DEPARTMENT: CIVIL ENGINEERING

OPTION: LAND SURVEYING

MODULE NAME AND CODE: GEODATABASE MANAGEMENT

COMPETENCE: Perform Geodatabase managementt

CREDITS: 3

Level/ Year: 6,II

Academic year:2023-2024

Trainer's Name: HABINSHUTI Olivier

IPRC Huye, year 2024

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Contents
L.U 1 – DESCRIBE AND CREATE GEODATABASE ................................................... 4

L.O 1.1: Types of Geodatabases ................................................................................... 4

1.1.1 Identification of geodatabase concepts ................................................................ 4

1.1.2 Concept of geodatabase ...................................................................................... 4

1.1.3. Geodatabase types ............................................................................................... 5

L.O 1.2: Geodatabase component ................................................................................ 7

1.2.1. Spatial data........................................................................................................ 7

1.2.2 Attributes ..........................................................................................................11

1.2.3 Domains............................................................................................................13

Domain’s view ..............................................................................................................14

Domain properties .......................................................................................................14

L.O 1.3: Create a specific type of geodatabase ............................................................17

1.3.1Geographic Feature Data Formats .......................................................................17

1.3.2 Geodatabase Elements .......................................................................................19

L.U2 – CREATE FEATURE CLASS AND SHAPEFILE ..............................................24

L.O 2.1: Create feature class and shapefile .................................................................24

2.1.1Four ways of creation of feature class / Shapefile ................................................24

2.1.2 Creation of appropriate feature class / shapefile ..................................................27

2.1.3 Retrieving selected feature into the feature class / shapefile ................................31

L.O 2.2: feature class / shapefile types according to feature object being represented32

2.2.1 Types of object features .....................................................................................32

2.2.2. Identification of feature class / Shapefile type ....................................................32

L.U.3 – Investigate Metadata Content.............................................................................33

3.1. Perform ArcCatalog ..............................................................................................33

3.2. Explore the content of metadata ...........................................................................33

3.3. metadata and their us............................................................................................35

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L.U 1 – DESCRIBE AND CREATE GEODATABASE
L.O 1.1: Types of Geodatabases

1.1.1 Identification of geodatabase concepts

What is Data? In simple words, data can be facts related to any object in consideration. For
example, your name, age, height, weight, etc. are some data related to you. A picture, image,
file, pdf, etc. can also be considered data

Databases are designed to offer an organized mechanism for storing, managing and
retrieving information. It combines "geo" (spatial data) with "database" (data repository) to
create a central data repository for spatial data storage and management. It can be leveraged
in desktop, server, or mobile environments and allows you to store GIS data in a central
location for easy access and management.

A database is an organized collection of structured information, or data, typically stored

electronically in a computer system. A database is usually controlled by a database
management system (DBMS). ... The data can then be easily accessed, managed, modified,
updated, controlled, and organized.

What is a database?

-A database is a persistent, organised store of related data.

A database is persistent because the data and structures are stored in secondary storage,
even when the applications that use the data are no longer running.
A database is organised because the data is stored in a very structured way,
using tables, records and fields so that users and data handling applications can easily add,
delete, edit, search and manipulate the data.

A database is made up of related data because the individual items of data have a connection
of some sort.

1.1.2 Concept of geodatabase

What is the main purpose of a geodatabase?

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A geodatabase is a database designed to store, query, and manipulate geographic
information and spatial data. It is also known as a spatial database.
What is geodatabase format?

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.
Can be stored in a geodatabase?

A file geodatabase is a collection of files in a folder on disk that can store, query, and manage
spatial and nonspatial data.

How does the geodatabase differ from the shapefile in terms of storage of feature
attribute data?

The geodatabase stores feature attribute data in the same table as feature geometries. In
contrast, the shapefile stores feature attribute data in a dBase file, separate from the file for
feature geometries.
1.1.3. Geodatabase 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. The file geodatabase is recommended over personal
geodatabases.

2. Personal geodatabases—All datasets are stored within a Microsoft Access data file,
which is limited in size to 2 GB.

3. Enterprise geodatabases—Also known as multiuser geodatabases, they can be

unlimited in size and numbers of users. Stored in a relational database using Oracle,
Microsoft SQL Server, IBM DB2, IBM Informix, or PostgreSQL.

a) File geodatabases

File geodatabases are freely available to all users of ArcGIS Pro and are designed to support
the full information model of the geodatabase, which comprises network datasets, terrain
datasets, relationship classes, and so on. File geodatabases are designed to be edited by a
single user and do not support geodatabase versioning. With a file geodatabase, it is possible

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to have more than one editor at the same time provided they are editing in different feature
datasets, stand-alone feature classes, or tables.

The file geodatabase type goals are to do the following:

•Provide a widely available, simple, and scalable geodatabase solution for all users.

• Provide a portable geodatabase that works across operating systems.

• Scale up to handle very large datasets.

• Provide excellent performance and scalability, for example, to support individual

datasets containing well over 300 million features and datasets that starts at 1 TB and
can scale to 4 and 256 TB per file with very fast performance.

• Use an efficient data structure that is optimized for performance and storage. File
geodatabases use about one-third of the feature geometry storage required by
shapefiles and personal geodatabases. File geodatabases also allow users to compress
vector data to a read-only format to reduce storage requirements even further.

• Outperform shapefiles for operations involving attributes and scale the data size
limits way beyond shapefile limits.

The file geodatabase is ideal for GIS projects, personal use, and in small organizations. It has
strong performance and scales well to hold extremely large data volumes without requiring
the use of a DBMS. Plus, it is portable across operating systems.

Users can employ multiple file geodatabases for their data collections and access these
simultaneously for their GIS work.

b) Enterprise geodatabases

When you need a large, multiuser geodatabase that can be edited and used simultaneously by
many users, the enterprise geodatabase provides a good solution. It adds the ability to
manage a shared, multiuser geodatabase as well as support for a number of critical version-
based GIS workflows. The ability to leverage your organization's enterprise relational
databases is a key advantage of the enterprise geodatabase.

Enterprise geodatabases

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When you need a large, multiuser geodatabase that can be edited and used simultaneously by
many users, the enterprise geodatabase provides a good solution. It adds the ability to
manage a shared, multiuser geodatabase as well as support for a number of critical version-
based GIS workflows. The ability to leverage your organization's enterprise relational
databases is a key advantage of the enterprise geodatabase.

Enterprise geodatabases work with a variety of DBMS storage models (IBM DB2, Oracle,
PostgreSQL, SAP HANA, and SQL Server). They take full advantage of underlying DBMS
architectures to support the following:

• Extremely large, continuous GIS datasets

• Many simultaneous users

• Long transactions and versioned workflows

• Relational database support for GIS data management (providing the benefits of a
relational database for scalability, reliability, security, backup, and data integrity)

• Native SQL spatial types for all supported DBMSs (Oracle, SQL Server,
PostgreSQL, DB2, and SAP HANA)

• High performance that can scale to a very large number of users

1.1.4 Geodatabase benefits

 Efficient data structure for performance and storage.

 No storage size limit
 Improved performance
 Less restrictive editing locks

L.O 1.2: Geodatabase component

1.2.1. Spatial data

1.Feature datasets

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A feature dataset contains a group of feature classes that share the same spatial reference.
That is, the feature classes must have the same coordinate system and their features must fall
within a common geographic extent.
Feature datasets are primarily used to store feature classes that have topological relationships,
such as connectivity, adjacency, or containment. For example, streams in a particular
watershed are connected to rivers; therefore, streams and rivers are topologically related.
In order for a geodatabase to maintain topological relationships among feature classes, the
feature classes must reside in the same feature dataset.

The five feature classes in the Watershed feature dataset have topological
relationships that should be maintained when any of the feature classes are
edited.

2.Feature classes

Feature classes are homogeneous collections of common features, each having the same
spatial representation, such as points, lines, or polygons, and a common set of attribute
columns, for example, a line feature class for representing road centerlines. The four most
commonly used feature classes in the geodatabase are points, lines, polygons, and annotation
(the geodatabase name for map text).

In the illustration below, these are used to represent four datasets for the same area: (1)
manhole cover locations as points, (2) sewer lines, (3) parcel polygons, and (4) street name
annotation.

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Generally, feature classes are thematic collections of points, lines, or polygons, but there are
seven feature class types:

 Points—Features that are too small to represent as lines or polygons as well as

point locations (such as GPS observations).

 Lines—Represent the shape and location of geographic objects, such as street

centerlines and streams, too narrow to depict as areas. Lines are also used to
represent features that have length but no area such as contour lines and
boundaries.

 Polygons—A set of many-sided area features that represents the shape and
location of homogeneous feature types such as states, counties, parcels, soil
types, and land-use zones.

 Annotation—Map text including properties for how the text is rendered. For
example, in addition to the text string of each annotation, other properties are
included such as the shape points for placing the text, its font and point size, and
other display properties. Annotation can also be feature linked and can contain
subclasses.

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3.Shapefiles

A shapefile is an Esri vector data storage format for storing the location, shape, and attributes
of geographic features. It is stored as a set of related files and contains one feature class.
Shapefiles often contain large features with a lot of associated data and historically have been
used in GIS desktop applications such as ArcMap.

Basics About Shapefiles:

Shapefiles are simple storage formats that have been used in ArcMap since the 1990s when
Esri created ArcView (the early version of ArcMap 10.3). Therefore, shapefiles have many
limitations such as:

 Takes up more storage space on your computer than a geodatabase

 Do not support names in fields longer than 10 characters

 Cannot store date and time in the same field

 Do not support raster files

 Do not store NULL values in a field; when a value is NULL, a shapefile will use 0
instead

Users are allowed to create points, lines, and polygons with a shapefile. One shapefile must
have at least 3 files but most shapefiles have around 6 files. A shapefile must have:
 .shp – this file stores the geometry of the feature

 .shx – this file stores the index of the geometry

 .dbf – this file stores the attribute information for the feature

All files for the shapefile must be stored in the same location with the same name or else the
shapefile will not load. When a shapefile is opened in Windows Explorer it will look
different than when opened in ArcCatalog.

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Create a feature class using geoprocessing

The Create Feature Class geoprocessing tool is found in the Data Management Tools toolbox
under Feature Class. You can also use the search text box in the Geoprocessing pane to find
it. This tool will create an empty feature class. You can then create fields for the feature class
in Fields view, or use the Append tool to add data from a feature class of the same type.

Create a feature class by exporting a map layer

If you are working with a layer in the map, you can export it to create a new feature class or
shapefile. Right-click the layer in the Contents pane and click Data > Export Features. This
opens the Copy Features geoprocessing tool. If the input is a layer that has a selection, only
the selected features will be copied. If the input is a feature class or shapefile, all features will
be copied. Type an output location in the Output Feature Class text box or browse to an
output location for the new feature class. If the output location you select is a folder, the tool
will create a new shapefile instead of a feature class.

Create a feature class by importing data

You can use the Import context menu in the Catalog pane to create a new feature class. Right-
click a geodatabase or feature dataset in the Catalog pane and click Import > Feature Class.
This opens the Feature Class to Feature Class geoprocessing tool, which allows you to choose
a location and name for the feature class and select a subset of features using an SQL
expression. You can also add, rename, or delete output fields as well as set properties such as
data type and merge rule.

1.2.2 Attributes

 Attribute data

In short, a data attribute is a single-value descriptor for a data point or data object. It exists
most often as a column in a data table, but can also refer to special formatting or functionality
for objects in programming languages such as Python.

Types of Data Attribute

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Attribute data can be store as one of five different field types in a table or database:
character, integer, floating, date, and BLOB.

Character Data
The character property (or string) is for text-based values such as the name of a street or
descriptive values such as the condition of a street. Character attribute data is stored as a
series of alphanumeric symbols.

Numeric Data

Aside from descriptors, character fields can contain other attribute values such as categories
and ranks. For example, a character field may contain the categories for a street: avenue,
boulevard, lane, or highway. A character field could also contain the rank, which is a relative
ordering of features. For example, a ranking of the traffic load of the street with “1” being
the street with the highest traffic.

Character data can be sorted in ascending (A to Z) and descending (Z to A) order. Since

numbers are considered text in this field, those numbers will be sorted alphabetically which
means that a number sequence of 1, 2, 9, 11, 13, 22 would be sorted in ascending order as 1,
11, 13, 2, 22, 9.

Because character data is not numeric, calculations (sum, average, median, etc.) can’t be
performed on this type of field, even if the value stored in the field are numbers (to do that,
the field type would need to be converted to a numeric field). Character fields can be
summarized to produced counts (e.g. the number of features that have been categorized as
“avenue”).

Integer and floating are numerical values . Within the integer type, the is a further division
between short and long integer values. As would be expected, short integers store numeric
values without fractional values for a shorter range than long integers. Floating point
attribute values store numeric values with fractional values. Therefore, floating point values
are for numeric values with decimal points (i.e numbers to the right of the decimal point as
opposed to whole values).
Numeric values will be sorted in sequentially either in ascending (1 to 10) or descending (10
to 1) order.
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Numerical value fields can have operations performed such as calculating the sum or average
value. Numerical field values can be a count (e.g. the total number of students at a school) or
be a ratio (e.g. the percentage of students that are girls at a school).

Date/Time Data

Date fields contains date and time values.

BLOB stands for binary large object and this attribute type is used for storing information
such images, multimedia, or bits of code in a field. This field stores object linking and
embedding (OLE) which are objects created in other applications such as images
and multimedia and linked from the BLOB field

 Index

A spatial index is a type of extended index that allows you to index a spatial column. A
spatial column is a table column that contains data of a spatial data type, such as geometry or
geography.

1.2.3 Domains

A domain is a set of rules that define permitted values for an attribute. They are used to
constrain data values in order to ensure data integrity. A domain is defined in a geodatabase
as a unique entity and can be applied to any attribute in any feature class within the
geodatabase that contains the domain definition.
There are two types of geodatabase domains (coded domains and range domains) and both
are supported by FME. A coded domain is essentially a list of multiple valid values while a
range domain is a single permitted range of numeric values

Coded Value and Range Domains

A coded value domain allows you to choose from a list of values that are allowed in a field.
A range domain allows you to specify a valid range for values in a numeric field. Both types
of attribute domain thus provide means of enforcing data integrity.
Attribute domains are rules that describe the available values of a field type. They are used to
constrain the values allowed in any particular attribute for a table or feature class. They

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provide a method for enforcing data integrity by limiting what can be placed on a field to a
valid list or range of choices. If the features in a feature class or nonspatial objects in a table
have been grouped into subtypes, you can assign different attribute domains to each of the
subtypes. Whenever a domain is associated with an attribute field, only the values within that
domain are valid for the field. In other words, the field will not accept a value that is not in
that domain.

You can share attribute domains across feature classes, tables, and subtypes in a geodatabase.

For example, a feature class for water mains and a feature class that stores water laterals can
use the same domain for the ground surface type field.

Domain’s view
Domains are created and edited within their own tabular-style view called the Domains view.

You can open the Domains view by clicking the Domains button found in the Design group
on the Data tab or on the Fields and Subtypes tabs available with the fields and subtypes
views.

Within the Domains view, you can view existing domains, edit their properties and values,
and create domains.

You can filter the domains listed in the view using the Filter Text text box on
the Domains tab available with the Domains view. As you enter text, the view updates with
only those domains that have matching text in the Domains view fields.

In the image below, you can see the Domains view displaying some of the domains

associated with the Campus Editing data model.

Each row in the view is an existing domain and they all share common properties such as a
name, description, field type, domain type, and split and merge policies.

Domain properties
When creating or modifying a domain, you must edit the following properties.

 Name and description

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When creating a domain, you specify a name that describes the parameter it governs. You
cannot use the characters ' and `, a single quote and an apostrophe, when naming a domain.
After a domain is created, the domain name is displayed in the domain drop-down menu
when choosing a domain to associate with a given field in the fields view or subtypes view.

The description is a small sentence describing the purpose of the domain.

 Field type

The field type is the type of attribute field with which the domain can be associated.

You can set the field type to any of the following:

 Short—Short integers
 Long—Long integers
 Float—Single-precision floating point numbers
 Double—Double-precision floating point numbers
 Text (Coded domains only)—Alphanumeric characters
 Date—Date and time data

Once the field type is set, the name of the domain appears in the domain drop-down list
for any field of that type in the fields view and subtype’s view.

 Domain type

When you create a domain, you must specify which type of domain you want to use.

There are two types of attribute domains:

 Range domains—A range domain specifies a valid range of values for a numeric
attribute. When creating a range domain, you enter a minimum and maximum valid
value. You can apply a range domain to short-integer, long-integer, float, double, and
date attribute types. For example, in a feature class for water mains, you can have
subtypes for transmission, distribution, and bypass water mains. Distribution water
mains can have a pressure between 50 and 75 psi. For a distribution water main object
to be valid, its pressure value must be entered as some value between 50 and 75 psi.

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  Coded domains—A coded value domain can apply to any type of attribute, be it text,
numeric, date, and so on. Coded value domains specify a valid set of values for an
attribute. For example, water mains may be buried under different types of surfaces as
signified by a Ground Surface Type attribute field: pavement, gravel, sand, or none
(for exposed water mains). The coded value domain includes both the actual value
that is stored in the database (for example, 1 for pavement) and a more user-friendly
description of what that value actually means. Validation for coded value domains is
accomplished by restricting the user to choose field values from a drop-down list.

Note:

You can sort coded domain values and persist sorting after clicking the column header in
coded values and clicking the save sorted order box. Clicking the save sorted order box
overrides the current domain value sorting and is irreversible.

Split and merge policies

Often, when editing data, a single feature is split into two features or two separate features are
combined, or merged, into a single feature. For example, in a land base database, a land
parcel may be split into two separate land parcels due to rezoning. Similar zoning changes
may require two adjacent parcels to be merged into a single parcel.

While the results of these types of edit operations on the feature's geometry are predictable,
their effects on the attribute values are not. The behavior of an attribute's values when a
feature is split, if that attribute has a domain applied, is controlled by the domain's split
policy. When two features are merged, any attribute with a domain applied will have its value
controlled by the domain's merge policy.

Each attribute domain has both a split policy and a merge policy. When a feature is split or
merged, the geodatabase looks to these policies to determine what values the resulting feature
or features have for a particular attribute.

Split policies

An attribute for any given table, feature class, or subtype that has a domain applied can have
one of three split policies, set on the domain's properties, that control the value of an attribute
in the output objects:

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  Default value The attributes of the two resulting features take on the default value for
the attribute of the given feature class or subtype.
 Duplicate The attribute of the two resulting features takes on a copy of the original
object's attribute value.
 Geometry ratio The attributes of resulting features are a ratio of the original feature's
value. The ratio is based on the ratio in which the original geometry is divided. If the
geometry is divided equally, each new feature's attribute gets one-half of the value of
the original object's attribute. Geometry ratio policies only apply to domains for
numeric field types.

L.O 1.3: Create a specific type of geodatabase

1.3.1Geographic Feature Data Formats

 Vector format
 Raster format

Vector data is data that has a spatial component, or X, Y coordinates assigned to it. Vector
files can contain sets of points, lines, or polygons that are referenced in a geographic space.

Raster data is data in a .JPG, .TIF, .GIF or similar format. Items scanned using a flatbed
scanner like this map are examples of raster files. Images taken with a digital camera produce
these same types of files.

VECTOR

All spatial data models are approaches for storing the spatial location of geographic features
in a database. Vector storage implies the use of vectors (directional lines) to represent a
geographic feature.

RASTER data models incorporate the use of a grid-cell data structure where the geographic
area is divided into cells identified by row and column. This data structure is commonly
called raster. IMAGE Image data is most often used to represent graphic or pictorial data.
The term image inherently reflects a graphic representation, and in the GIS world, differs
significantly from raster data.

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Advantages of vector data model

• Data can be represented at its original resolution and form without generalization.

• Graphic output is usually more aesthetically pleasing (traditional cartographic

representation);

• Since most data, e.g., hard copy maps, is in vector form no data conversion is required.

Accurate geographic location of data is maintained.

• Allows for efficient encoding of topology, and as a result more efficient operations that
require topological information, e.g., proximity, network analysis.

Disadvantages of vector data model

• The location of each vertex needs to be stored explicitly.

• For effective analysis, vector data must be converted into a topological structure.

• Algorithms for manipulative and analysis functions are complex and may be processing
intensive. Often, this inherently limits the functionality for large data sets,

e.g., a large number of features.

• Continuous data, such as elevation data, is not effectively represented in vector form.
Usually, substantial data generalization or interpolation is required for these data layers.

• Spatial analysis and filtering within polygons is impossible Advantages of raster data model
• The geographic location of each cell is implied by its position in the cell matrix.
Accordingly, other than an origin point,

e.g., bottom left corner, no geographic coordinates are stored.

• Due to the nature of the data storage technique data analysis is usually easy to program and
quick to perform.

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• The inherent nature of raster maps, e.g., one attribute maps, is ideally suited for
mathematical modelling and quantitative analysis.

• Discrete data, e.g., forestry stands, is accommodated equally well as continuous data,

e.g., elevation data, and facilitates the integrating of the two data types.

• Grid-cell systems are very compatible with raster-based output devices,

e.g., electrostatic plotters, graphic terminals.

1.3.2 Geodatabase Elements

1) Spatial data: describes the absolute and relative location of geographic features.

2) Attribute data: describes characteristics of the spatial features. These characteristics

can be quantitative and/or qualitative in nature. Attribute data is often referred to as
tabular data.

3)domain

1.3.3 Building a geodatabase

 Designing the geodatabase

Eleven steps to geodatabase design

1.Identify the information products that you will create and manage with your
GIS. Your GIS database design should reflect the work of your organization. Consider
compiling and maintaining an inventory of map products, analytic models, Web mapping
applications, data flows, database reports, key responsibilities, 3D views, and other mission-
based requirements for your organization. List the data sources you currently use in this
work. Use these to drive your data design needs. Define the essential 2D and 3D digital
basemaps for your applications. Identify the set of map scales that will appear in each
basemap as you pan, zoom, and explore its contents.

2. Identify the key data themes based on your information requirements. Define more
completely some of the key aspects of each data theme. Determine how each dataset will be
used—for editing, GIS modelling and analysis, representing your business workflows, and

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mapping and 3D display. Specify the map use, data sources, and spatial representations for
each specified map scale; data accuracy and collection guidelines for each map view and 3D
view; and how the theme is displayed—its symbology, text labels, and annotation. Consider
how each map layer will be displayed in an integrated fashion with other key layers. For
modeling and analysis, consider how information will be used with other datasets (for
example, how they are combined and integrated). This will help you identify some key
spatial relationships and data integrity rules. Ensure that these 2D and 3D map display and
analysis properties are considered part of your database design.

3.Specify the scale ranges and the spatial representations of each data theme at each
scale. Data is compiled for use at a specific range of map scales. Associate your geographic
representation for each map scale. Geographic representation will often change between map
scales (for example, from polygon to line or point). In many cases, you may need to
generalize the feature representations for use at smaller scales. Rasters can be resampled
using image pyramids. In other situations, you may need to collect alternative
representations for different map scales.

4. Decompose each representation into one or more geographic datasets. Discrete

features are modelled as feature classes of points, lines, and polygons. You can consider
advanced data types such as topologies, networks, and terrains to model the relationships
between elements in a layer as well as across datasets. For raster datasets, mosaics and
catalog collections are options for managing very large collections. Surfaces can be modeled
using features, such as contours, as well as using rasters and terrains.

5.Define the tabular database structure and behavior for descriptive attributes. Identify
attribute fields and column types. Tables also might include attribute domains, relationships,
and subtypes. Define any valid values, attribute ranges, and classifications (for use as
domains). Use subtypes to control behaviors. Identify tabular relationships and associations
for relationship classes.

6.Define the spatial behavior, spatial relationships, and integrity rules for your
datasets. For features, you can add spatial behavior and capabilities and also characterize the
spatial relationships inherent in your related features for a number of purposes using
topologies, address locators, networks, terrains, and so on. For example, use topologies to
model the spatial relationships of shared geometry and enforce integrity rules. Use address

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locators to support geocoding. Use networks for tracing and pathfinding. For rasters, you can
decide if you need a raster dataset or raster catalog.

7.Propose a geodatabase design. Define the set of geodatabase elements you want in your
design for each data theme. Study existing designs for ideas and approaches that work. Copy
patterns and best practices from the ArcGIS data models.

8.Design editing workflows and map display properties. Define the editing procedures
and integrity rules (for example, all streets are split where they intersect other streets, and
street segments connect at endpoints). Design editing workflows that help you meet these
integrity rules for your data. Define display properties for maps and 3D views. Determine
the map display properties for each map scale. These will be used to define map layers.

9.Assign responsibilities for building and maintaining each data layer. Determine who
will be assigned the data maintenance work within your organization or assigned to other
organizations. Understanding these roles is important. You will need to design how data
conversion and transformation is used to import and export data across various partner
organizations.

10. Build a working prototype. Review and refine your design Test your prototype
design. Build a sample geodatabase copy of your proposed design using a file, personal, or
enterprise geodatabase. Build maps, run key applications, and perform editing operations to
test the design's utility. Based on your prototype test results, revise and refine your design.

11. Document your geodatabase design. Various methods can be used to describe your
database design and decisions. Use drawings, map layer examples, schema diagrams, simple
reports, and metadata documents.

 Creating a new geodatabase

Creating a new Geodatabase, you will create and build your geodatabase in Catalog within
ArcMap.

a. Start ArcMap and expand the catalog on the right-hand side. You can “pin” the Catalog in
place to keep it from retracting back to the side.

b. Expand the Folder Connections and navigate to your H drive. Note, if you do not see your
H drive, you might need to make a folder connection to it.

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c. Right click on your H Drive and choose New  File Geodatabase. A new geodatabase

folderwill be created with the extension. gdb

d. Rename this geodatabase by right clicking on the file geodatabase and selecting Rename.
Name it “Regional_Planning_Base_Data.gdb”.

 .Defining the geodatabase structure

The basic structure of a geodatabase consists of the feature datasets, feature classes, and
nonspatial tables into which you organize your data, along with the attribute fields in
feature class tables and nonspatial tables.

 . Entering spatial data

The 5 GIS data input techniques

a) Digitizing tablet
You sticky tape your map to a digitizer. That’s a special table with a grid of fine
wiring behind the face. Then you trace over the map features with a puck.
b) Onscreen heads-up
Heads-up digitizing is mostly used for smaller GIS data collection projects. Its where
you scan a map, georeferenced it to be in a coordinate system, and then trace the
features using a mouse. This is what I teach using the free Quantum GIS 3.
c) Automatic scanning

This is where a scanner and its software capture the spatial data automatically.
d) Entry of coordinates via coordinate geometry

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 Coordinate geometry involves manually entering X & Y coordinate information, and
distances. It is mostly used for producing detailed cadastre maps.
e) Conversion of existing digital data

This involves converting CAD data to GIS data. Most GISs can import CAD data.

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L.U2 – CREATE FEATURE CLASS AND SHAPEFILE
L.O 2.1: Create feature class and shapefile

2.1.1Four ways of creation of feature class / Shapefile

a. Using the Create Feature Class wizard

1. In the Catalog pane, right-click the geodatabase in which you want to create a feature
class.
2. Point to New > Feature Class. This opens the Create Feature Class wizard.
3. On the Define page of the wizard, type a name for the feature class in the Name text
box. To create an alias for this feature class, type one in the Alias text box.
4. Choose the type of features that will be stored in this feature class from the Feature
Class Type drop-down list.
5. If your new feature class will require m- or z-values, check the appropriate check
boxes under Geometric Properties.
6. Optionally use the Add output dataset to the current map check box to specify if the
feature class will be added to the active map.
7. Click Next.
8. On the Fields page of the wizard, you can add fields to the feature class. To add a
field to the feature class, click the final row where it says "Click here to add a new
field". A new row will be added to the list of fields. In the Field Name column, type a
name.
9. Click the drop-down menu in the Data Type column and choose a data type for the
new field.
10. In the Field Properties section at the bottom of the pane you can make edits to the
properties of the new field. The properties displayed will depend on what you've
chosen as the data type for the field. To create an alias for this field, click the text box
next to Alias and type in an alias.
11. To prevent nulls from being stored in this field, click the drop-down arrow next
to Allow Null Values, and choose No.
12. To associate a default value with this field, click the text box next to Default
value and type the value.

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 13. To set other properties specific to the type of field, either click the property in the
drop-down list or type the property.
14. Repeat steps 7 through 12 until all the feature class fields have been defined
15. You can only have one field of data type Global ID or Raster in your feature class.
16. If you want to import field definitions from another feature class or table,
click Import and browse to its location, select the feature class or table, and click OK.

You can also import field definitions stored in files of type .dbf, .txt, .csv, and
.xlsx.

17. When editing fields in the Create Feature Class wizard, options for Cut, Copy,
and Paste can be found on the clipboard, the right-click context menu, and as
keyboard shortcuts. To use any of the clipboard options on a field, click in the
leftmost column of the data grid to select the row. Then use the Clipboard section of
the ribbon, the right-click context menu, or the appropriate shortcut keys to cut, copy,
or paste the row. If you cut and paste, or copy and paste, it will produce a copy of the
field with the same name. A red indicator signifies that there is a duplicate name and
it must be renamed to a unique field name before the Finish button becomes active
again.
18. If you want to change the order of the fields you've added, you can click on a field
and drag and drop it into another position above or below its current position in the
fields list. Note that the OBJECTID and SHAPE fields are greyed out and immovable.
19. Click Next when you are done managing fields.
20. On the Spatial Reference page of the wizard you will set the spatial reference for the
new feature class. The box for Current XY is highlighted. Under XY Coordinate
Systems Available, browse to the coordinate system you want to use. This control has
search and filter options to help you locate a specific coordinate system. You can also
base the coordinate system for the new feature class on a layer in the current map,
create your own coordinate system, or import a coordinate system from another
feature class. To learn more about specifying a coordinate system, see Specify a
coordinate system.
21. If you chose to include z-values on the first page of the wizard, click the box
under Current Z and browse to the z-coordinate system you would like to use.

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 22. Once you have chosen a coordinate system, click Next to continue with the wizard.
You can also click Finish at this point to accept the default values for tolerance,
resolution, and configuration keywords and create the new feature class.
23. On the Tolerance page, enter an x,y tolerance or accept the default value.
24. If the feature class will have z-values, enter the z-tolerance or accept the default.
25. If the feature class will have measures, enter the m-tolerance or accept the default.
26. If you make changes to the x,y, z-, or m-tolerances and want to revert back to the
default value, click the Reset To Default button.
27. Click Next.
28. On the Resolution page, by default the Accept default resolution and domain extent
(recommended) check box is checked. The default resolution and extents are
sufficient in most situations, but if you know that your data needs these properties
changed you can uncheck the Accept default resolution and domain extent
(recommended) check box and edit the x, y, z-, or m-resolution values as well as the
minimum and maximum values for the z- and m-domain extents. Learn more
about The properties of a spatial reference.
29. Click Next.
30. On the Storage Configuration page of the wizard, you can customize how the feature
class will be stored. If you want to specify a storage configuration for the new feature
class, click Use Configuration Keyword and choose the appropriate configuration
keyword from the drop-down menu. Learn more about Configuration keywords.
31. Click Finish to create the new feature class. If at any point you want to discard your
changes and not create a new feature class, you can click the close button at the top of
the dialog box and close the Create Feature Class wizard.

b. creates a feature class using geoprocessing

The Create Feature Class geoprocessing tool is found in the Data Management Tools toolbox
under Feature Class. You can also use the search text box in the Geoprocessing pane to find
it. This tool will create an empty feature class. You can then create fields for the feature class
in Fields view, or use the Append tool to add data from a feature class of the same type.

C.Create a feature class by exporting a map layer

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If you are working with a layer in the map, you can export it to create a new feature class or
shapefile.

Right-click the layer in the Contents pane and click Data > Export Features. This opens
the Copy Features geoprocessing tool. If the input is a layer that has a selection, only the
selected features will be copied. If the input is a feature class or shapefile, all features will be
copied. Type an output location in the Output Feature Class text box or browse to an output
location for the new feature class. If the output location you select is a folder, the tool will
create a new shapefile instead of a feature class.

D.Create a feature class by importing data

You can use the Import context menu in the Catalog pane to create a new feature class. Right-
click a geodatabase or feature dataset in the Catalog pane and click Import > Feature Class.
This opens the Feature Class to Feature Class geoprocessing tool, which allows you to choose
a location and name for the feature class and select a subset of features using an SQL
expression. You can also add, rename, or delete output fields as well as set properties such as
data type and merge rule.

2.1.2 Creation of appropriate feature class / shapefile

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

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b. Creating the attribute table

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c. Starting the Metadata documentation

Data documentation provides all the information required to interpret, understand and
use data. Good documentation is also essential for successful data preservation. Metadata
means data about data and appears in a standardised in format.

d.Adding and editing geographic features and attributes in ArcMap

 Creating Features

a. In ArcMap you can only edit shapefiles in one folder at a time, thus occasionally you may
be asked to choose which folder you want to activate.

b. To start editing a shapefile:

1. Right-click on the layer in the Table of Contents and choose Edit Features → Start Editing
2. Do this for Buildings first.

3. This will activate both the Editing Toolbar and the Create Features Window

4. Then select the layer you want to edit in the top section of the Create Features window. In
this case choose Buildings

5. There are a series of templates available for feature creation in the bottom section called
Construction Tools
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i. Usually one wants to use the default Polygon, but if the feature is a simple rectangle of the
outer extent of the soil map, so change it to Rectangle

6. When you move the cursor into the viewer you should see a cross with a rectangle under
it.

7. Find a feature to digitize. For now, locate the Notre Dame Stadium

8. Click on a point along the outside.

9. This will pop up Feature Construction toolbar. For now, just ignore it.

10. Now continue clicking around the outside until you finish the outline

11. Double click to complete the feature.

12. To save this feature got to Editor → Save Edits

13. You may want to change the symbology to hollow (transparent) and with an obvious
color boundary.

 Adding attribute data

i. Your newly created feature now has a shape but no underlying attribute data.

ii. While the new feature is still selected, click the Feature Property Editor button ( ) on the
Editor toolbar.

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iii. The Attributes of the selected feature will be shown as a new tab in the Create Features
window a. I find it most useful to separate these two by dragging the tab out and leaving the
Attributes window floating

iv. The first two fields (FID and ID) are automatically set, but any other user-defined ones
will be blank.

v. Enter the relevant text into the blank area next to Soil Code.

vi. You can leave the Attribute window open to the side as you create new features. The
attributes of the selected feature(s) will always be visible in this window.

 Saving your edit

i. The new feature must be saved. To do this, select Save Edits from the Editor menu. It is
not necessary to do this after creating each feature, but it is useful to get into the habit of
saving your edits periodically.

ii. Note that by selecting Save Edits, you are writing to the shapefile itself, rather than just
making changes to the layer's display or the map document. To save changes to the layer
properties, save the entire map (File → Save).

2.1.3 Retrieving selected feature into the feature class / shapefile

One of the most common tasks after selecting data is to create a data subset, or exporting
just the selected features to a new feature class or shapefile. The export process will
create a new layer containing only the selected features (of the vector data type, either feature
class or shapefile, depending on where the new layer is going to be stored - geodatabase or
folder, respectively). For example, if you need a layer that contains only the State of
Colorado, there is no need to spend hours searching for a Colorado.shp shapefile when layers
of the United States as whole are easy to find. By adding the United States layer to an MXD,
selecting the State of Colorado, and exporting a new layer - Colorado.shp - you’ve got it
made in the shade.

The purpose of subsetting data (creating a data subset) is to create a layer with a smaller
amount of data which serves our purpose in a more focused way. Often, we download data
which has thousands of features, and we are just not interested in all of those features. Some
may fall outside an area of interest or study site, some may be outside of a time frame which

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fits the scope of our project, or some might not meet the minimum size requirement. These
are just a few examples of why we might create a data subset - there are theoretically infinite
reasons why some features may not make the cut of a specific project - but in all cases, the
data set one started with was much too large and needed to be pared down into a subset of the
original.

L.O 2.2: feature class / shapefile types according to feature object being represented

2.2.1 Types of object features

 Simple point
 Complex point
 Simple line
 Complex line
 Directed simple line
 Directed complex line, Polygon

2.2.2. Identification of feature class / Shapefile type

 Points
 Line
 Polygon
 Annotation

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L.U.3 – Investigate Metadata Content

3.1. Perform ArcCatalog

You can use ArcCatalog to search for data. If you know something about the data you are
looking for but do not know where it is located, ArcCatalog can help. The Search tool will
look on disks, in databases, and on ArcIMS metadata services for data that satisfies your
criteria. You can search for specific data formats and for maps covering a defined
geographic area. For example, you might try to find rasters that were published before a
given date and that have less than 10 percent cloud cover. As ArcCatalog finds data that
satisfies your search criteria, shortcuts to those sources are added to the search results list.
ArcCatalog saves your search so you can run it again later.

Geographical data quality

Data quality is a pillar in any GIS implementation and application as reliable
data are indispensable to allow the user obtaining meaningful results. Spatial
Data quality can be categorized into Data completeness, Data Precision, Data
accuracy and Data Consistency.

 Data Completeness: It is basically the measure of totality of features. A

data set with minimal amount of missing features can be termed as
Complete-Data.
 Data Precision: Precision can be termed as the degree of details that are
displayed on a uniform space.
 Data Accuracy: This can be termed as the discrepancy between the actual
attributes value and coded attribute value.
 Data Consistency: Data consistency can be termed as the absence of
conflicts in a particular database.

3.2. Explore the content of metadata

What are metadata in GIS?

Metadata is information about data. Similar to a library catalog record, metadata records
document the who, what, when, where, how, and why of a data resource. Geospatial metadata
describes maps, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) files, imagery, and other location-
based data resources.
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Metadata is a summary document providing content, quality, type, creation, and spatial
information about a data set. It can be stored in any format such as a text file, Extensible
Markup Language (XML), or database record. Because of its small size compared to the data
it describes, metadata is more easily shareable. By creating metadata and sharing it with
others, information about existing data becomes readily available to anyone seeking it.
Metadata makes data discovery easier and reduces data duplication.

A metadata standard describes the content and format of a GIS dataset. There are a couple
of good reasons for using a metadata standard. First off, it ensures that a metadata document
contains all the relevant information that is needed. Second, because the metadata in a
standard is in a predictable format its users know where to find a specific piece of
information. Computer software can be written to look for key words in a predictable location
and format in the metadata and use those keywords in search engines that allow users to find
relevant GIS datasets. Of the number of metadata standards that are available the most
commonly used is the FGDC metadata standard where FGDC stands for Federal
Geographic Data Committee.

This FGDC metadata standard has seven main sections which are listed below because they
give you a good sense of the type of information that you can find in metadata:

1. Identification Information includes the title of the dataset, keywords and a description of
the data and its purpose. This section also includes the person or organization that created the
data, the publication date, access constraints to this data and the time period for which the
data is relevant.
2. Data Quality Information. This section describes the process that was used to generate
the GIS dataset. For example, it includes the names of other datasets that were used and
analyses that were performed to generate the current data. 3. Spatial Data Organization
Information. This section states whether the data is in a raster or vector (i.e. point, line or
polygon) format.
4. Spatial Reference. This section describes which coordinate system in which the dataset is
projected.

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5. Entity and Attribute Information. Here you will find a list of the attributes you can find
in the attribute table along with (hopefully) an explanation about the meaning and possible
values for each of the attributes.
6. Distribution Information. This section states where you can get this data. For example,
can you download it or do you need to order it?
7. Metadata Reference Information. In short, this is metadata about metadata. It describes
which metadata standard was used as well as the name and contact information for the person
who wrote the metadata.
3.2.1 quality of geographic data?

Data quality is a pillar in any GIS implementation and application as reliable

data are indispensable to allow the user obtaining meaningful results. Spatial
Data quality can be categorized into Data completeness, Data Precision, Data
accuracy and Data Consistency.

 Data Completeness: It is basically the measure of totality of features. A

data set with minimal amount of missing features can be termed as
Complete-Data.
 Data Precision: Precision can be termed as the degree of details that are
displayed on a uniform space. More about precision: GIS Data: A Look at
Accuracy, Precision, and Types of Errors
 Data Accuracy: This can be termed as the discrepancy between the actual
attributes value and coded attribute value.
 Data Consistency: Data consistency can be termed as the absence of
conflicts in a particular database.

3.3. metadata and their us

Metadata is commonly referred to as “data about data”. There are several different types of
metadata. These can be broadly defined under the categories of Descriptive, Structural, and
Administrative.

• Descriptive Metadata: Information that describes the content, quality, and context of a
data resource for the purpose of facilitating identification and discovery. It may reference
additional information like quality assurance documents and data dictionaries. Through
descriptive metadata a user can learn the what, why, when, who, where, and how for a data
resource.

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• Structural Metadata: Information about how the item is put together or arranged such as
the table of contents page, individual page numbers, or illustration. It basically describes the
structure of an item, such as a book, so that all of the pages of that item can be displayed in
the correct order. In the electronic world it facilitates navigation and presentation of
electronic resources.

• Administrative Metadata: Includes information about resolution, bit depth, type of

equipment used to produce the file, storage format, and file name and location. It can also
include basic facts on ownership, rights, and reproduction information.

 Technical metadata.
Technical metadata provides information on the technical properties of a digital file or
the particular hardware and software environments required in order to render or process
digital information. Some technical properties are required in order to render the message
(ie turn it into meaningful content). This property is fundamentally required in order to
display the correct message or image in this case.

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