Dissolve polygons into a giant polygon

Anonymous User

Original User: ahnaruby

I am looking for a way to "dissolve" or combine multiple polygons into 1 large polygon, noting that these polygons do not necessarily share an edge. 
For example, I'm looking for a tool where my input would look something like this: [ATTACH=CONFIG]28306[/ATTACH] and my output polygon would look something like this [ATTACH=CONFIG]28307[/ATTACH]

Any thoughts on how this could be achieved?

starting polygon.jpg

ending polygon.jpg

TOMKONG

Add an attribute column and populate it with the same value (unless you already have a suitable field). Then run Data Management Tools >> Generalization >> Dissolve, and point it to the field with the same values for the Dissolve Field.
Best Regards,
Jim

Not.
He doesn't want merged single poglygon with mutiparts.
Buffer first -- then clip the buffered features by using the source features --select cliped features that share two lines with source features--export these features --merge these feature into source features -- dissolve all features into one mutipart polygon -- convert to single polygon with single part.