Week 2 Lab: Attribute Data Manipulation
In this exercise you will learn how to update, query, and manipulate attribute data in ArcGIS. Finish all tasks in Chapters 8 and 10 in Chang. Lab exercise data are available in: I:\Students\Instructors\Geoffrey_Duh\GEOG4575\Chang_5e\chap8 and chap10 (or on the textbook CD). Please copy all these folders to your working directory in C:\Students before you start.
Answer and submit all questions listed at the end of this exercise. You DON'T need to submit answers to the questions listed at the end of the tasks in the textbook. Detail information of Geodatabase subtypes, attribute domains, and relationship classes can be found in this week's readings.
Additional notes for ArcGIS 10 Users
* ArcCatalog in ArcGIS 10 is embedded in ArcMap. You can use the embedded version to finish the lab exercises designed for ArcCatalog.
* After ArcGIS 9.2, a file geodatabase is available for non-SDE users. You can use the file geodatabase to replace the personal geodatabase in ArcGIS.
* The toolbar display menu is now moved to "Customize" on the main pull-down menu of ArcMap. The Graphs menu is moved to the "View" menu.
* The advanced field calculator (i.e., using pre-logic script codeblock in the calculation) in ArcGIS 10 now supports both VBScript and Python. If you are familiar with Python, feel free to replace the VBScript codes in lab instructions. There are modifications to the VBScript syntax in 10. Please use the following codeblock as a guide to enter your VBScript in Chapter 8, Task 5, Step 2.
Dim intclass
If [ELEV] > 0 And [ELEV] <= 40 Then
intclass = 1
ElseIf [ELEV] > 40 And [ELEV] <= 45 Then
intclass = 2
...
End If
* Please use your keen observation and common sense to use the tools mentioned in the lab instructions. It's always a good practice to figure out all the options of a tool using its online help. This extra effort will make you a skillful (Arc)GIS user!
* Raster Calculator in ArcGIS 10 is available as a tool in ArcToolbox (under the Map Algebra toolset). You can also use the search tool to locate it. It seems that tool has difficulty to parse the statements correctly. Please use parentheses to make the statements decipherable by the tool. See below for an example.
("slope_gd" == 2) & ("aspect_gd" == 4)
Questions
1) Explain how you would determine the key fields for a Relate if you needed to relate several tables.
2) What's the difference between a Join, a Relate, and defining a relationship class? When is one more appropriate than the others?
3) Chapter 8, Tasks 4, 5 and 6 all give methods to create new attribute data. Summarize each method and comment on when you might prefer that method.
4) Chapter 10, Task 4: What kind of willow is found in areas of frequent or occasional flooding?
5) Make up a problem for which the Raster Data Query operations in Chapter 10, Task 6 would be useful.
6) Explain what a split policy is and what are the options it has in ArcGIS.