Maplet - Splitting Datasets by Attribute

Today's blog is another Maplet for ArcGIS 10. A coworker was wanting to know how to split a dataset into parts based on an attribute, so here is a short video with a couple of ways. For just a few elements, it can be just as quick to do a definition query for each of the fields and then do a data export. You can do the same just by selecting an attribute, and exporting, but you have to remember to only export the selected features.
  I also showed a neat little tool developed by Tim Fox of the USGS that automates the process. This can be a real time saver when there are more than a few attributes you want to use. Here is the link to the USGS tool.

Now, the video.

Time to get blogging again - I posted a new Maplet

Time goes by, and I periodically remind myself that I need to get back to my blogging. Well, no time like now. I'm starting with the announcement of a new Maplet - one of my GIS tips. This one is for ArcGIS 10 (specifically 10.2.2 but should work in all the 10s). I've had a few clients ask about this technique, so I thought I'd post it online as a reference.

The technique is for clipping imagery to a boundary. Specifically this is an issue where you may have a large photomosaic set in an ECW or similar file format that requires a rectangular dataset, but your imagery is made up of a non-rectangular tiles combined. The area not covered by images becomes a blank white area. That doesn't work too well when you're overlaying different datasets, particularly if you are overlaying different imagery sets at different scales.

Most of the time, this white border, or collar as it is sometimes called, can be removed by assigning the color value of the collar as a background color and set to not display, but in this case, the border is a range of color values. In this case, the trick is to have a boundary around the actual image area and use that boundary as a clipping edge.

The tricky part is finding where to do this. It is found in the Image Analysis from the Windows pull-down.

  Check out the video for details:

Introduction, and A Primer on Mapping Technologies, circa 1996

I started this blog as a way to discuss one of my great passions, geospatial technology. So far, I have yet to post. So, I guess it's about time. First, I'll introduce myself. I recently took a position as the Geospatial Territory Manager, which really means that I will train, support, demo and just plain talk about Autodesk geospatial and civil engineering software.

In my last position, I spent 11 years as a Programmer/Analyst working with geospatial software in an Information Services group supporting mapping, design and similar groups for the distribution side of a major private electric utility. Prior to that, I was a GIS Specialist for a small water/sewer utility (I did gain a Water Treatment, Water Distribution, Sewer Treatment and Sewer Collection Operators Certification while there). I also spent several years working for some consulting engineering firms doing hydrology modeling, airfield design, and general civil design. Throughout I was using GIS systems for the majority of this work. My career started with a 9 year stint in the US Air Force, as an Engineering Technician (also called a Site Development Specialist).

It was in the USAF that I began working with geospatial systems. I actually implemented the first one in the USAF. That was more luck though. There were three of us on different bases working on it. I was able to bypass the traditional procurement process, and we purchased our software, hardware and training through a contract with the Corps of Engineers. So I got mine in first. While in the USAF, I was able to do some pretty interesting things (at least to me) with GIS. One was the preliminary design for the Stealth Fighter beddown at Holloman AFB in New Mexico. Another was the reutilization of the Systems Command HQ, a very large office building in the Washington, DC (Andrews AFB) area vacated after the dissolution of Systems Command. The third significant project was the inventory of Harvest Bare equipment (portable facilities - buildings, hangers, etc) all over Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm.

I thought I'd start my blog with an introduction to geospatial systems. This is a document that I originally wrote in 1991 to introduce my colleagues to the subject. Later, in 1996 I revised it a bit for the same purpose. I'm not sure that I agree with everything in it now - for example, I'm not sure that I would use the same definition for AM/FM systems. At the time I equated network-based systems for utilities as AM/FM systems. Additionally, one of the major GIS software systems has dropped the traditional topological model, but has made it available as a form of overlay. Technically, the distinctions get pretty grey, but it's close enough.

Reviewing it, it still seems appropriate as a general introduction into the topic. So, without further ado, I present "A Primer on Mapping Technologies," the 1996 edition.



I'm not sure how well the Zoho Viewer works on all machines, so I'm including a link to the document as well.