Latest Contributions by DanielLunsford1

Hi folks, I found a few threads related to the question I am about to ask, but they were all 'dead' threads that apparently no one had answered. So, I will try again: A client of mine requested that I convert a .shp of 2' contours into CAD for their use. However, the 'Export to CAD' tool does not preserve the actual table data- all the contour lines have the same shape, color, linetype, etc. My client has no way to see what contours are what once it is exported. My question: can someone give me a brief walk-through of how I might be able to export these contours into CAD with the data table still attached? The only way I can think of to do this otherwise is to export each individual contour line into CAD on a separate layer that is labeled appropriately, then reassemble all the layers into a single CAD file again. Doable, but inefficient! ... View more

I set up a new polygon shapefile in ArcCatalog and added it to an existing file. I would like to add a polygon to it now. However, if I go to Editor=> Start Editing, and select the shapefile I wish to edit (the one I just created), it asks me to select a template (see attachment), and lists several other shapefiles in the same map. If I choose one of them from the Create Feature window, it draws the shape in that shapefile, not in the one I wish to edit! If I turn off all those other shapefiles, it doesn't allow me to do anything- I can't select a template at all. What am I doing wrong? Why does it insist on drawing the polygon in whatever shapefile I select as the template and not in the shapefile I am actually editing? ... View more

I am a college student using the evaluation version of ArcMap 10 for a project. I would like to pull in Google Maps imagery into my ArcMap 10 maps. I understand that this can be done, but my question is: how? I'm a beginning ArcMap user and a lot of the Help items I've read through seem to be dead end: that is, I follow the directions on how to add tools, but the tool I am told to add isn't where the Help article says it should be... is it because I have an evaluation copy? Can anyone direct me to a newbie-friendly, step-by-step instructions on how to do this? Or, can anyone point me toward a free source of detailed aerial maps that ArcMap can work with directly? I've found some USGS maps but they are all far too large scale to do me any good- I need to see individual buildings in some detail, well enough to get a decent measure of their footprint in square feet. ... View more

I am working on a display drawing for a new subdivision using ArcMap 10. The layout view is looking pretty good, but I am trying to fine-tune it now and I have a few questions: 1) My polygon layer shows each proposed tract; however, to find out what each tract's acreage is, I have to measure it with the measure tool. Is there any way I can set ArcMap to automatically calculate and show the acreage of each tract in the Attribute table? 2) It would be really nice if I could label each tract AND the acreage; the only way I can think to do this is to either create a point file that has one label, or put them all in layout view using the Text tool. However, both options have their own inherent problems. Looking at the Properties => Labels tab of any given layer, it looks like there's no way to label two fields from the same layer. Is this correct? 3) Finally, how do you lock a layout view? What I would like to do is lock layout view to a given scale that will not change if I move/scroll/zoom in either layout or data view (kind of like locking a viewport in AutoCAD, for those who are familiar with that program). Please help, and thanks! ... View more

I imported an AutoCAD 2000 drawing (audited and purged) containing nothing but polylines into ArcMap 10. I tried to export to a shapefile using Conversion Tools=> to Shapefile=> Feature Class to Shapefile (Multiple) tool. It worked fine, except a few polylines were inexplicably left out. I figured it was because they weren't closed, so I went into the CAD file, redrew those objects, and made sure they were closed. When I tried to convert the CAD file to a shapefile again, I kept getting the following error: "Failed to convert: Parcels.dwg Group Layer\Parcels.dwg Polyline Problem generating Output Name (Error 999999: error executing function)" I am mystified as to why redrawing less than a half dozen polyline shapes in the CAD drawing somehow screwed everything up. Does anyone have any idea what happened, and more importantly: how can I successfully convert this CAD file to a polygon shapefile? ... View more

I would like to manipulate a raster graphic (jpg) our architect sent us- a conceptual plan for clearing a parcel of land. I would like to use it as an 'underlay' so I can locate new points to clear by, then upload to our Garmin GPS. The problem I have is, if I zoom to raster resolution, ArcMap zeros in on the correct lot but nothing is visible; however, if I zoom to layer the image appears but doesn't seem to be anywhere near the right place. I've checked that there is no minimum scale to view, and I notice that zoom to make visible is greyed out. Any ideas? I would like to manually move/drag the image if necessary, but even here I can't seem to select the image in editor, even though I have triple-checked I am editing from the right database. ... View more

I have three shapefiles exported from a CAD drawing (point, polygon, polyline). Judging by where the CAD drawing came in when I first added it as data, it is in a different coordinate system (the architect who sent it seems to like WGS 84; however, I'm using NAD 83 State Plane Texas Central FIPS 4203 since that is what the county uses). Changing the coordinate system in ArcCatalog doesn't 'move' these to where it should be. What am I doing wrong? Sometimes ArcMap will flag me to do a transformation when I add data with a different coordinate system, which usually fixes things. Is there any way to do an 'on demand' transformation on these CAD-derived shapefiles? ... View more

In my St_Cline layer, I have a field called TMP (Transpo Master Plan). Each segment of my centerlines are labeled 'LS' (local street), 'CS' (collector street), 'PA' (primary arterial), and so forth in this field. Is there a way I can assign one color and line weight to the PAs, a different color an/or weight to the CSs, etc. without splitting them into different shapefiles? ... View more

I am currently working on mapping the city's billboard locations. Since TxDOT now has regulatory power over all billboards along state right-of-ways, TxDOT sent us their standard point shapefile and attribute tables. I added their point layer to our drawings and then tried to join their billboard point shapefile to our billboard point shapefile using the Lat (Latitude) values (keeping all records). I did this so we would have both their columns and the city's. It seems to have worked, BUT... I cannot edit the values in the joined table anymore. For example, since the TxDOT layer has billboards for the entire state, they have a 'County' column. But all ours are in the same county, so they need to be changed to "Victoria" county. After I choose Editor => Start Editing, double-clicking on the cell in the attribute table won't allow me to change those values, nor will selecting a point and using the Attribute editor tool, nor will a Find and Replace. Why can't I edit those values? Or perhaps the question I should be asking is, what is the best way to make sure we have the TxDOT columns in our attribute table as well? ... View more