DIRE DAWA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF SURVEYING ENGINEERING

Chapter IV Basics and Principles of Desktop Mapping 2015/2016

Chapter IV Basics and principles of Desktop Mapping
4.1. Introduction
Basics of mapmaking
Cartography can be described as the graphic principles supporting the art, science, or
techniques used in making maps or charts. It was developed in a time before the computer and
GIS. Thus we often have a paper-centered view of mapping. However, throughout its
development (which continues) many critical principles have been established to advance
cartography such as Jacques Bertin’s visual variables for symbology: size, value, texture, color,
orientation and form. He defined these variables to assist someone in representing one symbol
differently from another. Traditionally maps have been created to serve two main functions.
a). The first function has been to store information. Creating a map has been a way to record
information for future reference.
b).The second function has been to provide a picture to relay spatial information to a user.
MAP is a holistic representation and intellectual abstraction of geographical reality, intended
to be communicated for a purpose or purposes, transferring relevant geographical data into an
end produce.Cartographic (map) design is a complex task. It has Unlimited options (16 million
colours, many kinds of lines and symbols).A good map makes it easy for a reader to acquire
your intended information by:
 Depicting data effectively
 Reflecting the relative importance of features
 Reducing distraction

Map Types
There are several general categories of map types.

General Purpose Maps

 Does not emphasize one type of feature over another.
 Focuses on a geographic location
 Shows a variety of geographical phenomena and present a general picture of the area.
 Used for reference, planning, and location
 The state or regional maps in an atlas are of this type
 Topographic maps are general-purpose maps
Examples of general-purpose maps:

 road/planimetric
 topographic
 atlas

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 cadastral/property
 facility/engineering
 site plan/map
 orthophoto map lunar/planetary

Special Purpose Maps

Created for a very specific type of user
Geologic, soil, and cadastral maps are included here
Usually large scale (showing a small area and much detail), and the user is usually familiar
with the subject
Navigation maps, which include all types of maps created for route finding, such as
aeronautical charts, nautical charts, and road maps.

Thematic Maps
 Feature only a single distribution or relationship, and other information shown (base data)
serves only as a spatial background or framework to help locate the distribution being mapped.
 They are used to display the spatial pattern of a particular theme or attribute.
 As mentioned, these types of maps are primarily a product of the 19 th century. They are now
commonly used in atlases as an adjunct to the general maps.
 Thematic maps are the primary map type seen in newspapers, journals, reports, and textbooks.
 Types of thematic maps include:
 Choropleth: portrayal of a statistical surface by areal symbols
 Dot maps
 Proportional symbol maps
 Isometric map
In general there are many kinds of maps, each with general and possibly specific requirements.
While a skilled cartographer is usually required to make maps with specific or special
requirements, anyone can make good general and informative maps by considering basic
mapping principle guidelines.

Cartographic design principles

There are four basic principles to consider during the cartographic design process:
• Legibility.
• Visual contrast.
• Borders and neatlines.
• Hierarchical organisation of layers.
I. Symbols and symbol sets/ Legibility
A symbol is a graphic pattern that is used to represent a feature on a map
• Marker symbol à points and nodes (.mrk)
• Line symbols à arcs (.lin)
• Shade symbols à polygons (.shd)
• Text à annotation (.txt)

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Symbol sets
Each symbol must be programmed individually, so GIS software packages usually supply the
user with predefined symbol sets that can be edited and customized .Map symbols must be
legible to the reader. For example, lines representing roads need to be clearly differentiated
from lines representing rivers. Circular points symbolising settlements must be clearly
different from points symbolising traffic monitoring locations. Map feature labels, should be
easily read by the map user within the context that the map is designed for.

Descriptive text is used to give a map its title, to explain the legends and label features.

Text characteristics:
 Family Arial vs Helvetica
 Style (face) bold vs italic
 Font 32 point vs 48 point
 Color black vs blue
Text stored as either:
(a) Symbols of a coverage
(b) Annotation coverage
II. Visual contrast/ Use of color
Thematic maps in which map symbols represent data should have good contrast with other map
features so that attention is drawn to contrasting shapes and colours. The layer or theme that
contains the important data should stand out from the background or other layers. The role of
the mapmaker is to ensure the reader’s eye is drawn to the features that define the map’s
purpose, and is not confused with other less important information.
Use of color
The primary function of color is to make information on a map visually distinguishable
Dimensions of color
Hue à dominant wavelength (i.e., color)
Value à how light or dark a given hue is
Saturation à purity of hue (range of reflected wavelengths
 Hue is generally used to indicate qualitative (nominal) differences across the map area

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 Value and saturation are typically used to represent quantitative (ordinal, interval, or
ratio) differences across the map area.It is impossible to exactly replicate colors shown on
soft-copy and hard-copy since monitor colors are created by additive mixing and printer
colors are created by subtractive mixing
III.Borders and neatlines
The use of borders and neatlines can aid overall presentation and give a map a professional
finish. Borders can be placed around the whole map and/or around other elements (e.g. the
IV. Hierarchical organization/ Map-to-page transformation
A well-presented map is not a jumble of features but an intentionally organised series of
geographic layers. Most spatial information system and mapping applications enable the
mapmaker to establish a hierarchical organization of features between thematic layers. When
carried out correctly, a typical layering hierarchy will involve raster data (e.g. satellite image or
digital elevation grid) on the bottom layer, polygon layers above this, then line and point themes
on the top. Ordering can also occur within a single theme or layer. For example, with road
classifications different line widths and styles can be assigned to represent local roads, state
roads or federal highways. In this situation, the ability to illustrate such features is dependent on
the data source (i.e. the road dataset must have attribute coding that differentiates road type).
Hierarchical organisation (or ordering) also applies to layers of the same type. For example,
when dealing with line themes in mountainous country the mapmaker may position contours
under creeks, which in turn are lower than roads in the hierarchy. Note: exceptions may occur,
for example, when dealing with thematic maps. The subject layer can often be at the top, even
though it may be a polygon (e.g. fire scars) or when dealing with very sparse or discrete
polygons (e.g. swamp polygons may override contour lines and drainage to illustrate that a
creek drains into the swamp).
Map-to-page transformation
 Physical page à actual surface of display medium
 Graphics page à portion of physical page where map is drawn
 Map limits à portion of graphics page where coverage features are drawn
 Map extent à area of the earth’s surface to be displayed (in actual ground units)

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Cartographic Objectives mainly sticks on
 Map Objectives (Why?)
 Design Objectives (How?)
 Issues of Detail and Symbology
 Colours/Special Effects
 Legibility of Symbols and Text
Map Objectives (Why?)
• Highlight spatial relationships
• Illustrate analysis results
• Convey information
• Easier comprehension of complex events
Design Objectives (How?)
Producing a map that is simple, clear, uncomplicated and pleasing to the eye requires planning,
and above all it has to convey the information in the correct manner. When a user requests a
map to assist making a decision, it is important that the map reflects what the user wants to see.
For example, if the issue is to display council ward boundaries and town planning scheme zones,
the first thing the user should note when viewing the map are the zones and ward boundaries,
and then any other information. Note: when viewed from a cartographic perspective, it is
important that GIS people are aware of the basic elements of graphic design as well as where
and how to apply them.
• Fulfil communication objectives
• Assign meaningful symbology
• Fulfil map objectives
• Ensure truthful depiction of reality
Issues of Detail and Symbology
How much detail should we include?
 Depends on generalisation and scale
E.g. Small scale – not interested in detail
What symbols should we use?
 Qualitative: Can vary colour, shape, texture, pattern
• Patterns: repetitive type of symbol used for areas (e.g. swamps)

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 Quantitative
• Shading / intensity
• Size of symbols
Colours/Special Effects
 How many should we use?
 A maximum of 12 different colours
 A maximum of 7 to 8 shades
 Employ patterns/textures/text if you need more categories
 Consider how the map will be disseminated
 Colour on screen (16.7 million) different from printer (256 colours)
 Avoid special effects:
 squares of black and white/lines – 50% - vibration effect
 same shading on two different backgrounds
 use of lines (diagonal, vertical) as they imply directionality
Legibility of Symbols and Text
 Size of symbols?
• Have to know what your map is being used for
 At which distance will the map be viewed?
 Text issues?
• Text colour vs background colour (to get a good contrast)
• Uppercase vs lowercase (use a combination )
• No fancy fonts / avoid mixing font types
 Perfect vision?
• Not everyone has this – not too crowded, enough contrast between
background and symbols, background + text
 Perception threshold = legibility of smallest detail
• Line thickness should not be less than .1 mm
• Points: 0.5 mm for points
 Separation threshold = distinction between adjacent features
• > 0.2mm e.g. road and rail road line

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 Differentiation threshold = smallest difference between the nearest same size symbols,
e.g. proportional symbols – can do this by artificially making symbols larger to increase
the contrast.
Steps to Create a Map
Define the Purpose of the map
– Audience?
– How will map be used?
Restatement into a design problem
Visualization to Creation
Design solution - arrangement of map’s image elements to facilitate communication
– Sort of an outline
Graphic design

Maps show more than the Earth's surface

 The term "map" is often used in mathematics to convey the notion of transferring
information from one form to another, just as cartographers transfer information from
the surface of the Earth to a sheet of paper
 The term "map" is used loosely to refer to any visual display of information, particularly
if it is abstract, generalized or schematic

Cartographic abstraction :Production of a map requires:

 selection of the few features in the real world to include

 classification of selected features into groups (i.e. bridges, churches, railways)
 simplification of jagged lines like coastlines
 exaggeration of features to be included that are to small to show at the scale of
the map
 symbolization to represent the different classes of features chosen

4.2. Extent/Size, Scale, Media, Focus, Integrity, Balance and Components

A map extent defines the geographic boundaries for displaying GIS information within a data
frame. These boundaries contain top, bottom, left, and right coordinates. These are the edges of
the map extent.ArcMap provides a number of options in which you can control a map's extent.
These include

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 Automatic
 Fixed Extent
 Fixed Scale
 Other Data Frame

Automatic

This is the default option. This option places no restrictions on map navigation. You can freely
pan, zoom, or use bookmarks. If you change the data frame size on the layout, the map extent
and scale will change as the data frame changes.

Fixed Extent

This option keeps the map extent constant. The geographic boundaries of the map, the top,
bottom, left, and right coordinates, are specifically defined. These values should be in map
units.There are four ways that you can set a fixed extent. You can use

 The current extent of the data frame

 The combined extent of all the features in a specific layer
 The combined extent of all the features in a specific layer visible in the current map
extent
 The combined extent of all selected features in a specific layer.

Map navigation is restricted for this data frame. If you choose this option, appropriate map
navigation tools and commands will be disabled. If you resize the data frame on the page layout,
the map scale will change to keep the extent constant. If you resize the data frame on the page
layout, the map scale will change. The geographic area displayed in the map does not change.

Fixed Scale

This option keeps the map scale constant. Enter the scale you wish to use. You can enter the
scale in absolute format, such as 1:34,000, or in relative format, such as 1 inch = 5 miles.You
can pan the map to a new location, but you cannot zoom to a new map scale. If you resize the

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data frame on the page layout, the map scale will remain. The geographic area displayed in the
map will change.

Other Data Frame

This option derives the map extent for the data frame by taking the current geographic extent of
a different, specified data frame. If you want, you can buffer this extent by a specified margin.
The margin can be specified in map units, in page units, or as a percentage of the other data
frame’s extent. You can also use intersection of specified layer features (from the data frame
whose extent you are customizing) with the extent of the selected (other) data frame. There are a
number of ways in which you can use this option. The margin is measured from the edge of the
selected data frame's geographic extent to the closest edge of the data frame whose properties
you are editing. The margin value is applied to each side of the horizontal and vertical axes.
Since the aspect ratio (width/height) of the two data frames are not the same, the 0.1 margin is
only applied along one axis. The margin will be larger along the other axis. The size of the
difference depends on the difference in aspect ratio. If the two data frames share the same aspect
ratio, the margin along the vertical and horizontal axes will be the same. If you use map units,
you will see similar results.

Map Extent options and their Effect on Map Navigation

There are many ways in which you can navigate your map. Map extent options affect your
ability to navigate your map. Extent indicators are a way to show the extent of one data frame
within another data frame.

Focus—Refers to where the designer wishes the map reader to first focus. Typically cool colors
(blues, greens, and light gray) are used for background information, and warm colors (red,
yellow, black) are used to capture the reader’s attention.
Integrity—you may want to cross-validate some of your information, such as the names or
spelling of some features. And if the data was produced by another organization, it is often
customary to give that organization credit on the map.
Balance—how does your map look on the page or screen? Are the parts of the map properly
aligned? The body of the map should be the dominant element. Try to avoid large open spaces.

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Be flexible in where you place elements (for example, not all titles need to go at the top). Should
some components on the map be contained within a border?
Map composition
Most spatial information system and mapping applications have a range of composition tools
that are available for making maps. A good understanding of them is required in order to
produce a streamlined and efficient map production system.
 Map layout design
 Geographical contents
 Label placement
a).Map layout design
Cartography is both a science and an art; therefore subjectivity and creativity play an important
role in the aesthetic quality of a map.
b).Geographic contents
Elements to be included are governed by:
 Map theme i.e., land use
 Map coverage Dire Dawa vs. Harer
 Map scale level of generalization
Geographic contents to be considered:
• Visual balance à location/proportionality
• Visual clarity à generalization
• Visual hierarchy à font & symbol size
• Visual contrast à use of color and shading
• Context à selection of data layers
• Text à annotation of features
c) Label placement
• Good label placement ensures readability and enables the reader to associate labels with
the map elements that they describe.
• Guideline for automated placement of labels

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Cartographic generalization
Why?
When?
How?
I. Why?
When geographic data are gathered at a scale that is larger than the scale at which they
are presented, it is necessary to reduce the complexity of the data to make the resulting
map more aesthetically pleasing. Generalization ensures that geographic data are
presented at a scale appropriate to the purpose of the map and the application
requirements of the user.
II. How?
Simplification
Smoothing
Aggregation
Amalgamation
Merging
Collapse
Refinement
Typification
Exaggeration
Displacement
Classification
III.When?
 Congestion: too many features in too little space
 Coalescence: features touch due to inadequate symbolization
 Conflict: feature symbol incompatible with background
 Complication: data from different sources or at different scales or levels of
tolerance
 Inconsistency: Generalization applied in a nonuniform fashion across map
 Imperceptibility: Feature falls below minimum resolution of map

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4.3. Map elements (DOGSTAILS)
Map element has a name used to identify the element. By default, the name is based on
the element type, such as Scale Line or North Arrow, but you can change it to a unique or
more descriptive name on the Size and Position tab of the element's Properties dialog box.
Basic set of map elements
 Title.
 Legend.
 Scale.
 Production Date.
 Body of map.
 North arrow.
 Projection Used.
 Borders and neatlines
 Symbols
 Graticude and grides
 Place name and labels
 Credits

Map Title

Used to show what the map is map of. The map title should be short and concise. It should
precisely say what is displayed in the map. The map title is usually placed above the mapped
area. It is better to use a main and a subtitle instead of one long main title. The map title should
have the largest type size of any text on the map. It can be all in upper case or in upper and
lower case letters. Title is One of the most essential feature.Captions usually take the place of
titles in maps .title should be comprehensive: Avoid things such as “Map of…”.Avoid long
descriptions. “A map of the students increment in DDIT between 2000 E.C and 2007 E.C
displayed by province.

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Map Legend

The map legend clearly explains the symbols used to represent geographic features on the map.
A legend does not necessarily need to include every symbol used in the map. For example, most
map readers understand that wavy blue lines represent a river. The major symbols or themes
however should always be prominent in the legend. Legend explains all graphic representations
from the mapped area. Symbols in the legend should look exactly as they appear in the mapped
area (same size, color, etc.). You should always look for a key alongside the map to help
understand how different features have been coded. Sometimes roads are coded different
colours to explain whether they’re motorways, major roads or dirt tracks. Make sure you have a
key so that if there’s something you don’t understand, you should find it there. Legend should be
placed on an empty part of a map to create some balance.
Map scale (Distance)

Maps present a view of geography that is smaller than the real world, and as such it is necessary
to note the scale of the map on the final map product. Map Scale is the relationship between
distance on the map and distance on the ground. This relationship is usually expressed in the
form of Verbal, numeric and graphic scale. Graphic form is often preferred: Because of
ubiquitous nature of Xerox machines the graphic scale is a must, the others are optional. Scale
is A MUST!.Scale can be shown as a unit measure (e.g. 1:50 000) or as a graphic scale bar.
Maps of a scale of 1:50 000 and less are considered large-scale maps, whereas maps of a scale
of 1:500 000 or greater are classed as small-scale maps. Large-scale maps generally show more
geographic detail than small-scale maps.
Map Production date

Several maps are time sensitive. The reader must thus know when the map was produced to
understand its context. It Illustrates how old is the information, and thus its accuracy. For some
maps, the year is all what is needed. For maps, such as weather maps, the time precision can
go up to the minute.
Body of map
Shows the graphic representation of the cultural and physical environment.

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North arrows /direction

Most spatial information system and mapping applications enable a north arrow or compass to
be included on the map document. Depending on the map’s extent and projection, the
geographic north may be directly at the top of a page or slightly to the right or left of the top.
North arrows indicate the orientation of the map. A north arrow element maintains a connection to a
data frame. When that data frame is rotated, the north arrow element will rotate with it. North arrow can
be:
 Conventional North
The top of the map is the True North that is the direction of the North Pole. If the top
of the map is not the true north, an arrow indicating the direction of the true north should be
placed on the map.
 Magnetic North
Changing according to the geophysical conditions of the earth’s crust and core. Navigation
maps both contain the magnetic north and the true north. Compass readings show the
magnetic north and adjustments are made to find the true north.

Projection Used

Projection used Influences the representation of area, distance and direction. An

experienced cartographer can identify the projection simply by looking at the map. Choose
the appropriate projection for the mapping context. Some projections are incompatible
with some representations. The projection used should be indicated on the map if precision
is important. For several thematic maps, projection is factual. Projection is mandatory for
maps to be used in the digitizing process.
Borders and neatlines
 Borders serve to restrain eye movement and focus attention on the map. A
Border surrounds all the elements of a map.
 Neatlines are:
• finer than borders
• drawn inside borders

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• Mainly decoration or Used to frame a map and to clearly indicate where
it begins and ends. Also used to clip some area out of a locator, inset or
index map.

Symbols

 can be actual symbols (style of city point) and/or colors and patterns
 Most important part of map. if user does not know what the symbolization is the
map is useless
 Designer has little control over placement (location should be as accurate as
possible given scale) but can control size and color
Graticule & Grids
 Graticule – geographic coordinates
 Often omitted
 useful if location info is important and there are no features like roads or
steams
 Or if you need to fill space with something
Place names and labels
 Primary means of communicating to user
 Orients user on map (similar to Graticule)
 Can provide important info re map purpose

Copyright, source and publisher statements/ Credits

A source statement informs users of where the map data originated and at what scale the data
was captured. A publisher statement identifies who produced the map and when the current
version was printed. A copyright statement identifies any copyright details. As part of best
practice procedures it is important that copyright information is included.
Credits
 older, term for metadata
 Some metadata can be placed on map
a).Data source
 It is widely acknowledged that approximately 90% of the time invested in a typical
spatial
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 Information project involves the capturing or building of the geographic data.
b).Statement of accuracy, both spatial and attribute
c).Date data collected, date map made
d).Your name, assignment # etc…

Include map sources, map producer, publishing date, data collection methods, information about
the map projection, and other explanatory notes, etc. This information is also referred to as
metadata.

A general rule for map elements

 The most important elements should be on the top left.
 The least important elements should be on the bottom right.
4.4. Draw Features in Categories
A category describes a set of features with the same attribute value. For example, given
parcel data with an attribute describing land use, such as residential, commercial, and
public areas, you can use a different symbol to represent each land use. Drawing features
this way allows you to map features and to which category they belong. This can be useful
if you're targeting a specific type of feature for an action or policy. For instance, a city
planner might use the land-use map to target areas for redevelopment. This multivariate
map shows the level of human impact on the natural landscape of the world. Major
habitat types can be shown with unique colors, and the level of disturbance for each
habitat can be shown with a graduated symbol. The larger the symbol, the higher the
human impact is on the particular habitat. How to draw features showing both categories
and quantities

1. Right-click the layer you want to draw showing multiple attributes in the table of
contents and click Properties.
2. Click the Symbology tab.
3. Click Multiple attributes. ArcMap automatically selects the Quantity by category option.
4. Click the first Value Field drop-down arrow and click the field that contains the values
you want to map.
5. Click the Color Scheme drop-down arrow and click a color scheme.
6. Click Add All Values.
7. Click Symbol Size or Color Ramp, depending on how you want to symbolize the
quantitative value.

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This example uses Symbol Size.

8. Click the Value drop-down arrow and click the quantitative value you want to map.

Set other options for drawing features to show quantities and click OK.

9. Click OK on the Layer Properties dialog box.

In general, look for these kinds of attributes when mapping by category or unique value:

 Attributes describing the name, type, or condition of a feature

 Attributes that uniquely identify features (for example, a county name attribute could be
used to draw each county with a unique color.)

You can let Arc Map assign a symbol to each unique value based on a color scheme you choose,
or you can explicitly assign a specific symbol to a specific attribute value. To draw features with
specific symbols based on attribute values, you need to create a style that contains symbols
named after the attribute value they represent. For example, if you have a dataset that
categorizes roads as either major or minor, then you need to have line symbols within that style
named major and minor. Arc Map will match the attribute value to the line symbol name to draw
the feature. Features that don't have a matching line symbol won't be drawn.

Combining categories

If you're drawing features by category, the number of categories you display will affect what
patterns are revealed on the map. Most people can discern between five and seven categories for
a given layer. The more advanced the audience, the more categories it will be able to identify
and the more easily it can interpret complex patterns. Conversely, a less advanced audience may
benefit more from a map with fewer categories. When displaying your data, you can control how
you organize and display categories for a layer. If you want to display fewer categories, you can
combine similar categories into one category to help make the patterns more apparent, for
example, combine two detailed land-use categories into a more general one. However, the trade-
off is that some information will be lost.

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Organizing categories
Instead of reducing the number of categories, you might want to organize individual categories
into defined groups. This allows you to work with and view them as a group. In addition, a
map reader will see the groups listed in the contents. You can also organize your unique
values by adding headings. For example, if you were working with a land-use dataset, you
could create a set of broad land-use category headings and organize similar categories of
values into them. You might have a heading of commercial and include land uses such as light
industry, heavy industry, and retail within that heading. Headings appear in the legend and in
the table of contents.
4.4.1 Drawing a Layer Showing Unique Values
On a unique values map you can draw features based on an attribute value, or characteristic. For
example, on a land-use map, each land-use type could be drawn with a specific color. Often, seeing
where something is and where it isn't can tell you exactly what you need to know. Mapping the
location of features reveals patterns and trends that can help you make better decisions. For
example, a business owner might map where his customers live to help decide where to target his
advertising.The easiest way to see where features are is to draw them using a single symbol. You
can draw any type of data this way. When you create a new layer, Arc Map draws it by default with
a single symbol. On a map that uses a single symbol to represent cities, you could easily see where
people live and conclude that some areas are more densely populated based on the number of cities
clustered together.
Drawing a layer showing unique values

1. Right-click the layer you want to draw showing unique values in the table of contents and
click Properties.
2. Click the Symbology tab and click Categories. ArcMap automatically selects the Unique
values option.
3. Click the Value Field drop-down arrow and click the field that contains the values you
want to map.
4. Click the Color Scheme drop-down arrow and click a color scheme.

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5. Click Add All Values.This adds all unique values to the list. Alternatively, click the Add
Values button to choose which unique values to display.
6. Click a label in the Label column and type the label you want if you want to edit the
default label so more descriptive labels appear in your legend and the table of contents.
7. Click OK.

How to draw a layer using a single symbol

1. Right-click the layer you want to draw with a single symbol in the table of contents and
click Properties.
2. Click the Symbology tab.
3. Click Features in the Show box on the left side of the dialog box.
4. Click the Symbol button to change the symbol.
5. Click a new symbol or change specific properties of the symbol in the Symbol Selector
dialog box.
6. Click OK on the Symbol Selector dialog box.
7. Type a Label for the feature.
8. Click OK.

Sorting the unique values

1. Right-click the layer whose unique values you want to sort in the table of contents and
click Properties.
2. Click the Symbology tab.
3. Click the Value column to show a context menu.
4. Click Reverse Sorting to reverse the alphanumeric sorting of the entire list of classes.
5. Click OK.

Combining two or more categories into one

1. Right-click the layer drawn with unique values for which you want to combine categories
in the table of contents and click Properties.
2. Click the Symbology tab.

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If you don't already see categories in the scrolling list, follow the steps for drawing a
layer showing unique values.

3. Click the first of the values you want to combine. Hold down the Shift or Ctrl key and
click the additional values that you want to combine.
4. Right-click the values and click Group Values. The selected values will now be combined
into one category.
5. Click a label in the Label column and type the label you want if you want more
descriptive labels to appear in your legend and the table of contents.
6. Click OK.

Ungrouping combined categories

1. Right-click the layer drawn to combine categories in the table of contents and click
Properties.
2. Right-click a combined category in the scrolling list.
3. Click Ungroup Values.

Organizing categories in headings

1. Right-click the layer drawn with unique values for which you want to organize categories
into groups in the table of contents and click Properties.
2. Click the Symbology tab. If you don't already see categories in the scrolling list, follow
the steps for drawing a layer showing unique values.
3. Click the first value you want to move to a new heading. Hold down the Shift or Ctrl key
and click the additional values that you want to move to that heading.
4. Right-click a selected value, point to Move to Heading, then click New Heading.
5. Type a name for the new heading and click OK.
6. Click OK on the Layer Properties dialog box.A new heading now appears in the table of
contents with values grouped in it.

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4.4.2. Creating a Layer Field
Adding x,y coordinate data as a layer In addition to data sources, such as a shape file, you
can also add tabular data that contains geographic locations in the form of x,y coordinates to
your map. X,y coordinates describe discrete locations on the earth's surface. To add a table of
x,y coordinates to your map, the table must contain two fields, one for the x-coordinate and one
for the y-coordinate. Some characters in field names are not supported, such as dashes (such as
x-coord for the field name), spaces, and brackets. Before adding x, y data, you should edit the
field names to remove these characters Once you have added the data to your map, it becomes
an XY event layer and behaves like other point feature layers
Adding x, y coordinate data as a layer.

1. Click the Tools menu and click Add XY Data.

2. Choose a table that contains x, y coordinate data. If the table is not on the map, click the
Browse button to access it from disk.
3. Click the X Field drop-down arrow and click the field containing x-coordinate values.
4. Click the Y Field drop-down arrow and click the field containing y-coordinate values.
5. Click Edit to define the coordinate system and units represented in the x and y fields. The
x, y coordinates will be automatically transformed to match the coordinate system of the
data frame.
6. Click OK.

Creating a point feature class from x,y coordinates

1. Right-click a table in the ArcCatalog tree that has columns containing coordinates, point
to Create Feature Class, and click From XY Table.
2. Click the X Field drop-down arrow and click the name of the column that contains the x-
coordinates.
3. Click the Y Field drop-down arrow and click the name of the column that contains the y-
coordinates.
4. If appropriate, click the Z Field drop-down arrow and click the name of the column that
contains the z-coordinates.

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5. Click Spatial Reference of Input Coordinates and define the coordinate system for the
input values as necessary.
6. Click the Browse button.
7. Click the Save as type drop-down arrow and click the format in which to create the new
point features.
8. Navigate to the folder or geodatabase in which you want to store the new features.
9. Type a name for the new data source.
10. Click Save.
11. Set any Advanced Geometry Options and ArcSDE configuration keywords as necessary.
12. Click OK.

Layer properties and functionalities

 Display effects: The Display tab controls how your data is displayed as you move in the
view. Options include making a layer transparent, adding Map Tips and hyperlinks, and
restoring excluded features.
 Selection symbol: The Selection tab allows you to set how features in a specific layer will
look when they are selected. Selection property changes in a specific layer override the
default Selection Options settings.
 Symbology: This tab offers methods for representing your data. Options include drawing
features in one symbol, proportional symbols, categories, quantities, color ramps, or
charts.
 Field display properties: The Fields tab provides characteristics about attribute fields.
You can also create aliases, format numbers, or make fields invisible.
 Definition Query: This tab allows you to display a subset of your data that meets some
criteria without altering the data. With the Query Builder, you can create an expression
to display particular features of a layer.
 Joins and Relates: This tab allows you to join (include within ArcMap) or relate
(associate) data to the layers attribute table. You can also remove joins or relates.

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 Labeling: The Labels tab allows you to turn on a layer’s labels; build label expressions;
manage label classes; and set up the labeling options, which include label placement and
symbology.
 Table: A table includes descriptive information that is stored in rows and columns in a
database and can be linked to map features. Each row represents an individual entity,
record, or feature, and each column represents a single field or attributes value.
 Select interactively: This function allows you to make selections using the Select
Features tool.
 Extent definition: This appears on the Source tab and shows the bounding extent of your
data along with its source and coordinate system.
 Level and Symbol: These tabs, specific to coverage, PC ARC/INFO, Spatial Database
Engine (SDE) 3.x, and vector product format (VPF) annotation, allow you to adjust
annotation display properties. Annotation for these formats, however, is read-only.
 CAD Drawing Layers: This tab, which is specific to CAD data, allows you to specify
which CAD drawing layers are visible.
 CAD Transformations: This tab is specific to CAD layers. It allows you to transform a
CAD layer so it matches your coordinate system.
 Topology rules and errors: These functions are specific to topology layers. The Feature
Classes tab lists the feature classes in the topology and their ranks. The Rules tab shows
and describes which topology rules are imposed on your data. The Errors tab allows you
to generate a summary of the errors found in the participating feature classes.

Converting features into graphics

1. Right-click the layer in the table of contents that you want to convert to graphics and
click Convert Features to Graphics.
2. Click all to convert all features or click Selected to convert the selected features.
3. Choose whether you want to draw only the graphics or the features and the graphics
after the conversion.
4. Set the target where you want to store the graphics.The default target saves the graphics
to your map document.

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5. Click OK.

Joining
graphics

You can join two or more polygon graphics you've drawn on your map to form a new graphic
that is a combination of the input graphics. You can use the following join methods:

 Union—joins all graphics, creating one large graphic. Where the graphics overlap, the
boundaries are removed.

 Intersect—Creates a new graphic from the shared area of the input graphics.

 Remove overlap—creates a new graphic from the no overlapping areas of two input
graphics.

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 Subtract—Creates a new graphic by subtracting the overlapping area of one graphic

from another.

How to join graphics

1. Select the polygon graphics on the map you want to join.

2. Click Drawing on the Draw toolbar, point to Graphic Operations, and click the method
you want to use. The graphics are joined.

4.5. Displaying Geodatabase

The geodatabase is a "container" used to hold a collection of datasets. There are three types:

1. File geodatabases

Stored as folders in a file system. Each dataset is held as a file that can scale up to 1 TB in size.

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The file geodatabase is recommended over personal geodatabases. A collection of various types
of GIS datasets held in a file system folder.(This is the recommended native data format for
ArcGIS stored and managed in a file system folder.)Single user and small workgroups:many
readers or one writer per feature dataset, stand-alone feature class, or table. Concurrent use of
any specific file eventually degrades for large numbers of readers.

2. Personal geodatabases

Single user and small workgroups with smaller datasets: some readers and one writer.
Concurrent use eventually degrades for large numbers of readers.
All datasets are stored within a Microsoft Access data file, which is limited in size to 2
GB.Original data format for ArcGIS geodatabases stored and managed in Microsoft Access data
files.(This is limited in size and tied to the Windows operating system.).

3.ArcSDE geodatabases

Stored in a relational database using Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM DB2, IBM Informix,
or PostgreSQL. These multiuser geodatabases require the use of ArcSDE and can be
unlimited in size and numbers of users..A collection of various types of GIS datasets held
as tables in a relational database (This is the recommended native data format for ArcGIS
stored and managed in a relational database.)
Multiuser: many readers and many writers
 Oracle
 Microsoft SQL Server
 IBM DB2
 IBM Informix
 PostgreSQL

Up to DBMS limits
Fully supported across all DBMSs; includes cross-database replication, updates using checkout
and check-in, and historical archiving

The term geodatabase has multiple meanings in ArcGIS:

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 The geodatabase is the native data structure for ArcGIS and is the primary data format
used for editing and data management. While ArcGIS works with geographic information
in numerous geographic information system (GIS) file formats, it is designed to work
with and leverage the capabilities of the geodatabase.
 It is the physical store of geographic information, primarily using a database
management system (DBMS) or file system. You can access and work with this physical
instance of your collection of datasets either through ArcGIS or through a database
management system using SQL.
 Geodatabases have a comprehensive information model for representing and managing
geographic information. This comprehensive information model is implemented as a
series of tables holding feature classes, raster datasets, and attributes. In addition,
advanced GIS data objects add GIS behavior; rules for managing spatial integrity; and
tools for working with numerous spatial relationships of the core features, rasters, and
attributes.
 Geodatabase software logic provides the common application logic used throughout
ArcGIS for accessing and working with all geographic data in a variety of files and
formats. This supports working with the geodatabase, and it includes working with
shapefiles, computer-aided drafting (CAD) files, triangulated irregular networks (TINs),
grids, CAD data, imagery, Geography Markup Language (GML) files, and numerous
other GIS data sources.
 Geodatabases have a transaction model for managing GIS data workflows.

4.5.1. Change the Display of a Geodatabase

If we are using licensed arc view we can create, edit, or alter in file or personal geodatabases
for the geodatabase objects.

 Tables (not part of relationship classes)

 Simple* feature classes
 Simple* feature datasets
 Raster catalogs
 Raster datasets
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 Mosaic datasets
 Standard annotation
 Network datasets (requires ArcGIS Network Analyst extension)
 Schematic datasets (requires ArcGIS Schematics extension)
 Terrains (requires ArcGIS 3D Analyst extension)
 Locators
 Toolboxes
 Subtypes

4.6. Exercise
Q#1.list out main Steps to Create map
Q#2. Discuss with a Basics of mapmaking principles
Q#3.what is the important of using different extent option in arc map?
Q#4.Define the following terminology
a).extent b).Focus c).Integrity d). Balance e).geodatabase
Q#5.Listout and define at least 8 elements of map.
Q#6.what is the important of draw features in catagorties .
Q#7.Discuss with Layer properties and functionalities
Q#8.Compare file geodatabase VS personal geodatabase

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Reference

1.Principles of Cartography, Eramin Raisz

2.Cartography Visualization of spatial data, M. J Kraak & F.J Ormeling, Addison Wesley
Longman Ltd., 1996
3..Fundamentals of Cartography by S. Manzoor Alam, Conceptual Publishing company,
2002
4.Elements of cartography by Arthur.H.Robinson
5.GIS Basics by Shahab Fazail.
6.GIS by Kang-Tsung chang.

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