Database import issues

[RickMassatti]

I'm having problems with a database that I imported. I converted an SPSS database into an excel database, and my latitude/longitude variables have 13 decimal places. Everything translated correctly from SPSS to Excel. When I import and open up the Excel database in Arc 10, the decimal places are chopped to six. If I select the latitude variable and adjust the number of decimal places under "field properties" and "number format" to 13, then only nine of the decimal places actually show up on the screen. What happened to the rest of the decimals? How do I get them back?

I want the latitude/longitude variables to be that precise because a given location may fall in the incorrect census tract if it is not.

Thanks!

[JoeBorgione]

I'm having problems with a database that I imported. I converted an SPSS database into an excel database, and my latitude/longitude variables have 13 decimal places. Everything translated correctly from SPSS to Excel. When I import and open up the Excel database in Arc 10, the decimal places are chopped to six. If I select the latitude variable and adjust the number of decimal places under "field properties" and "number format" to 13, then only nine of the decimal places actually show up on the screen. What happened to the rest of the decimals? How do I get them back?

I want the latitude/longitude variables to be that precise because a given location may fall in the incorrect census tract if it is not.

Thanks!

Wow.  0.0000000000001 degrees.  Using excel to do the math, and using the figure of 49 miles per degree in a mid-latitude location   that calculates to 0.0000000258720 feet. I'll let you do the math to figure out how many fractions of an inch that is, but I'm guessing it's somewhere on the level of a neutron. Think about it; are your census tracts that spatially precise? 

I like to provide answers and try not to give advice, but I will here; life is short.  Nine decimal places will provide more than enough precision.


All the best!