Scribd
Upload
10 views

Creating and Editing A New Shape File

Uploaded by

nourawadsaadalla66
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
10 views

Creating and Editing A New Shape File

Uploaded by

nourawadsaadalla66
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 6

Tufts GIS Center

Creating and Editing a


New Shapefile
Written by Barbara Parmenter, revised October 1, 2011

CREATING AND EDITING A NEW SHAPEFILE ........................................................................................................... 1


CREATING THE GEOGRAPHIC FEATURE (POINT, LINE, OR POLYGON) ..................................................................... 1
CREATING THE ATTRIBUTE TABLE .......................................................................................................................... 1
STARTING THE METADATA DOCUMENTATION ...................................................................................................... 2
ADDING AND EDITING GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND ATTRIBUTES IN ARCMAP ..................................................... 4
CREATING A NEW GEOGRAPHIC FEATURE IN ARCMAP: ......................................................................................... 4

Before you start the process of physically creating a new data layer, you need to have thought through
the data design issues for both the geographic part (point, line, polygon?) and the attribute table (what
information do you need in the table, will you use codes, what type will each field be, how long does
each field need to be, what will be the field name, taking account of the 11 character constraint, plus no
spaces).

Creating the geographic feature (point, line, or polygon)


First, create a new shape file in ArcCatalog by using the File-New menu. Note that you must already
have navigated to a folder in which you have permission to create new files (i.e. not the M: Drive),
otherwise when you choose File-New, there will be no options for shapefile.
When you choose File-New, you must specify a new shapefile name and feature type (point, line, or
polygon). You should also specify a coordinate system by pressing the Edit... button. If you are creating a
shapefile in the same coordinate system as Massachusetts data, the coordinate system should be State
Plane - NAD83 (meters) – Massachusetts Mainland. You can specify this either by pressing Edit, then
Select, then choose Projected Coordinate Systems, then navigate to the desired coordinate system. Or
you can press Edit, then Import, then navigate to an existing shape file from MassGIS for which the
coordinate system is specified.

Creating the attribute table


The creation of the attribute table for a new shapefile is separate from the creation of the shapefile
itself. Once you have created the shapefile as described above, you need to find that shapefile in
ArcCatalog.

In ArcCatalog, right-click on the new shapefile and choose Properties


Click on the Fields tab and add your new fields. For any fields you add, you will need to name the field
(maximum of 11 characters, no spaces, or special characters), define the field type, and depending on
the type, define the other field properties of that field (e.g., length - make sure the length is long enough
to fit your longest value). You can add to these later, but this is the easiest place to set up a table. It is a

1
Tufts GIS Center

good idea to put in an area field (make the type double, a kind of numeric field type) and any other
fields you know you will need.

Starting the Metadata documentation


Now is the best time to start your metadata documentation. While still in ArcCatalog, click on your new
shapefile, then on its description tab (to the right of Contents and Preview). For a new shapefile, no
information is given in the metadata. You will switch the metadata data to FGDC template (For more
information on this metadata style
http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisdesktop/10.0/help/index.html#//003t00000008000000)

1) First, in the Customize pull-down, select ArcCatalog Options.


2) In the Options window, click on the Metadata tab and choose FGDC CSDGM Metadata style in the
pull-down.

3) Left-click onto the Edit icon to start creating the metadata for the shapefile.

Use the Table of Contents (TOC) on the left to navigate through the metadata. Start with the Item
Description and fill in the essential information such as title, tags (keywords), summary and
description.

2
Tufts GIS Center

Next go to 1) Fields in the TOC to give a definition to your new fields and code definitions (domain
values). 2) Click on Attribute to populate each variable with needed information, such as label and
definition of the variable.

For each attribute, you can define the domain as well. This means defining the kinds of values
permitted, e.g., a set of specific codes that you have created (enumerated domain), a range of values
from minimum to maximum (range domain), the use of an existing standard code (codeset domain), or
specifying that the values cannot be defined in advance (unrepresentable domain).

3
Tufts GIS Center

If you know the data source you are using you can go to Data Quality and define the data source. The
process steps are also defined under Data Quality.
When you are done, press Save and check out your work. You can view it either in ESRI stylesheet
format or the FGDC format or the FGDC FAQ format.

Adding and editing geographic features and attributes in ArcMap


You can now add the new (empty) shapefile to ArcMap to begin the actual digitizing process. Nothing
will show on the map because there are no features in the shape file yet.

Once you have added the shapefile, make the Editor toolbar visible (choose Tools-Editor Toolbar).
Follow the instructions in ArcGIS Desktop Help or the digital manual for Editing in ArcMap - creating new
features. Always remember to look at the Editor toolbar to make sure you are performing the right task
(e.g., creating a new feature) in the correct shape file.

Creating a new geographic feature in ArcMap:


 Open ArcMap
 Add the new shape file you just created
 Bring up the Editor toolbar by choosing Customize-Toolbar-Editor or clicking on the editor icon

 In the Editor toolbar pull-down, chooseStart Editing. The file you want to edit is your new
shapefile. A new window opens on the right appears called Create Features.
 You are now ready to create the new feature. To do this, 1) select the layer you want to work
with in the Create Features window. 2) In the bottom panel Construction Tools new options
appear. In this case, we are make a Polygon, so left-click on that option.

4
Tufts GIS Center

 Place the cursor on the map where you want to begin your new polygon feature - you should
see a circle with a cross-hair in it, and click once. Then go to the next point that defines your
polgyon and click again. Continue doing this until you are almost back to the last point. To close
the polygon, double-click on the next-to-last point, or press F2 after the next-to-last point. If you
get messed up, you can either double-click to finish, and then press the Delete key on the
keyboard, or you can right-click and choose Delete Sketch. It may take a few attempts to get it
right.

A completed polygon in an edit sketch - the blue


Adding vertices to a polygon in an edit sketch - add as outline indicates that it is selected, so if you
few points as you need to define the polygon don't like it, you can press the delete key on the
keyboard

5
Tufts GIS Center

 When you have a boundary polygon complete for your area, Click on the Editor toolbar’s Editor
and choose Save Edits.

 You can add attribute information at this point or later. To add it now, click on the Attributes

icon in the Editor Toolbar :


 This opens a box on the far right with the selected feature’s attributes available for editing – you
can click and type in the added fields.

 Be sure to save your edits again when finished (Editor – Save Edits)
 Get out of editing mode by choosing Editor-Stop Editing

You might also like