Display points in a point feature class

[BrianLeo]

Hi,

I'm new to GIS and I am having a problem with getting my point feature class to display the data points on the map.  I have a point feature class with an attribute table that contains UTM coordinate columns.  How do I get each point to display on the map?

Thanks

Brian

[WilliamCraft]

Hi,

I'm new to GIS and I am having a problem with getting my point feature class to display the data points on the map.  I have a point feature class with an attribute table that contains UTM coordinate columns.  How do I get each point to display on the map?

Thanks

Brian

Please provide the exact version of the ArcGIS Desktop software you are using (e.g., 9.3.1, 10.0 SP1, 10.2.1).  You indicate that you have a point feature class with "UTM coordinate columns"... so are you saying that you have a feature class projected in a UTM coordinate system or are you saying that you have a table which has two columns containing X and Y coordinate values?  What I'm really getting at here is to identify whether or not your table has a spatial column (usually called SHAPE) or not.  If what you have is actually a feature class, then there shouldn't be an issue when viewing it in ArcMap.  Are you getting an error or are no points showing up?  Are you sure there are records in the table to begin with?  If what you have is a table with X and Y columns containing values, then you need to utilize the Add XY Event Layer tool.  If you are looking at the "feature class" that you have in ArcCatalog, are you able to preview the spatial contents in the Preview tab or is there only an option to view its attributes in table format?

[RobertBorchert]

When you add your point feature class to an ArcGIS session it should automatically display each point as a point with a color.

Is your point feature class a shapefile or from a geodatabase?

Or are you talking that YOU just have a table with x,y coordinates on it?

QUOTE=leobriant;366370]Hi,

I'm new to GIS and I am having a problem with getting my point feature class to display the data points on the map.  I have a point feature class with an attribute table that contains UTM coordinate columns.  How do I get each point to display on the map?

Thanks

Brian

[BrianLeo]

I have an excel file that has a long list of field observations.  For each field observation, I have an easting and northing UTM coordinate.  I am looking to create a feature class that:

1) will use the data I have in the excel file to populate it's attribute table
2) is editable in Arcmap.  When I simply try to add XY data, I cannot edit that layer.
3) display each field observation on my map.  I need to be able to reference the attribute table for each data point.
4) is a part of an existing geodatabase.

What is the proper way to do this?  I did as crafty762 suggested, and utilized the "make XY event layer" tool, and that did create a layer that had an attribute table and displayed the points on the map...but I'd like to know how to add data to an existing point file feature class(a part of a geodatabase and not a shapefile)from an excel spreadsheet and have those points be visible and editable in Arcmap, as well as have the corresponding data within an accessible attribute table in Arcmap.

Thanks

Brian

When you add your point feature class to an ArcGIS session it should automatically display each point as a point with a color.

Is your point feature class a shapefile or from a geodatabase?

Or are you talking that YOU just have a table with x,y coordinates on it?

QUOTE=leobriant;366370]Hi,

I'm new to GIS and I am having a problem with getting my point feature class to display the data points on the map.  I have a point feature class with an attribute table that contains UTM coordinate columns.  How do I get each point to display on the map?

Thanks

Brian

[WilliamCraft]

I'd like to know how to add data to an existing point file feature class(a part of a geodatabase and not a shapefile)from an excel spreadsheet and have those points be visible and editable in Arcmap, as well as have the corresponding data within an accessible attribute table in Arcmap

Once your points appear in ArcMap from adding the XY Event Layer, right click the layer in the Table of Contents, go to the Data sub-menu, and choose Export.  From there, export your data to a feature class within a temporary or scratch geodatabase.  Next, you need to load these exported features into your existing feature class that you mentioned earlier.  To do that, navigate to your existing feature class (the one into which you want to load) from ArcCatalog, right click it and select Load.  Follow the Simple Data Loader wizard from there, which will include clicking the Add button to choose the scratch or temp feature class you just created from your ArcMap Export.  In the wizard, you will also need to match up your source and target fields; afterwards, the new features should be appended into your existing feature class.