Exploring data in Geography view
Release 9.3 Last modified May 9, 2012	Print all topics in : "Exploring an item's geography"

About exploring data in Geography view

Note: This topic was updated for 9.3.1.

When the selected item in the Catalog tree contains geographic data, you can preview that data without having to create a map—choose Geography view from the drop-down list on the Preview tab. In Geography view, each feature in a vector dataset, each cell in a raster dataset, or each triangle in a TIN dataset is displayed. Explore the data using buttons on the Geography toolbar.




You can zoom in and out, pan around to see different areas, or reset the display to draw the entire dataset. With the Identify tool, you can click a feature, raster cell, or TIN triangle and see a list of its attributes.

How to explore data in Geography view

Zooming in on a data source

1. Click the Zoom In button on the Geography toolbar.
   
2. Drag a box over an area to see it in detail, or click an area to center it in the display; it will zoom in by 10 percent.
   
After you zoom in, the scale of the displayed features is larger.

Tips

At any time while you are previewing geographic data, you can press the Esc key to stop drawing the data. Zooming out on a dataset is the exact opposite of zooming in. After clicking the Zoom Out button , click or drag a box over the dataset. If you want to see a dataset's entire contents, click the Full Extent button on the Geography toolbar. Before zooming in on a data source, you must be in Geography view. Choose Geography from the drop-down list on the Preview tab.

Panning around a data source

1. Click the Pan button on the Geography toolbar.
   
2. Drag the geographic data in the display and drop it in a new location. After panning, you'll see the features in a new geographic area.
   

Tips

At any time while you are previewing geographic data, you can press the Esc key to stop drawing the data. If you want to see a dataset's entire contents, click the Full Extent button on the Geography toolbar. Before panning around a data source, you must be in Geography view. Choose Geography from the drop-down list on the Preview tab.

Identifying geographic data

1. Click the Identify button on the Geography toolbar.
   
2. Click the feature, raster cell, or TIN triangle whose attributes you want to see.
   
The feature flashes or the cell or triangle is singled out, and the Identify Results window appears, listing its attributes.

Tips

As you move the cursor around the canvas, the ArcCatalog status bar shows you the coordinates of the cursor’s location. To use the Identify button , you must be in Geography view. Choose Geography from the drop-down list on the Preview tab.

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