Editing shapefile: Select Template Woes in ArcMap 10

[DanielLunsford1]

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?

[TerrySilveus]

you need to add a template for the layer you want to edit.  Click on Organize templates, and then new templates, and then put a check next to the layer you want to edit.  Than you can select that as a template and you shapes will be drawn to that layer.

[JohnJones]

The Editor works on the concept of an edit session on a workspace.  A workspace is essentially a location of a number of datasets that are edited together.  When editing shapefiles the workspace corresponds to a single directory and the editable datasets are the shapefiles in that directory.  So when you start editing on a map with data from multiple workspaces you need to specify which workspace.  Then the edit session is started not on the single dataset but the entire workspace, so here you see that you have several datasets in that workspace and they are all available for editing.  In ArcMap 10's edit environment selecting an edit template loosely corresponds to selecting a target layer (from earlier versions) but additional information is attached to the template such as default attributes (on top of the geodatabase defaults) and a tool to use which loosely corresponds to selecting an edit task (from earlier versions).  While edit templates are persisted with the map document to allow editors to setup a customized editing environment the editor will create initial templates for editable datasets when the edit session starts and it gets information from the layer's renderer so that the symbology of the newly constructed features matches the legend in the Tabe of contents. So once you are in an edit session you select a template from the dataset you want to edit (not one of the others), you could additionally delete unneded templates using the organize templates dialog as described above, then the map will remember what you are editing (provided you save the MXD and don't just add shapefiles to a blank doc every time you edit).  Additionally you can add your own templates with different default attributes so that you can focus on drawing geometries and a small subset of attributes that need to vary between every feature, rather than entering all the attributes for every feature you create.

If you are not seeing any templates corresponding to the layer you want to edit it may be that some property of that layer is preventing the template from showing, such as a complex renderer type or a definition query on the layer.  The dialog filters out any non-visible templates to prevent you from selecting templates that would create features that would then not be visible on the map (which is a confusing experience that caused problems in earlier versions).  You can use the organize templates dialog to view all the templates for any layer (including non-editable layers such as layers from a different workspace) in order to update the automatically generated templates to ensure they meet the renderer and definition query requirements to be drawn, then you can use these updated templates to draw new features.

If you want to limit what shapefiles are editable you can move them to different workspaces (directories) and start editing on the correct workspace, this can be done by right clicking on the layer and selecting start editing from the context menu.

[JohnSobetzer]

That is a nice explanation John correlating the new templates to the older procedures.

It is quicker to set up editing in the classic mode if one has also installed the Start Editing Context Menu code.  Then all one has to do is right click on the layer one wants to edit, and click on Start Editing.  That selects the workspace and the target and makes it the only selectable layer to start, then one selects the tool and one is ready to go.  No additional clicking of tools, targets or windows to get out of the way.  Unfortunately this code goes into the Visual Basic editor and hence I didin't find any way to make it work in 10 even in classic mode.  It would be nice if 10 had something similar.

[JohnJones]

The similar workflow in 10 would be to start editing via the context menu and then clicking the template you want to edit and then you can start drawing which isn't any longer (same clicks) than what you describe (I'm not familiar with that sample), except that the selected layers doesn't change which I find questionable.

[DanielLunsford1]

John- thanks for the reply, but that didn't really help me. You may have to dumb it down more, or take me through it step-by-step 😞

I actually gave up on the template thing: I just copied a shapefile I know works, renamed it, and edited from there to get what I needed. That was probably clunkier and more complex than the proper solution, but that is what I understood.

I do have a follow-up question, though: someone mentioned a 'classic mode'. How does one find that option? I tried looking for 'classic mode' in the ArcGIS Help menu, and as usual it didn't find anything useful.

[JohnSobetzer]

I find it much better to use Google to search for help.  I type in the product and the issue, (e.g. ArcGIS 10 classic editing) and I usually find something from ESRI as well as from others.  Here is one result: http://blogs.esri.com/Support/blogs/supportcenter/archive/2010/08/20/setting-the-edit-and-snapping-e...

The classic editing combined with Start Editing Context Menu in 9.3.1 manages to start editing and select the layer in a single motion right and left click, with the third click to pick the sketch tool.  When I'm in 10.1 I also have to click a button to open the Feature Template window, then click on the layer to edit, then click to select a tool (usually I have to also click a drop down to get to it) and then click to close the template window since it gets in the way.  Maybe I'm doing something wrong, I don't use 10 to edit for my real work for many reasons (such as tables) so perhaps I can be enlightened at least on editing.