Latest Contributions by ChrisDonohue__GISP

I figured that might be an issue, which is why I included the warning.  Thanks for posting the code - I wasn't sure what the exact solution to get around that was. Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

I don't have the exact answer, but can throw out some thoughts.  It sounds like two things need to be figured out: 1.  When looking at all the raster datasets, what is the extent they all have data. 2.  Then raster clip to this extent, but without a polygon. An Idea: If you have the Spatial Analyst Extension, it may be possible to add the rasters together and come up with a raster that represents the extent of all data.  Be careful that when adding rasters that when a No Data pixel and a Data pixel are summed that the Data pixel predominates.  This raster addition process could be via Raster Calculator, or by a loop in Modelbuilder or Python.  Then use Raster Clip ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2) with the raster you derived as the clipping extent.  If you have many rasters, Modelbuilder or Python will come in handy to run through the clipping of all them. Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

You may want to check the export settings from ArcMap.  There are several that affect the output, and some are not so obvious. First, when you export, check that the options are visible.  If you don't see them, click on the triangle to open them. Next, on the "General" Tab, check the "Resolution" and "Output Image Quality".  You'll have to play with the settings a bit to find what works best, but a good starting point is "Resolution" of 300 and "Output Image Quality" of Best. Next, check the "Format" Tab.  The "Image Compression" has several flavors to try.  For the "JPEG Quality" setting, I would suggest "Max".  There are several possibilities for "Picture Symbol" to try out.  I would recommend in most cases that you have both of the checkboxes checked. Again, you will likely have to experiment with the settings a bit to find what works.  In general, going for high quality will lead to a huge file and going for a small file leads to poor quality - the trick is to find a balance that works.  For your specific case, hopefully this means by tinkering with one or more of these settings you get the linework and fonts to portray as you expect. Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

My Internship was for a private Environmental Consulting firm as a GIS Technician.  The job was not posted as an internship per se, but as a part time entry-level temporary position.  When I interviewed with them, I asked the GIS Manager if we could modify the position to fit the internship requirements, so I could meet my degree requirements (I was working on an Associates in GIS at night at a community college). I got the position as I already had several years working in the field as an Environmental Scientist (non-GIS), so was already up to speed on how they did business.  They had a need for someone who could do GIS, but would also be available occasionally to pitch in on non-GIS projects. For anyone who is looking for an internship, keep in mind if you have previous experience in a field that marketing it can be a way of getting your foot in the door. Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

Another update: ESRI suggested I post this on the "ArcGIS Ideas" site so people can vote and comment on it.  The ESRI Developers check the the site not only to find out what customers want, but to gauge how important these issues are.  So vote for this one (and others you think are a priority): https://c.na9.visual.force.com/apex/ideaList?c=09a300000004xET&category=Geodatabase&sort=recent Thanks, Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

That sounds like an interesting possibility.  Could work. Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

Just to reiterated a very important point on this - while the feature class may be Versioned, according to ESRI there is no corresponding versioning of the metadata.  In other words, there only is ever one metadata file for a feature class, irregardless of how many versions are created.  The moment anyone manually types an entry into the metadata, it goes straight in.  As to what happens with two people simultaneously updating the metadata at exactly the same moment, I don't know for sure what happens. ESRI suggested some workarounds for dealing with it as it is set up now: 1.  Don't do any manual metadata editing until just AFTER you Reconcile and Post.  Of course this leaves a gap where Default can be accessed and the metadata is not yet up to par for it. 2.  As for the automatic recording of the geoprocessing log, if you have ArcGIS 10.2 or newer, you can turn off its capture, which is helpful when testing different geoprocessing tools while trying to best resolve an issue when working on a Version.  To do so, go into the Geoprocessing Options and uncheck to box for "Log geoprocessing operations to a log file".  You have to remember to turn this on and off as appropriate, though, which could cause some issues. 3.  If you already have metadata that has been impacted by lots of extraneous geoprocessing information (stuff you tried but was not used in the final result of your version), it can be manually stripped out of the geoprocessing log by editing it in an xml editor. Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

An update from ESRI Tech support: I have logged a new enhancement request, "ENH-000085041: Provide an option to record separate metadata with versioning in a multiuser geodatabase" Thank you for bringing this to our attention and for your help in troubleshooting. Our Software Developers will review this enhancement to determine further action to address this issue. For the most up-to-date information, please use MySupport at http://support.esri.com. Feel free to contact ESRI Support Services with further questions. This would be a very welcome enhancement (though I'm sure it is easier said than done). Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

Another idea: If your Landuse layer is parcel based and should match the parcel base, you may be able to accomplish a full changeover without using my previous suggestion by doing the following: 1.  Run the Identity (Analysis) Geoprocessing Tool, with the Parcels as the Input Features and the Landuse as the Identity Features.  Make sure the Join Attributes parameter is still on "All" (the default).  This will add the Landuse attributes to your parcels and esssentially create a new Landuse feature class. 2.  Run a Dissolve (Data Management) Geoprocessing Tool with the field that differentiates your Landuse as the "Dissolve Field". 3.  Clean things up by Deleting any extra fields (there may be many from the Identity). CAVEAT: If the existing Landuse is not coincident to the parcels (i.e. the landuse unintentionally splits a parcel), running an Identity on it will result in a multitude of new polygons.  Instead, you may be able to get around this by doing a Spatial Join (Analysis) instead of an Identity. You will have to test some of the Spatial Join settings to find the optimal one for your data. Another approach would be to create Centroids and Identity or Spatial Join that, but that gets a bit more complex to work out. Identity(Analysis) ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2) Dissolve ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2) Spatial Join ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2) Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

I'm doing something similar for my City's Land Use layer, where most of the Land Use extents are parcel based.  If I am reading your request correctly, you need to get the green Land Use polys at minimum to extend as far as the red Parcel polygons.  While not an automated/instant solution, this suggested process will identify the issues areas where your landuse polys do not extend as far as the parcels and provide some spatial material to quickly fix some of them without having to redraw them: If you have access to an Advanced (ArcInfo) license: - Use the Erase (Analysis) Geoprocessing Tool, with the Parcels as the Input Feature and the Land Use as the Erase Features.  This will result in a polygon polygon feature class representing the "gaps" between the Parcel layer and the landuse. If you only do not have access to an Advanced (ArcInfo) license: - You can do a process that essentially the same as Erase, but takes more steps. Use the Union Geoprocessing tool with both the Landuse and Parcels as inputs, and with the "Allow Gaps" parameter set to "ALL".  The new feature class that results will be a combination of the two originals.  To find the "gaps", you will next need to make a selection from the Union featureclass.  Find the field called FID_parcels and do a selection of all that are a value of -1.  Export the resulting polygons as a new feature class - these are your "gap" polygons. Some gaps can then be fixed fairly easily: You can use this new "gaps" feature class as a means to correct the "easy" problem areas of your landuse - i.e. there is only landuse polygon and one parcel, with a gap between them - by using the Merge Geoprocessing Tool or the Append Geoprocessing tool to add those polygons back into your Landuse feature Class.  Before running either, it is probably best to delete all the attribute fields in your "gap" feature class so as to prevent confusion in the following steps.  The Delete Field (Data Management) Geoprocessing tool is very helpful for this. Then start an edit session on the landuse and select the original landuse poly and the new one, and then on the Editor Toolbar select Editor, Merge.  On the "Merge" Window that pops up, there will be two (or more) polygons listed.  Click on it (it will flash them so you can tell which one you are on) to find the original one.  Highlight that one and hit OK to finish the merging.  Be sure to select the original landuse polygon so you retain the original attributes. As for the more complex areas: These will likely take lots of manual editing and decision-making.  You have the material to fill the gaps, but decisions will need to be made on how to split it up so it correctly extends the existing landuse polys to the parcel limit. Erase ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2) Union ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2) Append ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2) Merge ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2) Delete Field ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2) Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

What Darren suggests is the way to go.  The technique he describes is sometimes called "burning in the drainages".  Essentially you are modifying your DEM to make it hydrologically correct for the exceptions you know about that are not showing in the DEM.  To elaborate for others reading this, Step 2 (The subtraction) is done in Raster Calculator with the Con function.  I mention this as it not obvious at first from just reading the Help on Con that Raster Calculator/Map Algebra is one of the places you can run Con. It will likely take a few runs with with different subtraction values to come up with the optimal result. Con (Spatial Analyst) ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2) Conditional Evaluation with Con ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2) Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

If you totally get stuck and can't get it repaired, if you have Windows you might be able able to recover the original shapefile by restoring a previous version. To recover a previous version in Windows: Browse to the file while in Windows Right-click on the file and select Properties Click on the Previous Versions tab Select the version you want and hit Restore Caveats; Back up your data first, as you can't undo a restore. You will need to restore all the components of a shapefile.  At minimum, this will mean 3 files:  filename.dbf, filename.shx, filename.shp.  However, there can be several more. Shapefile - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia A more inclusive way to do this is to instead restore the whole folder the shapefile is sitting in.  However, this will impact any other files and/or folders that come off that folder, so back up the data first. Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

For the "long and thin" shapes one could use multiple data frames on each layout.  For example, we had an ecological risk assessment for a proposed pipeline where we had 4 data frames on each page.  This allowed us to effectively show the pipeline corridor and the ecology/species near it that were at risk. Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more