add a feature but doesnt show up on the map

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03-07-2014 08:23 AM
mylenegueneron
New Contributor
Hi there,

1) Issue #1 :confused:
I have a problem when I add a feature in my attribute table: I fill out all the column for my new feature, the latitude and longitude included, but even after saving the edits it doesn't show up on the map. It is saved in the attribute table, but it seems that the latitude and longitude are not taking into account with the coordinate system I am using (GCS North America HARN 83) so it can not be added to the map.
Has anyone ever got the same issue? Is there any setting for that?  to have the coordinate converted to the right coordinate system when I add a point?

2) Issue #2:confused:
I would like to know if there is any way I can link my excel table from which I created my XY data layer, so that I can add lines/ edit the excel table and the GIS would update too - vice versa if I edit the GIS table the excel table would be updated too.

Thank you very much for your advice/ help!:)
Have a good day!
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TimWitt
Frequent Contributor
Mylene,

there are no stupid questions only stupid answers!

Lets say you have an excel spreadsheet with 10 points. Open an mxd, click "File" -> Add Data -> Add XY data. This will create a shapefile with your excel spreadsheet data. If you need to add data to this file, you can either enter an Edit session and add new points.

Or you can add it to your original spreadsheet and repeat the steps and create a new shapefile.

To learn the basics of editing please look here.

Since you are new to all this, maybe this free webcourse will help you!

Tim

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TimWitt
Frequent Contributor
Issue #1 ArcGIS doesn't work in the way that you would like it to. 🙂  You need to place the point and then fill out the attributes of the newly created point, you can't create a new attribute table entry, fill in Lat/Long and the point will appear. The spatial reference of your point is not stored in your LAt and Long fields, those are just fields that you would like, so you can identify where the point is.

You can however create an excel spreadsheet that has Lat and Longs and through the Import XY data make a feature service out if it. This will create a new point layer for you.

Issue #2 You could just copy and paste your ArcGIS attribute table into an excel spreadsheet when you want to update the spreadsheet.
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mylenegueneron
New Contributor
Hi Tim,
Thank you for your quick answer. It may sound stupid, but I am a beginner at GIS so I am still trying to figure out how it works!:o
So every time I want to enter a new point: I enter it in my original excel table and create a new layer out of it, exporting it as a data XY and saving it as a layer right ? I want to make sure I understand it correctly and I am not doing something wrong :/.
Thank you.
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TimWitt
Frequent Contributor
Mylene,

there are no stupid questions only stupid answers!

Lets say you have an excel spreadsheet with 10 points. Open an mxd, click "File" -> Add Data -> Add XY data. This will create a shapefile with your excel spreadsheet data. If you need to add data to this file, you can either enter an Edit session and add new points.

Or you can add it to your original spreadsheet and repeat the steps and create a new shapefile.

To learn the basics of editing please look here.

Since you are new to all this, maybe this free webcourse will help you!

Tim
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mylenegueneron
New Contributor
Oh, I see! I will do that then m I was complicating the steps!!
Thank you for your help! 😉

Yeah I am looking at those webcourse, it is definitively helpful!

Have a great day,
Mylene.
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