Latest Contributions by JohnSobetzer

If I recall correctly, in terms of fidelity to the original in our use, the most often having problems was an inserted spreadsheet, better but still with occasional problems (especially when resized a fair amount) was a copy and pasted one and the best was a pdf version added to a map pdf, either as a stamp or copy and paste.  If you can't go the pdf route, you might see if resizing your sheet in Excel and then copying and pasting it with little or no resizing thereafter works better. ... View more

Windows, and hence ArcMap has limits to producing clear raster backgrounds.  You might see if you can vectorize the logo.  Adobe Illustrator probably can do it but if you don't have it there is the free Inkscape.  I was able to do it with one logo but there is a learning curve with it.  I think I even once used Arcscan to turn a logo into a shapefile and used that as a quick and dirty workaround. ... View more

You've probably already done these but since they weren't mentioned in your post I'll suggest them: Make sure your feature weights are less than high, all of them being none is best. Try Maplex in practice, and note that it has two settings, fast and best. If you have many and/or complex label queries or expressions as part of your labeling, see if you can instead set up your labels in a way that reduces the processing required to create them.  For instance you could try using the labeling layer multiple times in a project with different definition queries on the layer, and then each wouldn't need multiple classes or other  label queries or complex expressions.  Alternately you might be able to add fields that have the "pre-made" labels in them. Maybe some labels might work best if you create a point layer from your polygons, and then label the points, which would allow you to fine tune point location. There are always tradeoffs.  You might find that labels  set to display at different scale speeds things up, but maybe the processing to do that slows it down.  So there's no substitute to just fiddling around with all the settings on your machines to see how it all works. ... View more

I have ETGeowizards and it has a batch split lines tool.  I don't know if it is one of the free or paid tools. For a free approach you might check out: http://nodedangles.wordpress.com/2011/05/01/quick-dirty-arcpy-batch-splitting-polylines-to-a-specific-length/.  I have not used this so I can't vouch for its value. ... View more

In general: http://webhelp.esri.com/arcgisdesktop/9.3/index.cfm?TopicName=About%20coordinate%20systems%20and%20map%20projections In your case maybe http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.1/index.html#//003r0000001p000000 ... View more

Are you working with a layer that has a "regular" or DDP page definition query on it, or a layer with symbology based on an attribute?  I know it sounds obvious, but I catch this happening to me every so often even after all these years.  The new feature will show with selected symbology including its vertices and then disappear when the selection is removed, and not come back.  Another possibility is that you are editing a dataset that is read only for some reason or locked; although in the latter case you shouldn't have been allowed to go into edit session. ... View more

You could first planarize the lines and then merge them.  That does require ArcInfo and excessive mouse clicks but ArcGIS loves extra mouse clicks.  Another clumsy workaround would be to union them and then delete the originals, but the new line does lose the attributes so you have to use a method to transfer them.  More clicks. The merge tool is creating overlapping multipart lines; you can see that not only in the length values but by using the explode tool on the merged lines to get back to their original two single part status although now with shared attributes.  There's probably a reason for this even if we don't like it in this case.  Maybe the Editor tool should offer a dissolve (to singlepart) or unsplit tool that works on just the selected lines in an edit session as an optional way to edit. I would guess the ESRI recommended approach would be to have your lines in a geodatabase feature class in a topology with a must not overlap rule. Then the errors will be identified after validation and then you can use the topology fix tool subtract option to get rid of the unwanted portion. You could also rely on geoprocessing tools like the dissolve or unsplit lines, which are great for processing lots of errors all at once, but they don't allow edit by edit work. ... View more

You might see this: http://forums.arcgis.com/threads/40911-Python-ArcGIS-10-Desktop-Symbology-Label-Color-Unique-Values-Symbology-Color.  Other possible links of interest: http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.1/index.html#//00s800000012000000 http://forums.esri.com/Thread.asp?c=93&f=1730&t=169196&g=1 http://forums.esri.com/Thread.asp?c=93&f=1730&t=275252 You can always get or set the RGB values for a color by going to the color boxes and choosing More Colors, but matching up 50 would be a bit of a pain.  Whatever you do save your results as a layer file for future import if you think you will need to do it again. ... View more

Are there any other features from other layers also currently selected? ... View more

As noted you can't mosaic to sids in ArcGIS anymore, and I think size (number of pixels) was a major limit in the older ArcGIS versions that did provide that option.  MrSid compression technology is proprietary, owned by Lizard Tech.  In ArcGIS the best alternative may be to mosaic to jpeg 2000, a wavelet compression technology that is similar to MrSid but open source.  ArcGIS 10 produces better jp2s than its predecessors, at least that is what I've found. You could then use that jp2 as you would a sid but if you have the GeoExpress Tools, you could convert it to a sid.  If money is not a problem then buy GeoExpress with unlimited allowances of compression to sid and jp2, (although you can also buy a "cartridge" of allowable compression on an annual basis), and use it to mosaic your tifs to sid directly. One thing that might confuse you in producing jpeg 2000 files in ArcGIS.   A typical raster compression for a sid file is usually stated as a ratio 20:1.  In ArcGIS the matching compression would be 5 (100/5), as it is using the term compression quality.  You set these and the jp2 compression choice in the environment settings - raster storage page. If you use jp2 you can uncheck the build pyramids; these are built in to the wavelet compression file formats. ... View more

You could add the index layer a second time (change name a bit to keep it straight) or add a similar layer with a field that matches up with your index layer for values, symbolize it how you want it to look when it is "selected", and then use a Page Definition Query to display only the "selected" polygon. ... View more

Since you only need to pull two values out per layout I'd first try Matt's suggestion. If that doesn't work and you want to learn ArcPy, take a look at http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.1/index.html#//00s300000040000000, specifically the dynamic table section. ... View more

No simple answer but perhaps some workarounds: See http://www.esri.com/esri-news/arcwatch/0313/add-a-true-north-arrow-to-your-arcmap-page-layout.  You may need to use two north arrows to get what you want, one that rotates and one that is true north.  Another possibility you might look at is to create your own north arrow symbol showing true/grid/magnetic north for an extent and then use that in your project.  See http://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/28056/how-to-make-an-emf-into-a-character-marker-symbol-north-arrow If the precision of your declination over the extent of your project is such that you might need several different symbols to reflect the changing declination, you could create them as jpg or some other raster, and then use the Data Driven Pages to update the picture for each map as required.  See http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.1/index.html#//00s900000022000000.  In addition you could put the actual declination in degrees in a text field in your index layer, add a text box below the arrow and have it dynamically update with each page. ... View more

It's possible that if the transferring click is in an area where the source and target polygons overlap, and both are selectable, that it would fail to transfer attributes.  If so I try to find a non-overlap area in the target poly or after clicking on the source poly I turn it off as a selectable layer before clicking on the target poly. Another possibility is just plain old ArcMap funkiness.  If you take your layers into a new project you might be able to make it work. ... View more

Two possibilities based on my experience that might suggest the problem. First, if you just close your attribute table and reopen it do the values appear as expected?  Tables in my 10.1 occasionally fail to update and since there is no refresh for them,  I have to close and reopen them. Second, are you editing the values in a selected record in a table directly after spatially editing a feature in the view?  In 10.1 if I do this I usually lose the spatial edits. ... View more