Lab 6: Projecting Data and Building a Geodatabase

Introduction

This lab introduces projection utilities and geodatabase creation in ArcGIS.  You will learn the following skills in ArcView:

• Projecting data for display
• Defining a projection
• Creating a geodatabase
• Creating feature classes
• Adding fields and domains

Instructions

Do the tutorial exercises in Chapters 13 and 14 of Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop.

Deliverables

Answer the following questions and produce the following outputs.  Hand them in to the instructor at the beginning of the next lab section.  Labs should be typed, include your name and lab number, be well organized, and be stapled together.

Chapter 13

1. What is the difference between a Geographic Coordinate System and a Projected Coordinate System?
2. What is it problematic to do measurements or calculations using unprojected data?
3. What is "on-the-fly" projection?
4. At the end of exercise 13a put your name on the map using a text box, switch to a layout view, and print the map.
5. What is a prj file in ArcGIS?
6. At the end of exercise 13b put your name on the map using a text box, switch to a layout view, and print the map.
7. In ArcToolbox you can define a projection or change the projection of data"   What is the difference between the two?

Chapter 14

1. What is a feature class?
2. What are some of the advantages of a geodatabase over other formats?
3. What is a domain?
4. In exercise 14a you create a new geodatabase and then convert an ArcInfo coverage and two shapefiles into the geodatabase format.  How are geodatabases different than shapefiles?
5. A geodatabase has spatial reference information including a coordinate system, a spatial domain, and a precision.  Describe each of these three parameters.
6. In exercise 14b you added a blank feature class for water lines.  What type of information did you need to define for this blank feature class?
7. What are the different data types that can be specified for a geodatabase field?
8. Water lines are of three possible types including Main, Domestic Lateral, and Hydrant Lateral.  They are usually Main.  How do you ensure that a geodatabase adheres to these rules?