 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 About metadata Metadata standards and the ArcGIS metadata format ArcGIS support for the ISO 19139 metadata standard Exploring an item's metadata Changing the default stylesheet Printing metadata Creating and updating metadata Metadata synchronization Writing metadata documentation Importing and exporting metadata with ArcCatalog Importing and exporting metadata Editing metadata Using the FGDC metadata editor Using the ISO metadata editor Managing enclosures Requirements for publishing metadata to an ArcIMS Metadata Service Adding information required by the ArcIMS Metadata Service Publishing metadata to an ArcIMS Metadata Service Managing published metadata documents Changing a published document's properties Adding custom places to a Gazetteer Metadata Service Customizing metadata

Image and raster data management

Understanding raster data 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 About raster dataset properties Raster pyramids Raster dataset statistics Raster compression About reduced resolution dataset files About auxiliary files About proxy files Defining a raster's coordinate system Raster dataset colormaps Bit depth capacity for raster dataset cells NoData in raster datasets World files for raster datasets Designing a raster database 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 Serving raster data

Data support in ArcGIS

An overview of data support in ArcGIS Data formats supported in ArcGIS CAD data Coverages What is a coverage Summary of coverage feature classes Coverage resolution (precision) How coverages are stored Creating a new coverage Understanding and maintaining attributes in a coverage About fields (items) in coverage attribute tables Creating a new INFO table About the coverage extent Coverage tics Defining a coverage's coordinate system Coverage topology Coverage tolerances Coverage relationships and relationship classes Coverage data limitations Importing an ArcInfo interchange file (E00) NetCDF: multidimensional, time series data Shapefiles About shapefiles, dBASE tables, and file types Shapefile file extensions Creating new shapefiles and dBASE tables Adding and deleting fields in shapefiles Creating and updating indexes in shapefiles Defining a shapefile's coordinate system How to salvage a corrupt shapefile Terrains An overview of terrain datasets FAQs for terrain datasets Terrain dataset troubleshooting Known limitations of terrain datasets Understanding terrain datasets Properties of terrain datasets Building terrain datasets Managing terrain datasets Terrain analysis Terrain visualization

Extensions

Geocoding and address management

Linear referencing

Getting started with linear referencing Creating route feature classes An overview of creating route feature classes Creating route feature classes Defining the measure properties of your m coordinates Using existing linear features to create routes Creating routes from existing lines About calibrating route measures using points Calibrating routes with points Migrating route features to a geodatabase Accessing the Create Routes wizard Accessing the Calibrate Routes wizard Displaying and querying route feature classes Displaying and querying route events Editing routes An overview of editing routes Creating route features from existing lines Using ArcMap to calibrate routes with points About setting route measures Remeasuring routes Adding the Route Editing toolbar Creating and editing event data Working with route event data An overview of working with route event data About overlaying event data Overlaying events About aggregating event data Aggregating route events About transforming event measures Transforming event measures Accessing the Route Events Geoprocessing wizard

Network analysis

Mobile GIS

An overview of Mobile GIS ArcGIS Mobile integration GPS Tablet PC ArcPad integration An overview of ArcPad Adding the ArcPad toolbar About managing data in ArcPad Getting data for ArcPad Checking in edits from ArcPad Undoing a checkout for editing

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 An overview to using ArcGIS Server with ArcGIS Desktop About the roles of GIS end users, authors, developers, and administrators Types of services in ArcGIS Server Authoring and publishing services for ArcGIS Server Administering ArcGIS Server with ArcCatalog Creating and publishing web maps for ArcGIS Server An overview of Web GIS A framework for deploying Web GIS Web GIS concepts for GIS users Types of GIS map applications Steps for implementing GIS map applications How to build online base maps Building operational map layers Managing the performance of GIS mapping services Distributing maps, globes, and layers on the Web