Copyright: Copyright © 1998, ESRI, Inc.


Introducing ArcExplorer

ArcExplorer is a geographic data explorer developed by ESRI .  It is designed to dramatically change the way that geographic data can be viewed and shared throughout organizations and the world. In a short time, you’ll be using ArcExplorer to view and query geographic data stored on your computer or on the Web.  With ArcExplorer, the world of geographic data available on the Web is at your fingertips and can be easily put onto your desktop.  You’ll be amazed at what you can do with ArcExplorer .


What you can do with ArcExplorer

•	View and query ESRI® shapefiles , ARC/INFO® and PC ARC/INFO® coverages and SDE™ layers

•	Display a wide variety of image formats

•	Address match (locate street addresses or intersections on a map)

•	Measure distances on your map

•	Find features

•	Identify and query geographic and attribute data

•	Display data using classifications, symbols, and labeling

•	Pan and zoom through multiple map layers

•	View and download data published on Web sites which use ESRI IMS technology.

ArcExplorer also features legends, overview maps, saving and retrieving projects, and map printing.


The Map View

A Map View is the section of the interface where you display, explore, query and analyze geographic data in ArcExplorer. Map Views are saved in the ArcExplorer session you're currently working with.

A Map View is a collection of themes, a theme being a distinct set of geographic features in a particular geographic data source. For example, a Map View showing a country might have one theme representing cities, one theme representing roads, one representing rivers, and so forth.  A Map View’s themes are listed in its Legend.


Getting Help from ArcExplorer

From the Help menu, pull down Help Contents to access the complete online documentation, or Search for help to find information on a specific topic.  To find out what a tool does, just move the cursor over it.  A short description called a Tool Tip will appear in a small popup next to the tool.

You can also check out ESRI on the Web from the Help menu.

The book Using ArcExplorer includes a complete reference guide for ArcExplorer along with a Quick Start Tutorial.  You can view or print it in PDF format in the directory where ArcExplorer was installed.   If you did not modify the components included in the standard installation, you will find Using ArcExplorer under ‘Program Files\Esri\ArcExplorer’ in a file called AEManual.PDF.


The Legend

All themes in a map view are listed to the left of the map in the Legend. The legend shows the theme name and the symbol used to draw each theme.  The check box next to each theme indicates whether it is currently turned on or off in the map view, that is, whether it is currently drawn on the map or not.  The Legend has two modes: Local for managing locally stored databases and WWW for managing data stored on Web sites.

The order in which the themes are listed in the legend is also important.  The themes at the top of the legend are drawn on top of those below it.  Themes that form the background of your map are listed at the bottom of the legend. Change the drawing order by using the left mouse button to drag themes up and down within the Legend.  Use the black and gray arrows to scroll the legend up and down if there are more themes loaded than can be shown.

Double click a theme’s name to bring up the theme properties dialog box . Right-click a theme’s name in the legend to display theme-specific menu choices  (Local mode only.)


ESRI on the Web

ESRI Home Page (http://www.esri.com) has up-to-date information on ESRI software and services.

ArcExplorer Home Page (http://www.esri.com/arcexplorer) includes

•	the latest information about ArcExplorer

•	current versions of the Troubleshooting and Frequently Asked Questions sections

Be sure to check this site often for all the latest information on ArcExplorer.

ArcExplorer Discussion Forum gives all ArcExplorer users the opportunity to post questions and get answers about ArcExplorer issues with the entire ArcExplorer community.   You can also access the ArcExplorer Discussion Forum from the ArcExplorer home page (http://www.esri.com/arcexplorer).

ArcData Online (http://www.esri.com/data/online/) is ESRI Internet Mapping and Data Site.  ArcData Online provides a world of geographic data to create maps of your areas of interest.


The Tool Bars

Standard

Map Tools

Theme Tools

ArcExplorer WWW Tools

You can also customize the menu bar and tool bars.


Adding Locally Stored Data to ArcExplorer

ArcExplorer’s key functionality is the adding and viewing of spatial data.

Spatial formats you can view with ArcExplorer include shapefiles, ARC/INFO coverages,

images, and SDE layers.

You can also use ArcExplorer’s Web integration tools to view data on the WWW .


Displaying Annotation

Adding annotation to ArcExplorer is a two step process.  First, add the ARC/INFO or PC ARC/INFO coverage or SDE layer that contains the annotation.  Then, the theme must be classified with labels.  Double-click the theme to open the Theme Properties dialog.  Choose Standard Labels and select the text field that contains the annotation value.  Click OK to dismiss the Theme Properties dialog.


Connecting ArcExplorer to an SDE Database

ArcExplorer recognizes data stored in a SDE database.  Before you can add an SDE layer to ArcExplorer, you must have an SDE client installed on your system.  Consult with your SDE administrator if you are not sure if your system is set up to connect to an SDE database.  If necessary, your SDE administrator will provide you with the SDE instance information needed to edit your Windows Services file.


Disconnecting from an SDE Database

When you want to disconnect from an SDE database, choose Remove Theme from the Theme menu and remove any SDE themes from your ArcExplorer project.  Then return to the Connect SDE Theme dialog and click Disconnect.   Otherwise, an SDE database is disconnected when you exit ArcExplorer.


Spatial Data Formats You Can Use in ArcExplorer

Maps in ArcExplorer are based on spatial data.  Spatial data is data containing the geographic location of features on the Earth’s surface, along with attribute information describing what these features represent.

Spatial data is at the heart of every ArcExplorer project. Spatial formats you can view with ArcExplorer include shapefiles, ARC/INFO coverages, images, and SDE layers.


ArcView GIS Shapefiles
ArcView® GIS Shapefiles

ESRI Shapefiles are a simple, non-topological format for storing the geometric location and attribute information of geographic features. A shapefile is one of the spatial data formats that you can work with in ArcExplorer.  You can drag and drop any one of the three shapefile extensions (see below) from a Windows directory directly into an ArcExplorer Map View to add that Shapefile as a theme.

The shapefile format defines the geometry and attributes of geographically-referenced features in as many as five files with specific file extensions that should be stored in the same project workspace. They are:

.shp - the file that stores the feature geometry.

.shx - the file that stores the index of the feature geometry.

.dbf - the dBASE file that stores the attribute information of features. When a shapefile is added as a theme to a view, this file is displayed as a feature table.

Index file components:

.sbn and .sbx - the files that store the spatial index of the features. These two files may not exist until you perform theme on theme selection, spatial join, or create an index on a theme's Shape field in another ESRI product.  ArcExplorer recognizes these file extensions but cannot create them.


ARC/INFO Coverages

ESRI ARC/INFO is a GIS program for handling, managing, and analyzing geographic information.  With ArcExplorer, you can access spatial data stored in ARC/INFO format, including data created from PC ARC/INFO.

An ARC/INFO coverage can contain more than one class of geographic features.  For example, a coverage containing area features such as land parcels, may also contain line features which store information about the boundaries between the parcels.  When you add an ARC/INFO coverage containing more than one feature class to a view, you choose which feature class you want the theme to represent.  This is because a theme can only represent one class of features from a coverage.  However, you can add several themes to a view each based on a different class of features from the same ARC/INFO coverage.


Spatial Database Engine (SDE) Layers

ESRI Spatial Database Engine (SDE) is a high-performance, object-based spatial data access engine implemented in several commercial relational database management systems using open standards and true client/server architecture. SDE is chosen as a means of storing an extremely large number of features in a continuous database.


ZIP Archives

ArcExplorer supports the ZIP & SHIP functionality of the Internet.  You can add ZIP archives directly to an ArcExplorer project.  ArcExplorer unzips ZIP archives into the folder you choose or create. ArcExplorer unzips shapefiles, supported images and ArcExplorer projects named default.aep, all other file formats in a ZIP archive will be ignored by ArcExplorer.

If the ZIP archive contains an ArcExplorer project named default.aep, it will be opened when the ZIP archive is added to ArcExplorer.  If you unzip a ZIP archive of shapefiles into a folder that already contains shapefiles, all shapefiles in that folder will be added to the ArcExplorer.


Viewing Data on a Web Site

ArcExplorer has its own Web integration tools for viewing and downloading geographic data from the Web. ArcExplorer assumes that you have a valid Internet connection.


How to View Data on a Web Site

1.	At the top of the legend, click the tab labeled WWW.

2.	Click the Add Theme button [image].

3.	Type in the URL of the Web site you wish to open or use the drop-down functionality to choose an AEWeb Favorite.  The first time you use ArcExplorer, ESRI ArcExplorer Web Site is listed and saved as an AEWeb Favorite.

4.	Click Add URL button.

5.	If the URL you entered is not already saved as an AEWeb Favorite , ArcExplorer prompts you to save the URL as one of your AEWeb Favorites.  Choose Yes to save the URL and then enter a name for this new AEWeb Favorite.  Choose No to open the URL without saving it as an AEWeb Favorite.

6.	The name of the data server appears under AEWeb.  Navigate through the directory of available data and click the data you want to add to the map view.  A legend listing all the Web-based themes appears below the directory.  Use the black and gray arrows to scroll through the list if it extends beyond the legend panel.


WWW Access

ArcExplorer users can view and download geographic or spatial data from Web sites that employ ESRI MapObjects™ Internet Map Server (IMS) technology.  ESRI maintains its own Web site of geographic data that ArcExplorer can access.  The URL to use in your connection is http://nutria.esri.com/scripts/esrimapc

ArcExplorer WWW access assumes that you have a valid Win32 Internet connection. ArcExplorer makes a connection using the default parameters as defined in the Windows Registry by the WWW provider software. Check with your Web administrator if you have questions regarding your Web access.


Downloading Data off a Web Site

ArcExplorer not only gives you the capability to view data, but you can also download spatial data from the Web.  The spatial data can be downloaded from the Web onto your computer in a format usable with ArcExplorer.


How to Download Data off the Web

1.	Once you are viewing data on the Web that you would like to have locally, use the Pan and Zoom tools to display the extent of data to be downloaded.

2.	Once you are satisfied with the extent, click the Retrieve Data from WWW tool [image].  At this point, ArcExplorer is attempting to connect to the map server, the machine that is serving the data. You can stop this search by clicking the Cancel WWW Request [image] tool.  Once ArcExplorer has located the map server, this button is disabled.

The following steps take you through getting data from a Web site that allows data downloads .

1.	Choose the extent of data you want and click Retrieve.

2.	Accept the License Agreement (if applicable).

3.	Choose or create the folder where you want the data to be stored, and click Open.

4.	ArcExplorer starts downloading the data.  You can halt the download of the data by clicking the Cancel button on the Retrieve Options dialog

5.	Once ArcExplorer has finished downloading the files to your local drive, you will be asked if you want to add the data to your local map view. If you choose No, the files are stored at the location where you specified.  If you choose Yes, the themes are added.  Click the Local tab at the top of the legend to use the new themes.


How Data Is Downloaded

ArcExplorer downloads data for the themes listed in the legend, regardless of whether that theme is turned on or not.

Depending on what the Web site is providing, the data can be in vector or raster data format.  Vector data are data composed of lines, areas or points; raster data are images composed of pixels.  Each vector data theme is downloaded as a shapefile; each raster data theme is downloaded into a bitmap.

A Web administrator publishing spatial data on a Web site controls what data is allowable for downloading.  When you attempt to download data, one of the following setups will be available to you.  Look for the corresponding icon under the AEWeb tree to determine which setup is available for a Web site.

  You will get the data that the Web administrator has allowed for downloading.

   You will be directed to an alternate Web site that has been provided for data downloads.

or

No data downloads are allowed for that Web site.


Managing your ArcExplorer Web Sites

Just as you would save bookmarks or favorites using your Web browser, ArcExplorer allows you to save AEWeb Favorites.  Save a Web site that you plan on visiting frequently as an AEWeb Favorite for quick access next time you want to go to it.

You can add, open, delete, or edit an AEWeb Favorite by clicking the AEWeb Favorites button [image].


Setting the Map Display Properties

You can control the background color, map outline, scroll bars, and other characteristics of your map view.

 Map display properties can only be set in Local mode.


To Change the Map Display Properties

1.	Choose Map Display Properties from the View menu.

2.	Check the Scrollbars on map box if you want the map view to include scroll bars at the edge of the map for panning.  (This option has no effect on the standard pan and zoom tools.)

3.	Check the 3D appearance box if you want the map view to have a slightly raised effect.

4.	Check the Border box if you want to enhance the border around the map view.

5.	Set a background color for the map view by clicking on the Background box and clicking the desired color.

6.	Change the color for Highlight by clicking the Highlight box and choosing a desired color.  Features found in a query are highlighted in this color.

7.	Set the Escape key to cancel an action.  You can set it to stop drawing all layers, to stop drawing the current layer, or to do nothing.


Creating MapTips

MapTips are small, popups that display data for a field you specify.  MapTips work on the active theme as you move the cursor over the features on the map view.  MapTips only work in Local mode.


How to Create MapTips

1.	Make the theme you want to display MapTips for active.

2.	Click the MapTips tool [image] to display the MapTips dialog.

3.	Choose the field to be displayed in the MapTips and click OK.

Now MapTips will display for the active theme as you move your cursor over a feature.  When done, you can disable a MapTip by clicking the Clear button on the MapTip Field Selection dialog.


Working with Scale

Each time you zoom in, zoom out or resize a map view, the scale changes.  ArcExplorer reports this change on the scale bar.


Scale Bar

The scale bar consists of a representative fraction (1:24,000), a rule with distance markers, and an equation (One inch = 40 miles).  The fraction (RF scale) is a common way to present scale in cartography and can be read as "one inch on the screen is equal to 24,000 inches on the ground." The equation (sometimes referred to as a "verbal scale") presents the same information but translates the single unit (an inch in this example) into a unit you'd use when getting around in the real world (e.g., miles).


To Add a Scale Bar to the Map View

1.	Check Display Scale Bar on the View menu to add a scale bar.

2.	Right-click the scale bar and choose from Map , Scale , and Screen Units .


Map units

Map units are the units in which geographic data are stored.  Because there are a variety of data collection and storage methods, it is impossible for the ArcExplorer software to determine exactly which type of map unit is used with your data.  Because of this, you must select the proper map units for accurate scale bar measurements.  ArcExplorer defaults to decimal degrees but this could be wrong and provide erroneous results on the scale bar if your data is stored in feet or meters.

If you don't know the map units for your GIS data, read your data documentation or speak to the person who gave you the data.  If you can’t find this information, you can zoom into a familiar area and try all three map units choices until you get one that seems to provide the most accurate results.

You can set the map units as decimal degrees, feet or meters.


Scale units

Scale units display in the scale bar itself and in the right side of the verbal scale equation (e.g. 1 centimeter = 200 kilometers). You can set the scale units as miles, feet, meters, or kilometers.


Screen units

Screen units correspond to the actual display on your computer monitor and are presented on the left side of the verbal scale equation (1 inch = 40 miles).  You can set the screen units as either inches or centimeters.


Setting scale factors

You can control the scale at which a theme displays by setting its scale threshold .  For example, you could set a U.S. State boundaries theme to turn off after you zoom past a certain point, and set the county boundaries to turn on at the same scale.  Setting up scale dependencies can help keep the map display clean and focused on relevant data.


How to Set a Scale Factor

1.	Use the zoom tools to set an extent for your display.

2.	Make the theme active by clicking its name in the legend.

3.	Right-click the theme’s name and choose Set Minimum Scale Factor if you want the theme to turn off if you zoom any closer. Choose Set Maximum Scale Factor if you want the theme to turn off when you zoom further out.  Once you set a scale factor on a theme, it remains until you remove it.


How to Remove Scale Factors

Right-click the theme’s name and choose Remove Scale factors to remove any previously set scale factors.


Using an Overview Map

The overview map displays the full or partial extent of a theme with a red box outlining the current extent of the map view.   A full or partial extent is displayed depending on how far you have zoomed in. Overview maps are available in Local mode only.


How to Create an Overview Map

1.	Check Overview from the View menu to add an overview panel.

2.	Choose a theme to display in the overview map.  Typically, a theme showing boundaries or the extent of your study area, such as world country boundaries, is used in the overview map.

3.	Make the theme active and choose Use in Overview from the Theme menu. Only one theme can appear in the overview at a time.

4.	Now click and drag the red box inside the overview map to pan the map view.

5.	Once you add an overview panel to ArcExplorer, the panel is saved with the interface until you uncheck Overview on the View menu.

Other ways to add a theme to the overview map

•	Right-click a theme and choose Use in Overview Map.

•	Hold down the Control key while using the right mouse button to drag and drop the theme from the legend into the overview map.

•	Use the middle mouse button to drag and drop the theme from the legend into the overview map.


Symbolizing your Data

Choosing how to represent your data on a map may well be your most important map making decision.  Symbolizing your data involves choosing colors and symbols that will represent features.  It also involves grouping or classifying features according to their attribute values. Use the Theme Properties dialog to control how a theme is drawn in the map view.

For each theme, opening the Theme Properties dialog lets you choose:

•	If you want to classify the theme’s features, display all the features with the same symbol or label a theme.

•	The attribute the theme’s features are classified on.

•	The method of classification.

•	A color scheme for the classification.

•	How a theme is labeled.


How to open the Theme Properties dialog

•	Double-click the theme’s name in the legend

or

1.	Click the theme’s name in the legend to make it active.

2.	Click the Theme Properties button [image].  The Theme Properties dialog is displayed

In the Theme Properties dialog, the Theme name field shows you the theme you are working with.  The Classification Options show you what type of legend this theme is currently displayed with.  In this example, the Classification Option is Single Symbol, which means that all the features in the theme are currently drawn with the same symbol (the symbol shown in the dialog).

The Theme Properties dialog changes to reflect which Classification Option you have chosen.  The following sections show you how to create a Single Symbol , Unique Values , Class Breaks or Label map .


Single Symbol Maps

The Single Symbol classification displays all the features in the theme with the same color and style.  When you add a theme to ArcExplorer, it is displayed as Single Symbol maps.


To create a Single Symbol Map

1.	Open the Theme Properties dialog.

2.	Click the Color box to change the color or to create a custom color.

3.	Click the Style box to change the symbol’s style.

4.	Enter a Size value for line width, outline width, or marker size, depending on whether your theme’s feature type is line, area, or point.

5.	Click Apply to commit your changes or OK to commit the changes and close the Theme Properties dialog at the same time.


Unique Values Maps

The Unique Values classification displays features by applying a different color to each unique value for a specified field.


To create a Unique Values Map

1.	Open the Theme Properties dialog.

2.	Choose Unique Values from the Classification Options.

3.	Choose a Field (e.g., STATE_NAME).  ArcExplorer automatically assigns random colors to each unique classification.  You can click the color box itself to change a value’s color.

4.	Check the Remove Outline box if you want polygons drawn with no outline.  (This is useful when you have many small polygon features.)

5.	Click Apply to commit your changes or OK to commit the changes and close the Theme Properties dialog at the same time.


To remove classification from the active theme

Click the Clear Thematic Classification tool [image] to return the theme to Single Symbol classification.


To highlight features from the legend

Once you've set up a Unique Values map, click a colored box in the legend to highlight the corresponding features on the map.


To clear highlighted features

Click the Clear Selection button [image] to remove a highlighted feature from the map view.  A highlighted feature remains on the map view, even after you turn the theme off, until you click the Clear Selection button.


Class Breaks Maps

The Class Breaks option uses quantile classification to create graduated color maps.  In the quantile classification method, each class contains the same number of features.   A different color is applied to each category of values from whichever field in the database you specify.


To create a Class Breaks Map

1.	Open the Theme Properties dialog.

2.	Choose Class Breaks from the Classification Options.

3.	Pick a Numeric field.  This field contains the values that will be mapped.  For the numeric field, ArcExplorer is limited to finding the first 2000 unique values in your data set.

4.	Choose the Number of breaks you want in your classification.

5.	Click the Start and End color boxes to change the starting and ending colors for your color ramp.

6.	Check the Remove Outline box if you want polygons drawn with no outline.  (This is useful when you have many small polygon features.)

7.	Click Apply to commit your changes or OK to commit the changes and close the Theme Properties dialog at the same time.


Label Maps

The Labels option draws maps that are labeled with a specified text field in the database.   You have two options to create label maps: Standard or No Overlapping Labels .  Each option has its advantages depending on the type of data you are labeling and the cartography you require.

For Standard label maps, labels are placed according to the preferences you choose on the Theme Properties dialog.  Standard label maps are generally suitable for large area features that do not require resolution for label placement problems such as crowding or overlapping.  If you are displaying annotation features in ARC/INFO coverages or SDE layers, you can use the Standard option to specify an X-Offset and Y-Offset field for placing the annotation.  Additionally, Standard label maps provide placement options: splined, fitted, flipped, and rotated.

For No Overlapping Labels maps, ArcExplorer assesses the features being labeled and attempts to resolve cases where labels are crowded or overlapping.  The No Overlapping Labels option is helpful for labeling compacted features such as street networks.  Also, masking labels is only available on the No Overlapping Labels maps.


To create a Standard Labels Map

1.	Open the Theme Properties dialog.

2.	Click Standard Labels.

3.	Choose a Text field.

4.	Use the vertical and horizontal alignment tools to control the label position relative to the center of the feature being labeled.

5.	Click the Font box to change the font, style, size, or color.

6.	For displaying annotation in ARC/INFO coverages or SDE layers, choose an X-Offset and Y-Offset field.

7.	Uncheck Draw features to see only the labels and not the features.  This is useful when labeling over an identical theme with a thematic classification.

8.	Uncheck Allow Duplicates box to label features in close proximity to each other with the same name only once.  The advantages of not allowing duplicates are most obvious for data such as street networks where each segment of a street has a name field.

9.	Check Splined text for labels that follow the shape of its feature.

10.	Check Flip to place a label upside down.

11.	Check Fitted to spread a label across a feature.

12.	Choose a value from 0 to 359 if you wish to rotate the labels.

13.	Click Apply to commit your changes or OK to commit the changes and close the Theme Properties dialog at the same time.


To create a No Overlapping Labels Map

1.	Open the Theme Properties dialog.

2.	Click No Overlapping Labels.

3.	Choose a Text field.

4.	Click the Font box to change the font, style, size, or color.

5.	Choose a Label placement option.

6.	Uncheck Draw features to see only the labels and not the features.  This is useful when labeling over an identical theme with a thematic classification.

7.	Uncheck Allow Duplicates box to label features in close proximity to each other with the same name only once.  The advantages of not allowing duplicates are most obvious for data such as street networks where each segment of a street has a name field.

8.	Check Mask labels and choose a mask color you’d like to display under the label.

9.	Choose a Label Size or check Scale labels and choose a scaling factor.

10.	Click Apply to commit your changes or OK to commit the changes and close the Theme Properties dialog at the same time.


To label a theme classified as Unique Values or Class Breaks

1.	Add that theme to your legend twice.

2.	Set the second theme as a Label map.  Uncheck the Draw Features box.  Click OK.

3.	Be sure the labeled theme is listed on top of the other theme in the legend so you can see the labels on top of the map features.


Getting and Using the Attributes of Features

You can perform such queries in ArcExplorer as, pointing at features on a map to identify them, finding which features meet certain selection criteria or building a query expression to select features.


Identify Tool

When you use the Identify tool [image], ArcExplorer looks for features in the active theme at the location you click.  On the Identify Results panel, ArcExplorer reports the number of features found where you clicked.  If more than one feature was identified, you can see all the features that were found by using the drop down functionality on the Feature list.

You can drag and drop the results of an Identify into any OLE enabled application, such as Microsoft Word or Excel. With the left mouse button, click one of the data fields listed in the Identify Results panel.  Then, drag and drop into the OLE enabled application of your choice.


OLE enabled

 A set of integration standards to transfer and share information among client applications.  A protocol that enables creation of compound documents with embedded links to applications so that a user does not have to switch among applications in order to make revisions. This is useful for ArcExplorer as results from an Identify, Query, or Statistics can be dragged and dropped into such OLE enabled applications as Microsoft Word documents or Excel spreadsheets.


Find Tool

You can use the Find tool [image] to locate particular features from the themes in your map view.  Find works by searching the theme or themes you specify for features with the value you specified.  Only fields that have been defined as text strings, as opposed to numeric values are searched. The Find tool works in Local mode only.

To search for features according to a numeric value, use the Query Builder described in the next section.


To find a feature by name

1.	Click the Find tool [image].

2.	In the Find Features dialog

3.	Enter name of what you want to find. You don't need to enclose the text you specify in quotes. Find is case sensitive. Wildcard characters are not supported.

4.	Choose a search type. Choose “Any Part of Field” if you want to enter only part of the search text. For example, if you are searching a theme of world countries, just typing Afgh would find Afghanistan.

5.	Choose which theme or themes to search.

6.	Click Find. ArcExplorer searches the features in the chosen themes to find features that meet the search criteria.  ArcExplorer is limited to finding the first 500 features that meet the search criteria.

7.	Select a feature that was found in the search.

8.	Click Highlight to see the found feature on the Map view; click Pan To to pan the display to the found feature; click Zoom To to zoom into the found feature.


Query Builder

A query expression is a precise definition of what you want to select.  Building a query expressionis a powerful way to select features because an expression can include multiple attributes, operators, and calculations.


To query a theme

1.	Click the name of the theme you wish to query to make it active.

2.	Click the Query tool [image].

In this example, you have a map of world cities and you want to find cities that are not capitals but have a population greater than 1,000,000.

The Query Builder dialog lets you build the query expression by either clicking on fields, operators, and values, or by typing it in.  We’ll start by building the part of the expression to do with whether or not the city is a capital.

3.	From the list of fields, click CAPITAL to enter it into the expression.

4.	Click the Equal button to enter the = operator into the expression.

5.	Click N from the Sample Values list.

Queries on SDE Themes: Due to the potentially large size of SDE layers, Sample Values are not listed for SDE themes.

6.	Now we’ll build the part of the expression to do with population.  Click the And button [image] to indicate that both parts of the expression must be true.

7.	From the list of fields, click POPULATION.

8.	Click the Greater Than button [image].

9.	Type 1000000 into the expression.

10.	Click the Execute button.  Features that meet the query definition appear in the Query Results panel .   The Query Builder is limited to only finding the first 2,000 records that meet the search criteria.

You can drag and drop the results of an Identify into any OLE enabled application, such as Microsoft Word or Excel. With the left mouse button, click one of the data fields listed in the Identify Results panel.  Then, drag and drop into the OLE enabled application of your choice.


Working with Query Results

•	Choose another field for the Display Field and click Execute to see a different field displayed under the Query Results. Or check Show All Attributes to see all the fields associated with the found feature(s).

•	Click Highlight Results to highlight all the features in the Map view that met the query.  Use Zoom to Results to zoom in on just those features.

•	Pick a single record from the results panel and press Highlight under Selected Record to see the feature. Also, Pan or Zoom to see that feature in the Map view.

•	Sort the query results according to a text field by pressing the title of that column. Sorting only works on alphanumeric fields; if you sort a numeric field you'll get the wrong results.

•	Click the Save Results button [image] above the Query Results panel to save the results of the query to an ASCII text file.

or

•	 Drag and drop the results of a query into any OLE enabled application, such as Microsoft Word or Excel. Click an entry listed in the Query results. Then, drag and drop into the OLE enabled application of your choice.

Here is an example of query results after they have been dragged to an ASCII text file

Query Expression:  CAPITAL = 'N' and POPULATION >1000000

NAME|COUNTRY|POPULATION|CAPITAL

Ahmadabad|India|2400000|N

Aleppo|Syria|1216000|N

Alexandria|Egypt|3350000|N

Amsterdam|Netherlands|1860000|N

Anshan|China|1300000|N

Antwerpen|Belgium|1100000|N

Atlanta|US|1962500|N

•	Clear the Query Results panel by clicking the Clear Results button [image].


More examples illustrating the syntax of query expressions

•	Strings such as names are always single quoted in query expressions.  Strings are case sensitive, so if a string field’s value is ‘Albania’, you can select this record with:

NAME = 'Albania'

•	When querying strings, you can use % as a single or multiple character wildcard in conjunction with the like operator.  For example, to select ‘Luxembourg’ you could use this expression:

NAME like 'Lux%'

•	Queries can compare the values of two fields.  For example, to find all the counties whose population declined from 1990 to 1996:

POP1990 > POP1996

•	Use the And operator when both expressions must be true.  For example, to find features with an area of between 42000 and 71000:

AREA >=  42000 and AREA <= 71000

•	Use the Or operator when at least one expression must be true:

SALES > 20000 or CURRENT_ORDERS > 20000


Generating summary statistics

Once you've selected a set of features with the Query Builder, you can also generate summary statistics on a certain field in the database for just those selected records.  Statistics are generated for selected features or the full database.


To generate summary statistics

1.	In the Query Builder, press the Statistics button.

2.	Choose the field for which you want to generate statistics from the list.

3.	By default, ArcExplorer generates statistics for all records in the database; check the Use Query Results box if you want statistics on just the query results.

4.	The summary statistics appear in the Query Results panel.

Click the Save Results button [image] above the Query Results panel to create a new file. Name the new file and click Save.  The file can be opened in a spreadsheet or word processing program to create a report or conduct further analysis.

or

 Drag and drop the statistics results into any OLE enabled application, such as Microsoft Word or Excel. Click an entry listed in the Query results. Then, drag and drop into the OLE enabled application of your choice.


The measure tool

You can use the measure tool to specify a measurement unit and then measure distances on your map in feet (ft), miles (mi), meters (m), or kilometers (km).


Measuring distances on a map view

1.	Click the Measure tool [image] and choose a measurement unit from the detachable menu.

2.	On the map view, click and drag to draw a line representing the distance you wish to measure.

3.	Double-click to stop measuring and clear the measurements from the map view.

The segment and total length you measured is displayed in the status panel at the top left of the map view.  After you double-click, the total length appears in the lower left corner on the status bar.


Address Matching

Addresses are probably the most commonly used form of geographic data.  Geocoding is the process by which you add point locations defined by street addresses, or other address information, to your map.  It’s the computer equivalent of pushing pins into a street map on your wall. Address matching is a type of geocoding.

Address matching is a process that compares an address to a street database with address ranges to determine whether the address falls on that street, and if so, which side of the street, and approximately at what location along the street. To match addresses, ArcExplorer compares components of addresses that you enter and the feature data source.  ArcExplorer then uses certain standards to determine whether addresses match.

Address matching involves interpolation, it is not an exact science.  Address matching is the process of calculating geographic positions from addresses by interpolating from the from-address and to-address of a street segment, taking into account even and odd address numbering.

A database can be completely devoid of spatial information such as latitude and longitude values or map coordinates, yet be rich in postal geography .

Before you can begin address matching, you must set the Address Match properties for the street file you are using.


How Geocoding Works

Geocoding is the method to identify address locations on a map.  An address is a text string that can be broken into components (house number, street name, direction, and/or zip codes).  An address needs a mechanism to calculate the geographic coordinate for the address.  Once this coordinate is determined, it is easy to display the location on a map. To do so, addresses must first be associated with a geographic feature, usually in a street network. The coordinates of a data source can be used to calculate and assign coordinates to addresses if the data source features also have addresses.


Street Files for Address Matching

To perform address matching, you must have a street file that contains street centerline segments with information about addresses.  The street file can be a shapefile or an ARC/INFO coverage.  There are three basic requirements for a street file to be suitable for address matching:

1.	The street file should comprise street centerline segments that form clean junctions at street intersections.  There should not be any features in a street file besides street centerline segments.

2.	Each street centerline segment should be attributed at minimum with five fields: a street name, a beginning address on the left side of the street, a beginning address on the right side, an ending address on the left side, and an ending address on the right side.

3.	The right and left address pairs must be respectively even and odd numbered.  That is, the to- and from- addresses for each side must be even or odd numbered.  The left and right sides must complement each other.

Obviously, the left and right sides of a road are relative to the direction you travel on a road.  Street files follow a convention that left and right are determined by the direction from the from-point to the to-point in the street file.

Address matching in ArcExplorer is designed for use in the United States.  Address matching may work in other international locales only if you have access to street files that conform to the requirements listed above.

Also, address matching in ArcExplorer is suitable for moderately sized street files, such as one spanning a city or county, but it is not designed for very large national street files, such as one containing all of the streets in the United States.


Possible Street Files Sources

In the United States, you can use shapefiles converted from TIGER (Topologically Integrated and Geographically Encoded Referencing system) files, which are provided at a nominal cost by the Bureau of the Census.   You can also use other street files provided by commercial vendors who have either enhanced and updated the TIGER files or built detailed street files from scratch.  It is usually more cost effective to utilize commercially available street files rather than attempt to build your own.


Preparing a theme for address matching

1.	Click the Add Theme(s) button [image] to add a street theme. The theme should meet the requirements for a street file listed above.

2.	Make the street theme you wish to address match against active.

3.	From the Theme menu, choose Address Matcher Properties.

4.	In the Address Matcher Properties dialog, specify the required Input Fields.

The required fields for the Address Matcher have default values

StreetField has a default value of NAME

LeftFromField has a default value of L_F_ADD

LeftToField has a default value of L_T_ADD

RightFromField has a default value of R_F_ADD

RighToField has a default value of R_T_ADD

5.	Click OK to make the theme matchable.

After you have prepared a street file for address matching, ArcExplorer can perform single record address matching .


Locating a street address or intersection

1.	Make the street theme that you are address matching against active.

2.	Click the Address Matcher button [image].

3.	On the Address Matching dialog, choose Address or Intersection.

4.	Type an address or intersection and cross street, city, state, and ZIP Code for the location you want to address match.  Enter as much information as you have available to ensure the most accurate address match.

5.	Click the Match button.  ArcExplorer geocodes the address and, if it can find it, locates it on your map with a point.  The map view pans and zooms to the location of the matched address.


Printing a map

ArcExplorer provides a simple map layout in landscape (horizontal) format.  The layout includes a north arrow, legend, title text, date, map view, and an optional scale bar (the scale bar must be present in the view in order for it to appear on the final layout).  If the themes or classification categories cannot fit on one page, the legend prints onto a second or more pages. The print function works with any Windows supported printer.


To print a map

1.	Click the Print tool [image].

2.	Enter a title for your map.  Choose Print Setup properties to change printers or to access other printer options.

3.	Click Print.


Copying map views for use in other applications

You may want to copy the image of a map view for use in another Windows application (like a word processor or a drawing program).  ArcExplorer makes it easy to create a graphic image of your view.


To create a graphic from a map view

1.	From the Edit menu, or right-click in the map view, click the Copy to Clipboard and Copy to File commands.

2.	Choose Copy to Clipboard if you plan to go into another Windows program and paste the image in directly.  Choose Copy to File if you want to create a file to use any time in the future.  If you do this, ArcExplorer prompts you to name the new file.

Choose the BMP (Windows Bitmap) option for raster data, images.  Choose the EMF (Enhanced Metafile) option if the map has only vector data, lines, areas, or points.


Saving your work in ArcExplorer

ArcExplorer saves projects in files with an .aep extension.  The Map Display properties, whether themes are turned on or off, the map extent, view properties, any classification or labels applied to themes, and any scale factors you may have set are saved.  When you create an .aep file, you’re not changing or altering the base data in any way.


To save an ArcExplorer project

1.	Choose Save Project or Save As from the File menu, or click the Save tool [image].

2.	If necessary, name your ArcExplorer project.

3.	Click OK.

Note:  When opening a project, ArcExplorer will not prompt you for any data that may have moved since you last saved the project.  Instead, it will warn you with a message that there was an error trying to open a theme and then it will restore the view with the themes that it could find.


Distributing your Application

You have created an ArcExplorer project.  And now you would like to share your project with other ArcExplorer users.  With some edits to the data pathnames, your project can be made portable so that it can be opened on any machine where ArcExplorer is installed.

The map properties and data pathnames for an ArcExplorer project are saved in one file with an .aep extension.


Creating relative pathnames

The data pathnames in .aep files must be edited from hard coded to relative pathnames.  To illustrate the difference between hard coded and relative pathnames, let’s say you have data in a folder called “tmp” stored in the C:\Program Files\ESRI\ArcExplorer directory of your computer.  When ArcExplorer saves, the data pathnames are hard coded into the project file as WORKSPACE= C:\Program Files\ESRI\ArcExplorer\tmp.  Once your project is distributed, the data could be stored anywhere on that new computer.  You want to create relative pathnames to your data by replacing WORKSPACE= C:\Program Files\ESRI\ArcExplorer\tmp with WORKSPACE=\tmp.  After the pathnames have been changed, you can zip up the project file and accompanying data.

Separate instructions apply if you are editing pathnames to shapefiles or images as opposed to editing pathnames to ARC/INFO coverages .


To create relative pathnames to shapefiles or images

1.	Using a text editor or word processing program, open the .aep file you want to edit.

2.	Locate all the map layers and their associated pathnames.  The easiest way to do this is to use the Find functionality on your text editor.  The pathnames are the first line after the [MAPLAYERx] designation.   Use the search string [MAPLAYER then scroll down to the next line that begins with WORKSPACE=.

An example of the critical text from an .aep file is:

[MAPLAYER4]WORKSPACE= C:\Program Files\ESRI\ArcExplorer\tmp

3.	Change all the data pathnames to relative pathnames

In this example your data is stored in the “ArcExplorer” directory in folders called “tmp,” “counties,” “rivers,” and “schools.”

WORKSPACE= C:\Program Files\ESRI\ArcExplorer\tmp

\counties

\rivers

\schools

As long as the .aep file is stored in the “DATA” directory, you can edit the pathname in the .aep file to read:

WORKSPACE=\tmp

If you store the .aep file in the same directory as the data itself, you can edit the pathname to read:

WORKSPACE=\

In this case, the pathname contains only a single slash.

4.	Save the project file.  Choose All Files as the Save as type to avoid putting an extra extension such as .doc or .txt on the project file.


Losing relative pathnames

If the ArcExplorer project is opened and saved using ArcExplorer’s Save Project or Save As commands, the data pathnames will be hard coded again, removing its relative status.


To create relative pathnames to ARC/INFO coverages

1.	Save your .aep file in the same directory as your coverages.

2.	Using a text editor or word processing program, open the .aep file you want to edit.

3.          Locate all the map layers and their associated pathnames.  The easiest way to do this is to use the Find functionality on your text editor.  The pathnames are the first line after the [MAPLAYERx] designation.  Use the search string [MAPLAYER then scroll down to the next line that begins with WORKSPACE=

Assume that your data are stored in the C:\Program Files\ESRI\ArcExplorer\tmp directory. The coverage you are interested in is called index and you are working with the polygon attributes or .pat.   When you save your .aep file in the tmp directory, the pathnames will look like this:

[MAPLAYER0]

WORKSPACE=[arc]c:\program files\esri\arcexplorer\tmp

BASE=1^C:\Program Files\ESRI\ArcExplorer\tmp\index\pat.adf^index.pat

4.  Change all the pathnames in your .aep file to relative pathnames

[MAPLAYER0]

WORKSPACE=\index

BASE=1^pat.adf^index.pat

3.	Notice that you had to delete everything (including "[arc]") from the pathname and add the "\index" to the 'WORKSPACE=' line.  Also, you must delete "C:\Program Files\ESRI\ArcExplorer\tmp\index\" from the BASE= line.Save the project file.  Choose All Files as the Save as type to avoid putting an extra extension such as .doc or .txt on the project file.


Zipping up your ArcExplorer project and data

After you have edited all the data pathnames in your ArcExplorer project to relative pathnames, your project is now ready to be zipped up with the data.  Then the ZIP archive can be oened on another machine.


To create a ZIP file of your project and data

1.	In your Windows Explorer, rename your ArcExplorer project to default.aep.  A project file named default.aep that is part of a ZIP archive, is opened when the ZIP archive is added to ArcExplorer.

2.	Zip up the default.aep file and al the related data.

3.	The ZIP archive can now be dragged and dropped into ArcExplorer.


Customizing the Menu Bar and Tool Bars

As you become familiar with ArcExplorer, you may want to do some customization to the ArcExplorer window to suit your project.  ArcExplorer contains a core set of functionality.  You can customize the existing functionality of ArcExplorer to satisfy your personal preferences.  The allowable customization of ArcExplorer does not involve adding new functionality.

You can

add to an existing menu

create buttons for menu choices you use most often

add a new menu

move or undock the menu bar or tool bars

Once you have made changes to the menu bar and tool bars, ArcExplorer automatically maintains these changes, regardless of whether or not you saved the ArcExplorer project.

If you would like to return the ArcExplorer interface to its original settings, on the View menu, you can choose Reset ArcExplorer ToolBar.  The interface resets to the original ArcExplorer settings before you began customization.


To move or undock the menu or tool bars

1.	Click the menu or tool bar you wish to move on the double vertical lines located on the right side of the bar.

2.	Drag it to reposition it.  You can undock it so it is floating anywhere on the desktop.

The Direction and Measure tool have a detachable menu that you can move or undock in the ArcExplorer window.  The following example shows how to undock the direction tool.  The same directions apply for moving or undocking the Measure tool.

Double-click a repositioned menu or tool bar to return it to its original position.


To create new tool bars

1.	To open the ArcExplorer customization dialog, right-click the menu or tool bar and choose Customize.

2.	Click the Toolbars tab.

3.	Click New and name the new tool bar.  The new tool bar appears in the ArcExplorer window.

4.	Click the Commands tab.

5.	Click a category to see the associated commands.

6.	Drag and drop a command onto the new tool bar.

7.	Click Close to close the Customize dialog and activate the tool bar.

8.	You can now widen the tool bar, reposition it in the ArcExplorer window or dock it with the other tool bars.

9.	Go back to the Customize dialog to rename or delete a newly added tool bar.

Note:  You cannot add buttons to the default ArcExplorer tool bars.


To add a new menu

1.	Open the ArcExplorer customization dialog.

2.	Click the Commands tab.

3.	Click a category to see the associated commands.

4.	Drag and drop a command onto the menu bar to add it as a new menu.

5.	Click Close to close the Customize dialog and activate the tool bar.

6.	To delete a menu that you have added, right-click the menu or tool bar to open the ArcExplorer customization dialog.

7.	Drag the menu you wish to delete out of the ArcExplorer window.


To add a choice to an existing menu

1.	Open the ArcExplorer customization dialog.

2.	Click the Commands tab.

3.	Click a category to see the associated commands.

4.	Drag and drop a command onto a menu to add it as a new menu choice.  Once a command is added, it can be dragged and repositioned on the menu.


Troubleshooting Guide

I can't download the software.

ArcExplorer is available for free downloads from ESRI ArcExplorer Web site.  You may have trouble downloading the installation file because your Internet Service Provider (ISP) limits the amount of data you can download or your connection to the Internet is slow (28.8 modems may require an hour or more to download the software).  If you have difficulty downloading the software, you can obtain ArcExplorer on CD–ROM by calling ESRI at 1-800-GIS-XPRT.

 I can't install the software.

First, make sure that your system meets the requirements listed under System Requirements in this document.  Second, during the install, files are put in the %TEMP% directory for utility purposes.  A %TEMP% environment variable must be set and the %TEMP% directory should be writeable.  To check that a %TEMP% variable is set, from the Start menu, go to Settings to open your Control Panel.  Choose System and then choose Environment.  There should be a TEMP or TMP variable listed under User Variables.  If not, set one at this time and restart your computer.

How do I label a map that has a value or class break map?

To label a theme that's been classified as Unique Value or Class Breaks, add that theme to your legend twice. Set up one as the classified theme and the other as the label theme.  For the labeled theme, uncheck the Draw Features box, and click Apply on the Theme Properties dialog.  Be sure the labeled theme is listed on top of the other theme in the legend so you can see the labels on top of the map features. You can also set the maximum scale factor so that the labels will only appear when the user zooms in to a certain scale. This helps to reduce cluttered labels on the map when zoomed to a small scale.

How can I make the screen stop redrawing if it is taking too long?

In the Map Display Properties dialog , enable the Escape key to interrupt the screen redraw.

ArcExplorer can’t find some data because the data have moved.  Is there a way to prevent this?

Yes.  Set up relative pathnames in your .aep file.


Frequently Asked Questions

What other Web sites can I view and download data from using ArcExplorer?

ArcExplorer’s Web integration tools allow you to view and download data from Web sites using ESRI MapObjects Internet Map Server (IMS) 2.0 technology.  Visit ESRI ArcExplorer home page http://www.esri.com/arcexplorer for news on Web sites using ESRI MapObjects IMS technology.  If you’d like information about how you can serve maps and data, visit ESRI MapObjects IMS home page at http://www.esri.com/mapobjects

How does the data get delivered?

The data is extracted by the server, compressed, and then shipped via the Internet to your ArcExplorer client.  The vector data is restored in standard shapefile format. The image data is restored in bitmap format.

In my class break map, why does my first class have -99 as a value?

Sometimes geographic data is incomplete.  For example, a GIS database may include political boundaries for countries, but it may not have complete attribute information for every feature represented.  As a result, database developers must use a code for missing information.  These developers often use "–99" as this code for "no data."

Does ArcExplorer support drag and drop file functionality?

Yes.  ArcExplorer allows you to grab data from any Windows directory and drop it into the ArcExplorer map view to add it as a theme.

Can I move the tool bars and menus around to suit my task at hand and personal preferences?

Yes, you can customize the ArcExplorer menu bar and tool bars.

Can I have more than one ArcExplorer project open concurrently?

Yes, open as many new or saved ArcExplorer projects as you wish. A new ArcExplorer application window will appear for each session.

How is ArcExplorer built?

ArcExplorer is built using ESRI MapObjects, a powerful collection of GIS and mapping components for application developers.  MapObjects allows people to build their own custom GIS applications or add active mapping and geography to spreadsheets, charts, documents, and more.

Check out http://www.esri.com/mapobjects for more information or call 1-800-GIS-XPRT.

Does ArcExplorer support ARC/INFO annotation coverages?

Yes.  ArcExplorer adds coverages with annotation as line themes.  Add the annotation theme.  Open the Theme Properties dialog and choose Labels-Standard to label the theme using the TEXT field name.  Choose an X-Offset and Y-Offset field if necessary.  Uncheck “Draw Features” so that the lines don’t draw.

Can I use ESRI .e00 export files for ARC/INFO coverages?

An .e00 ("E-zero-zero") file is an ARC/INFO coverage converted into an ASCII text file intended for exchange between two ARC/INFO systems on different platforms. They are not intended for compression, but have become popular as exchange files. In order to convert an .e00 file to an ARC/INFO coverage or ArcView GIS shapefile, you must have ARC/INFO or the Import software distributed with ArcView GIS.

Does the spatial data I add to my map get saved in my project?

No.  An ArcExplorer project file doesn’t contain the spatial data that you add to the maps in that project.  Instead, a project stores references to the location of these data sources on disk.  In this way, the same data can be used in any number of projects without duplication, and if this data changes, the updates will be reflected in all the projects that reference this data.

Can I include project (.aep) files with the data I publish on CD-ROM?

Yes.  If you decide to publish your data on CD–ROM and you choose to use ArcExplorer as your data browser, you must use relative pathnames to your data.

My organization wants to publish our GIS data on CD-ROM.  Can we use ArcExplorer as the data browser?

Yes.  You can use ArcExplorer as a data browser provided you agree to follow ESRI license requirements.  Ultimately, ESRI wants to make it easy for you to include ArcExplorer with your data and the license reflects that.  Refer to the ArcExplorer license included with the installation in your ArcExplorer folder.

Can I customize ArcExplorer by adding new functionality?

No.  ArcExplorer is a data browsing program, not a development tool. However, ESRI staff can create similar applications quickly, adding or removing the tools you need.  ESRI can also teach you how to create applications like ArcExplorer on your own.

To contract with ESRI for custom programming support, contact ESRI Implementation Services at 909-793-2853 (telephone), 909-307-3014 (fax), or E-mail at arcexp@esri.com, or write to Implementation Services, 380 New York Street, Redlands, CA 92373-8100.

To learn more about ESRI training courses, contact the ESRI Learning Center at 909-793-2853 (telephone), 909-335-8233 (fax), or visit ESRI Educational Services home page at http://www.esri.com/training


Image Formats

The following image formats can be used with ArcExplorer

Windows Bitmap - *.bmp, *.dib

TIFF (Tag Image File Format) - *.tif, *.tff, *.tiff

ERDAS - *.gis, *.lan

BIL (Band interleaved by line) multiband images - *.bil

BIP (Band interleaved by pixel) multiband images - *.bip

BSQ (Band sequential) multiband images - *.bsq

IMPELL RLC (Run-length compressed) files - *.rlc

Sun Rasterfiles - *.rs, *.ras; *.sun


How the TIFF image is supported

Tag Image File Format (TIFF) has widespread use in the desktop publishing world. It  serves as an interface to several scanners and graphic arts packages. TIFF supports black-and-white, grayscale, pseudocolor and true color images, all of which can be stored in a compressed or uncompressed format. The following types of TIFF images can be displayed:

Single band black and white (1 bit), grayscale (4, 8, 16, 24 or 32 bits), and pseudocolor (4, 8, 16 bits) images.

Multiband images with 8 bits per band. Both planar configurations are supported. There is no restriction on the number of bands in the image.

The following compression schemes are supported:

 CCITT Group 4 (TIFF Compression Scheme 4) for black-and-white data

 CCITT Group 3, 1-D encoding (TIFF Compression Scheme 2) for black-and-white data

 PackBits

TIFF 6.0 is not supported.


What is a Theme

A theme is a set of geographic features. A theme represents a source of geographic data, spatial data source such as an ARC/INFO coverage or ArcView shapefile, an image data source such as a satellite photo, or a data layer managed by ESRI’s Spatial Database Engine (SDE).  This data can be on a local disk, accessed across a network, or over the Internet. A theme points to the geographic data it represents. It does not contain the data itself.

The themes in a view are listed in its Legend.  A Map View of a country might have a theme representing cities, a theme representing roads, a theme representing an satellite image, and so on.

Themes have a number of properties that you can set to control characteristics such as drawing at a certain scale factor or classifying the data.


ESRI

Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.


SDE

ESRI Spatial Database Engine


IMS

ESRI Internet Map Server


How To  Add an SDE Layer

1.	Choose Add SDE Theme from the Theme menu.

2.	Enter the name of the SDE Server, Instance, User, and Password and click Connect.  (Uncheck the SDE 3.0 box if the SDE database is Version 2.x.)’

3.	Highlight the SDE theme you want and click Add. Click Close to close the Connect SDE Theme dialog.  The theme(s) from the SDE database appear in the legend.

4.	If you already have the Add Themes dialog open, you can also add SDE themes by clicking the Add SDE Theme button


To identify a feature

1.	In the legend, click the name of the theme that the feature you wish to identify belongs to.  This makes the theme active.  When a theme is active, it appears raised up in the legend.

2.	Click the Identify tool [image].

3.	Click the feature you wish to identify.  The feature you click flashes in the map view, and its attributes appear in the Identify Results dialog.


How to Add Locally Stored Data to ArcExplorer

1.	Click the Add Theme button [image] to open the Add Themes dialog.

1.	For Data Types, you can choose the type of data you want to load from All ArcExplorer Types, Shapefiles, ARC/INFO Coverages, Supported Images or ZIP Archives.  Choose All Other Formats to see all files stored in a directory.

2.	Navigate to the directory where your data is stored.

3.	Click the file you wish to add and click Add Theme.

4.	Navigate to another directory to add additional themes, or click Close to close the Add Themes dialog.  The themes you chose appear in the legend.


.e00 file

An .e00 ("E-zero-zero") file is an ARC/INFO coverage converted into an ASCII text file intended for exchange between two ARC/INFO systems on different platforms. They are not intended for compression, but have become popular as exchange files. In order to convert an .e00 file to an ARC/INFO coverage or ArcView GIS shapefile, you must have ARC/INFO or the Import software distributed with ArcView GIS.


OLE

 Object Linking and Embedding.