Keeping symbology when marging

francescarusso

Hi all,

I have to create a shapefile made of many different shapefiles (vector polylines). I would like to keep the symbology of these shaperfile so I have saved them as layers. This makes the trick but when I merge the .lyr I loose the symbology.

Any suggestion?

Many thanks,

F

MicahBabinski

Hello Francesca,

Here is what I would suggest:

1. Symbolize one of the input shapefiles to your liking in ArcMap (sounds like you have already done this)

2. Right click the symbolized layer in the table of contents and choose "Save as Layer File" (sounds like you have already done this)

3. Merge the shapefiles. Remember to map the values for any fields you are using to symbolize (Using the field mapping control—Help | ArcGIS for Desktop)

4. In ArcCatalog, navigate to the layer file you saved in step two with your nice symbology and open its properties. Go to the data source tab.

5. Click the Set Data Source button and "point" the layer to your newly-merged shapefile. This should get you what you need.

Hope this helps!

Warm Regards,

Micah Babinski