ArcCatalog and Geodatabases

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ArcCatalog and Geodatabases

• Francisco Olivera, Ph.D., P.E.
• Srikanth Koka
• Department of Civil Engineering
• Texas AM University

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ArcCatalog

• ArcCatalog has advanced capabilities for
  accessing, managing and previewing data.

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View Types

• There are three different types of views for data
  display
• Contents
• Preview
• Metadata

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Folder Connection

• To access the data in a folder or geodatabase, a
  connection has to be established.
• To establish the connection, click on the Connect
  to Folder button.
• In the Connect to Folder wizard, navigate to the
  folder or geodatabase that contains the data and
  click OK.

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Preview
Geography Preview
Table Preview
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Metadata

• The metadata view in ArcCatalog can be used for
  viewing information about the data.
• Metadata can be created, edited, imported or
  exported using the Metadata toolbar.

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Geodatabase

• A geodatabase is a relational database that
  contains spatial and non-spatial objects.

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Types of Geodatabases

• Personal Geodatabases
• Have .mdb extension.
• Can be viewed by multiple users but edited by
  only one user at a time.
• Have a maximum size of 2 Gigabytes.
• Do not store raster data.
• Multi-user Geodatabases
• Require ArcSDE and a DBMS ( Data Base Management
  Systems).
• Can be read and edited by multiple users at the
  same time.
• Can store raster data.

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Personal Geodatabases

• Importable Data Types
• Coverages
• Shapefiles
• CAD drawings
• INFO tables
• DBF tables
• Can be opened with ArcCatalog and MSAccess.

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Geodatabase Elements
Workspace
Geodatabase
Feature Dataset
Feature Class
Geometric Network
Relationship Class
Table
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Feature Class

• A feature class is a collection of geographic
  objects in tabular format that have the same
  behavior and the same attributes. All feature
  classes have a field named Shape.
• A feature class can be stored at the geodatabase
  root or in a feature dataset.
• New feature classes can be created using
  ArcCatalog. To do this, right click on a
  geodatabase or feature dataset, and point to
  New/Feature Class.

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Feature Class Types
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Tables

• A table (or object class) is a collection of
  non-spatial objects in tabular format that have
  the same behavior and the same attributes. All
  object classes have a field called ObjectID,
  sometimes also called FID or OID.
• Tables can be stored at the root level of
  geodatabases but not inside feature datasets.
• Table format supported INFO, dBase and others.

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Feature Dataset

• A Feature Dataset is a collection of feature
  classes that have the same spatial reference.
• Feature datasets can also store relationship
  classes and geometric networks, but not tables.
• New feature datasets can be created using
  ArcCatalog. To do this, right click on a
  geodatabase, then point to New/Feature Dataset.

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Feature Dataset Properties

• The Feature Dataset Properties wizard can be used
  for viewing or defining a feature datasets
  spatial reference properties.

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Relationships

• A Relationship is an association or link between
  two objects in a database.
• A relationship can exist between spatial objects
  (features of feature classes), non-spatial
  objects (records of tables), or between spatial
  and non-spatial objects.

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Relationships
Relationship between non-spatial objects
State Name and code
State Population
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Relationships
Relationship between spatial and non-spatial
objects
Non-spatial data
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Relationships
Relationship between two spatial objects
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Relationship Class

• A relationship class is an association between
  two object classes (i.e., feature classes or
  tables).
• Relationships can be one-to-one, one-to-many or
  many-to-many.
• Can be created and edited using ArcInfo or
  ArcEditor only, but can be accessed with ArcView.
• Can be inside or outside feature datasets.