ArcGIS: ArcToolbox

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ArcGIS ArcToolbox
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Goals

• Develop familiarity with ArcToolbox
• Integrated use of the different ArcGIS components
  in the context of a typical GIS project
• Review basic techniques learned in earlier
  classes
• Introduce local (Orange county) data available
  from AFS

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Agenda

• About ArcToolbox
• Toolsets in the Toolbox
• Working in the Toolbox
• Exercise

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About ArcToolbox

• What is ArcToolbox
• ArcToolbox is a collection of common
  geoprocessing tools organized in an easy to
  navigate format, and provided with GUIs and
  wizards to ensure ease of use.
• Important details
• ArcToolbox and ArcInfo Workstation - To get full
  functionality of ArcToolbox you need ArcInfo
  workstation installed along-side ArcInfo Desktop
• Coverages only - While the conversion tools
  inherently work with many different data formats,
  most of the other items work off of ArcInfo
  Workstation, and as such are only available for
  use with ArcInfo Coverages
• License levels - The number of items available in
  the toolbox depends upon the license level your
  software is set to (ArcView, ArcEditor, or
  ArcInfo)
• Opening ArcToolbox
• Open either ArcCatalog or ArcMap. Then in the
  menu select Window and click on ArcToolbox. Or
  click on the ArcToolbox icon on the standard
  toolbar.
• Using ArcToolbox and ArcCatalog together - This
  is the suggested method for using ArcToolbox.
  You can click and drag items between the two
  applications, and it is easy to preview the
  output of ArcToolbox routines in the ArcCatalog
  Preview window.

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Toolsets in the Toolbox

• Analysis Tools
• Core geoprocessing tools, extract, Overlay,
  Proximity, Statistics
• Conversion Tools
• Several tools for converting between most common
  data formats
• Data Management Tools
• Tools for organizing and updating data

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Working in the Toolbox

• Locating tools
• Tools are organized into logical groups to make
  them easy to find. If you still have trouble,
  there is a find tool item available from the
  Tools menu. Searches can be based on tool name,
  ArcInfo command name, or keyword
• Tools vs. Wizards
• Tools are single dialogs which have spaces for
  you to provide input. If you want to perform a
  routine on several coverages, you can set up
  batch jobs in tool dialogs. Wizards consist of
  multiple dialogs. They are designed to be more
  user friendly and are often available for more
  complex tasks that require lots of user input.
• Getting info about a tool
• Right click on a tool to access its properties.
  You can access a help file for the tool as well
  as the ArcInfo command that it is built on.
• Getting help with a tool
• There is an info file available in most
  toolboxes, there is access to help on the context
  menu if you right click on the item, and there
  are usually shortcuts to help on the tool windows
  and throughout the wizards.