ArcGIS for Desktop Cookbook: Over 60 hands-on recipes to help you become a more productive ArcGIS for Desktop user

Start ArcCatalog. Select Connect To Folder from the Standard toolbar. Go to <drive>:\PacktPublishing\Data, and click on OK.

In Catalog Tree, select <drive>:\PacktPublishing\Data, and right-click to choose New | Folder. Rename New Folder as MyGeodatabase.

In Catalog Tree, select MyGeodatabase, and right-click to choose New | New File Geodatabase. Rename New File Geodatabase.gdb as Topo5k.

Select ArcToolbox from the Standard toolbar. Go to Data Management Tools | Workspace, and double-click on the Create File GDB tool.

For File GDB Location, select Folder Connections, go to <drive>:\PacktPublishing\Data, and select the MyGeodatabase folder. For File GDB Name, type Topo5000. For File GDB Version (optional), select the CURRENT option to create a file geodatabase compatible with ArcGIS Version 10.2, and click on OK.

Start ArcCatalog. In Catalog Tree, go to <drive>:\PacktPublishing\Data\MyGeodatabase, and select Topo5k.gdb.

Right-click on Topo5k.gdb, and navigate to New | Feature Dataset for the Name type Buildings. Click on Next. Navigate to Projected Coordinate Systems | National Grids | Europe | Pulkovo 1942 Adj 1958 Stereo 1970. Select the active yellow star Add To Favorites to add the selected projected coordinate system to the Favorites section. You will use this projected coordinate system later in this book.

Click on Next. Navigate to Vertical Coordinate Systems | Europe | Constanta. Click on Next. Accept the XY, Z , and M tolerance values. Keep checked the option Accept default resolution and domain extent (recommended).

If you want to see the default values for resolution and domain extent, uncheck them and click on Next. Examine the default values, and click on the Finish button.

If you want to examine the default values for domain, resolution, and tolerance, right-click on Buildings feature datasets and navigate to the Properties | Domain, Resolution and Tolerance tabs.

Repeat the previous steps to create the following feature datasets: GeodeticPoints, Hydrography, LandUse, Relief, and Transportation, as shown in the following screenshot:

To inspect the results, return to the Feature Dataset Properties dialog.

Start ArcCatalog. In Catalog Tree, go to <drive>:\PacktPublishing\Data\MyGeodatabase\Topo5k.gdb.

Right-click on the Buildings feature dataset, and choose New | Feature Class. For Name, type Buildings and for Alias, type Buildings. For Type, choose Polygon Feature. Leave the Geometry Properties options unchecked. Click on Next. Select Default for the Configuration Keyword section. Click on Next. There are two default attribute fields: OBJECTID and SHAPE. You will create five new attribute fields: BD (Alias=Destination), BM (Alias=Material), Stories (Alias=Number of stories), BS (Alias=State of buildings) and LandUseID. For Field Name, in the first empty cell below SHAPE, type BD, and for Data Type, select Long Integer from the drop-down list. In the Field Properties section, for the Alias, type Destination and for Allow NULL values, select Yes. Leave empty the Default Value property. You will add the default value later on in this chapter. You should see something similar to the following screenshot:

Repeat step 2 for BM (Default Value: 0), Stories, and LandUseID.

For the BS attribute field, choose Text from the drop-down list. Notice that the Field Properties options have changed according to the data type. For Alias, type State of buildings, and for the Length property, type 4. Click on OK to close the Feature Class Properties dialog. To inspect the results, return to the Feature Class Properties dialog. Right-click on the Buildings feature class, and navigate to Properties | Fields. Notice the two geometry attribute fields: SHAPE_Length and SHAPE_Area.

Right-click on the Hydrography feature dataset, and navigate to New | Feature Class. For Name, type Watercourse, and for Alias, type Watercourse. For Type, choose Polygon Feature. Leave the Geometry Properties options unchecked. Click on Next. Select Default for the Configuration Keyword section. Click on Next, and add the following attribute fields:

Click on OK to close the Feature Class Properties dialog.

Right-click on the Hydrography feature dataset, and choose New | Feature Class. For Name, type WatercourseL and for Alias, type WatercourseL. For Type, choose Line Feature. Leave the Geometry Properties options unchecked. Click on Next. Select Default for the Configuration Keyword section. Click on Next. You will add field definitions by selecting the Import button. Navigate to Topo5k.gdb | Hydrography, and select the Watercourse polygon feature class. Click on Add. You now have two attribute fields: HType (Water category), HYC (Hydrologic category), along with Name. Click on OK.

Right-click on LandUse, and choose New | Feature Class. For Name, type LandUse and for Type, choose Polygon Feature. Click on Next twice, and add the following attribute fields:

Click on OK to close the Feature Class Properties dialog. Return to the Feature Class Properties dialog for every feature class to inspect the results.

Start ArcCatalog. In Catalog Tree, go to <drive>:\PacktPublishing\Data\MyGeodatabase\ Topo5k.gdb\Buildings.

Right-click on the Buildings feature class, and navigate to Properties | Fields. You will define five subtypes for the BD attribute field. Select the Subtypes tab in the Feature Class Properties window. For Subtype Field, select the drop-down arrow and choose BD. In the Subtypes section, you have a default subtype with Code with the value 0 and Description with the value New Subtype. Change Description of the first subtype by typing Unknown.

Continue to create subtypes as shown in the following table:

For Default Subtype, choose the Dwelling subtype. Click on Apply and on OK. Open the Feature Class Properties dialog for the Buildings feature class to check the subtypes you just added. Right-click on the Buildings feature class, and choose Properties | Subtypes. You should see something similar to the following screenshot:

In Catalog Tree, select the Hydrography feature dataset. Right-click on the Watercourse feature class, and choose Properties | Fields. Select the Subtypes tab in the Feature Class Properties window. You will define five subtypes for the HType attribute field. For Subtype Field select the drop-down arrow, choose HType, and add the following subtypes:

For Default Subtype choose the River subtype. Click on Apply and on OK. Open the Feature Class Properties dialog for the Watercourse feature class to check the subtypes you just added.

Repeat step 4 to create subtypes for the WatercourseL feature class using the same codes and descriptions.

Repeat step 4 to create subtypes for the LandUse feature class using the CAT (Description: Category) attribute field and the following subtypes:

For Default Subtype, choose the Arable subtype. Click on Apply and on OK. Open the Feature Class Properties dialog for the LandUse feature class to check the subtypes you just added.

Inspect the results in Subtypes in the Feature Class Properties dialog.

Start ArcCatalog. In Catalog Tree, go to <drive>:\PacktPublishing\Data\MyGeodatabase\Topo5k.gdb. Right-click on the Topo5k.gdb file geodatabase, and select Properties | Domains.

In the first cell from the Domain Name column, type dBM. For the Description column, type Building material. In the second section, Domain Properties, for the Field Type tab, choose Long Integer from the drop-down list. For Domain Type, select Coded Values from the drop-down list. For Split policy, select Duplicate and for Merge policy, leave Default Value. You will establish the default values later in this recipe. In the Coded Values section, add the following codes and descriptions:

To save changes, click on Apply from time to time. You should see something similar to the following screenshot:

Create a new domain named dStories with Description of Number of stories. In the Domain Properties section, for the Field Type option, choose Long Integer. For Domain Type, select Range from the drop-down list. For Minimum value, type 1, and for Maximum value, type 6. For Split policy, select Duplicate, and for Merge policy, leave Default Value.

Create a new domain named dState with Description: State of building. In the Domain Properties section, for the Field Type option, choose Text. For Domain Type, select Coded Values from the drop-down list. For Split policy, select Duplicate, and for Merge policy, leave Default Value. You will establish the default values later in this recipe. In the Coded Values section, add the following code and description:

To save changes, click on Apply from time to time.

The next domain is dHYC. For the Description column, type Hydrologic category. In the Domain Properties section, for the Field Type option, choose Long Integer. For Domain Type, select Coded Values from the drop-down list. For Split policy, select Duplicate, and for Merge policy, leave Default Value. In the Coded Values section, add the following code and description:

Create a last domain dUnkn. For the Description column, type Unknown Text. In the Domain Properties section, for the Field Type option, choose Text. For Domain Type, select Coded Values from the drop-down list. For Split policy, select Duplicate, and for Merge policy, leave Default Value. In the Coded Values section, you will add the code and description. For the Code column, type Unkn, and for Description, type Unknown.

Click on Apply to save changes. Click on OK to close the Database Properties window.

Right-click on Topo5k.gdb, and navigate to Properties | Domains to inspect the results.

Select ArcToolbox from the Standard toolbar. Navigate to Data Management Tools | Domains, and double-click on the Table To Domain tool. Set the following parameters:

Click on OK to close the Table To Domain dialog.

Open the Database Properties dialog for the Topo5k.gdb feature class to check the subtypes you just added. Repeat step 1 to add the dPasture, dMeadow, dVineyard, and dFruitOrchard domains.

Start ArcCatalog. In Catalog Tree, go to ...\Data\MyGeodatabase\ Topo5k.gdb\Buildings.

Right-click on the Buildings feature class, and navigate to Properties | Fields. Select the BD attribute field. In Field Properties, the Default Value field is 1 because Default Subtype is Dwelling with code with a value of 1. To see the subtypes, select the Subtypes tab. For every subtype, you will assign three different domains to the following fields: BM, Stories, and BS.

In the Subtypes section, select the Unknown subtype by clicking the small box on the left-hand side of the row with code the value of which is 0. The rows will become black. In the Default Values and Domains section, set the Default Value and Domain columns, as shown in the following screenshot:

The default value 0 for the BM field corresponds to the Unknown description. The default value 1 for the Stories field corresponds to a building with one storey. The default value b for the BS field corresponds to a Good state of building. Click on Apply to save changes.

Select the Dwelling subtype. In the Default Values and Domains section, set the Default Value and Domain columns, as shown in the following screenshot:

When you define values in the Default Value field, you must think what the most common value used for the Dwelling subtype is. For example, most of the dwellings are made of brick (domain code: 2). During an edit session, when a feature is added, split, or merged, the default value will be assigned to the attribute field value.

Continue to assign the same domains to the next four subtypes. Click on Apply and on OK to save and close the Feature Class Properties dialog.

In Catalog Tree, select the Hydrography feature dataset. Right-click on the Watercourse feature class, and navigate to Properties | Fields. Select the HType attribute field. In Field Properties, the Default Value field is 1 because the Default Subtype field is River, where Code is 1.

For every subtype, you will assign a single domain to the HYC attribute field. In the Subtypes section, select the Unknown subtype, and set the Default Value and Domain columns, as shown in the following screenshot:

Continue to assign values to the Default Values and Domain section for the rest of the subtypes, as shown in the following table:

Click on Apply and on OK to save and close the Feature Class Properties dialog.

In Catalog Tree, select the LandUse feature dataset. Right-click on the LandUse feature class, and navigate to Properties | Subtypes. You have 10 subtypes. For every subtype, you will assign a domain and a default value for the SCAT field, as shown in the following table:

Click on Apply and on OK to save and close the Feature Class Properties dialog.

In Catalog Tree, right-click on the LandUse feature dataset, and navigate to Import | Feature Class (single). For Input Features, go to ...\Data\TOPO5000.gdb\LandUse, and select the LandUse feature class. Click on Add. For Output Feature Class, type LandUseImport.

You will keep only two attribute fields: CAT (long) and SCAT (text). These fields are important because the first is a subtype field and the second field uses the subcategory domains for the Landuse feature class. You will delete all other attribute fields from the source feature class. In the Field Map (optional) section, select Zone (long), and select the X button on the right-hand side. Repeat the step for the remaining fields. Click on OK to close the Feature Class to Feature Class dialog.

Inspect the newly added domains in the Database Properties dialog for Topo5k.gdb. You now have five new domains: dForest, dHydrography, dTransportation, dOtherTerrains, and dUnproductive. Because you don't want to have a duplicate feature class, delete the LandUseImport feature class in ArcCatalog. The added domains still remain as file geodatabase properties.

Repeat step 12 from the How to do it... section to continue to add domains for the SCAT field, as shown in the following table:

Start ArcCatalog. In Catalog Tree, navigate to ...\Data\DesigningGeodatabase\Topo5k.gdb\LandUse.

Right-click on the LandUse feature dataset, and select New | Relationship Class. For Name of the relationship class, type LandUseToOwners. For Origin table/feature class, select the plus sign on the left-hand side of the LandUse feature dataset to see the LandUse feature class. Select the LandUse feature class. For Destination table/feature class, select the Owners table. Click on Next.

Select Simple (peer to peer) relationship, and click on Next. For the first relationship label, type ToOwners. For the second relationship label, type ToLandUse. Select the None (no messages propagated) option, and click on Next. Select the cardinality M-N (many-to-many) and click on Next. Select Yes, I would like to add attributes to this relationship class, and click on Next.

For FieldName, type OwnerProcent in the first empty row. Select Long Integer from the drop-down list. Select Yes for the Allow NULL values option, in the Field Properties section. As the primary key for the origin table, choose OBJECTID from the drop-down list, and as the foreign key, type LandUseID. As the primary key for the origin table, choose OBJECTID, and for foreign key, type OwnerID.

Click on Next to see a summary of your options, and select Finish to close the New Relationship Class wizard.

Right-click on the Buildings feature dataset, and select the New | Relationship Class. For Name of the relationship class, type BuildingsRToOwners. Repeat the previous steps, and set the relationship according to the following table:

Follow these steps to create a composite one-to-many relationship class between LandUse (as parent objects) and BuildingsR (as child objects):

Right-click on the LandUse feature dataset, and select New | Relationship Class. For Name of the relationship class, type LandUseToBuildings. For Origin table/feature class, select the LandUse feature class. For Destination table/feature class, select the plus sign on the left-hand side of the Buildings feature dataset, and select the BuildingsR feature class.

Click on Next. Select Composite relationship (peer to peer) relationship and click on Next.

For the first relationship label, type ToBuildingsR. For the second relationship label, type ToLandUse. Select the Forward (origin to destination) option and click on Next. Select the cardinality 1-M (one-to-many), and click on Next.

Select NO, I do not want to add attributes to this relationship class and click on Next.

As the primary key, choose OBJECTID from the drop-down list, and as the foreign key, choose LandUseID.

Click on Next to see a summary of your options, and select Finish to close the New Relationship Class wizard.

Follow these steps to add rules for the LandUseToBuildings relationship class:

In ArcCatalog, double-click on the LandUseToBuildings relationship class to open a Relationship Class Properties dialog box. Select the Rules tab to see the subtypes for the LandUse and BuildingsR feature classes. You will define relationship rules, as shown in the following table:

For Origin Table/Feature class subtypes, select Other terrains. For Destination Table/Feature class subtypes, click on the Code checkbox on the left-hand side of the Unknown subtype. Click on Unknown to select the subtype and to enable the Origin Cardinality and Destination Cardinality sections.

In the Destination Cardinality section, check the Specify the range of associated destination objects option. First, set the Max value by typing 10. Leave the Min value at 0.

For Destination Table/Feature class subtypes, click on the Code checkbox to the left of the Dwelling subtype. Click on Dwelling to select subtype and to enable the Origin Cardinality and Destination Cardinality sections.

In the Destination Cardinality section, check the Specify the range of associated destination objects option. First, set the Max value by typing 2. Leave the Min value at 0 according to the previous table. The first rule says that an Other terrains parcel subtype can have a maximum of two dwellings. You should see something similar to the following screenshot:

Select the Administrative buildings subtype, and check the Specify the range of associated destination objects option. For the Max value, type 3. For the Min value, type 0. This rule says that there must be between zero and three administrative buildings in a parcel (Other terrains).

Continue to define the rules in Destination Table/Feature class subtypes for all building subtypes. For Origin Table/Feature class subtypes, select Unproductive. Leave unchecked the Unknown subtypes in the Destination Table/Feature class subtypes section to allow an unlimited number of Unknown buildings.

You will permit a maximum of two Industrial and municipal buildings and one Dwelling annex per Unproductive parcel. Select those subtypes from the Destination Table/Feature class subtypes section, and set the maximum value according to the previous table.

Finally, you will not permit a relationship with the rest of building types, such as Dwelling, Administrative buildings, and Historical sites. Select all those subtypes from the Destination Table/Feature class subtypes section, check the Specify the range of associated destination objects option, and set the maximum values to 0.

For the rest of the LandUse subtypes from Origin Table/Feature class subtypes, set the Max and Min values to 0. This will not permit BuildingsR to associate with parcel subtypes, such as Arable, Pasture, Meadow, Vineyard, Fruit orchard, Forest, Hydrography, and Transportation.

Click on Apply and on OK to save and close the Relationship Class Properties wizard.

Start ArcMap, and open an existing map document WorkingRelationships.mxd from ...\Data\DesigningGeodatabase. In Table Of Contents, you have two layers (BuildingsR and LandUse), two intermediate tables (LandUseToOwners and BuildingsRToOwners), and one non-spatial table, Owners.

Let's validate the relationship rules for the LandUseToBuildings composite relationship. Zoom in to the full extent of a map by selecting Full Extent in the Standard toolbar. Relationships are active and can be validated during an edit session.

In the Editor toolbar, select Start Editing. Select all features from BuildingsR and LandUse using the Select Features tool.

In the Editor toolbar, navigate to Editor | Validate Features. A message box will appear: 72 features are invalid. Click on OK to close. All invalid features are selected.

Open the Attributes window by selecting the Attributes button in the Editor toolbar. You will see two layers: BuildingsR and LandUse. Select Expand All Relationships In Branch to see all selected features (blue bullets), related tables, and table records.

Let's inspect a relationship error. Click on Bookmarks and choose Error2. With the Select Features tool, select the Others terrains parcel with LandUseID=1262. In the Attributes window, expand the LandUse layer. You should see something similar to the following screenshot:

Right-click on LandUse, and navigate to Selection | Open Table Showing Selected Feature to see the LandUse attribute table in the Show selected records mode. Navigate to Table Options | Related Tables, and choose LandUseToBuildingsR: ToBuildingsR. In the Editor toolbar, navigate to Editor | Validate Features. A message box will appear: The feature LandUse(subtype:Other terrains) has 4 related BuildingsR (subtype:Dwelling) features, thus violating the LandUseToBuildings relationships rule that specifies 0-2. Click on OK to close.

To fix the error, delete two buildings. Select the parcel and the remaining buildings and validate features once again. The message box will tell you: All features are valid.

Let's check the feature following and cascade deleting behaviors of the LandUseToBuildings composite relationship. With the Select Features tool, select the Other terrains parcel with LandUseID=1262. In the Editor toolbar, select Edit Tool. Drag the parcel away from the previous location. The related buildings should follow the parcel. Select Rotate Tool. Rotate the parcel. The building should rotate, too. Delete the parcel using the Delete key. The buildings are deleted, too. Restore the features using Ctrl + Z.

In the Editor toolbar, select Editor | Stop Editing, and save your edit. Select File | Save as to save your map document.