Latest Contributions by ChrisFox

Thank you for posting your idea, you can set this from Editor > Options > Units. The default direction type is Polar, but you could set it to North or South Azimuth based on your needs. More information on this is available in the help topics below: http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisdesktop/10.0/help/index.html#/About_direction_measuring_systems_and_units/001t00000009000000/ http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisdesktop/10.0/help/index.html#/Setting_the_direction_type_and_units_used_when_editing/001t0000000m000000/ ... View more

Thank you for posting your idea. Although this is not possible through the user interface this is possible through Python. Below is a sample script that demonstrates how you can accomplish this: import arcpy, os #Create a reference to your map document and the Graphic Element in the map document #"GraphicElementName" refers to the name of the element in the map document mxd = arcpy.mapping.MapDocument(r'C:\Temp\Untitled.mxd') graphic = arcpy.mapping.ListLayoutElements(mxd, "GRAPHIC_ELEMENT", "GraphicElementName")[0] #Create a list of the page numbers to include the graphic on includePicPageList = [2,4] #Set a location for a temporary pdf used to create the mapbook tempPDF = r'C:\Temp\Temp.pdf' #Determine if the Final PDF exists on disk, if it does delete it and then create the PDF finalPDFPath = r'C:\Temp\Final.pdf' if os.path.exists(finalPDFPath):     os.remove(finalPDFPath) finalPDF = arcpy.mapping.PDFDocumentCreate(finalPDFPath) for pageNum in range (1, 5):     #Set graphic's postion off the page     graphic.elementPositionX = -5     graphic.elementPositionY = -5         #Move to the approiate page in Data Driven Pages     mxd.dataDrivenPages.currentPageID = pageNum     #Determine if the current page is in the list of valid pages to include the graphic      for includePicPage in includePicPageList:         if includePicPage == pageNum:             #If the page is in the page list, set the postion of the graphic to be on the page             graphic.elementPositionX = 1             graphic.elementPositionY = 1     #Export the page to the temporary PDF                arcpy.mapping.ExportToPDF(mxd, tempPDF)     #Append it to the Final PDF and delete the temporary page        finalPDF.appendPages(tempPDF)     os.remove(tempPDF) #Save the pdf and delete the reference to the PDF and Map Document variables finalPDF.saveAndClose() del finalPDF, mxd ... View more

Thank you for posting your idea and lending your support to this enhancement.  I uploaded a sample tool that demonstrates this functionality for the Cut Polygon tool.  What the tool does is if you attempt to cut a polygon and it fails for whatever reason you recieve the error message and the option to continue your sketch. Currently it only works with one selected polygon and I don't have anything for Reshape Feature, but the source code is out there and I would encourage anyone else out there who is interested to take a stab at enhancing it for these functions to take a stab at it. Cut Polygon and Save Sketch Tool ... View more

Thank you for posting your idea. I am not sure I completely understand the request. Would you be able to provide additional details regarding your workflow and what is currently lacking in the software? ... View more

Another tool I use frequently is all the time is jing, http://www.techsmith.com/jing/. It automatically recognizes the individual windows in ArcMap including the data frame and allows quick capture and sharing of the contents in the window. ... View more

Thank you for posting your idea. As a thought of one way you could accomplish this workflow you might consider using a tool like intersect or Union to create one output from multiple layers. The output would contain unique features for every combination of overlapping features from the inputs and have the attributes of each giving you more precise locations to center on and access to greater information in the dynamic text. ... View more

Yes, that is correct. Currently for all geodatabases other than file geodatabases you will not see the size or data modified of individual feature classes. You might consider logging an idea specific to getting this information for feature classes in geodatabases other than file geodatabase. ... View more

Thank you for posting your idea. I believe what you are looking for can already be accomplished. To enable display of these items go to Customize > ArcCatalog Options > Contents in ArcGIS 10 or Tools > Options > Contents in previous versions and check on Size, and Modified under "Which standard columns do you want to show in Details view?". Some of the other information regarding when the data was first created or who the Author or Contact is for the data may make more sense to be documented in the data's metadata. Up to date metadata is a great way to deocument and deter questions regarding all aspects of the data. ... View more

Hi ramong, I believe you can accomplish this workflow by going to the Data Frame Properties > Data Frame > Clipping Options > Clip to Shape. Next click specify shape and in the Data Frame Clipping Dialog select Outline of Features and select your polygon layer. Next you can click exclude layers to exclude all other layers than the points and the output will be showing only the points inside the polygon. ... View more

Thank you for posting your idea. A couple things I think are worth mentioning in regards to this at ArcGIS 10. First in the table of contents you now have the ability to sort the layers by layer name (alphabetically) or by the order they are drawn in, so you will have some control over this in the TOC. Second when you start editing, the list of layers is now presented in alphabetical order. Finally, to make it even easier now at ArcGIS 10 you can just right-click the layer you want to edit and go to Edit Features > Start Editing. This will automatically make that layer editable and every other layer in the same workspace as that layer editable. This will save you time of having to select the right layer by going to Editor > Start Editing. ... View more

Thank you for posting your idea. A couple things I think are worth mentioning in regards to this at ArcGIS 10. First in the table of contents you now have the ability to sort the layers by layer name (alphabetically) or by the order they are drawn in, so you will have some control over this in the TOC. Second when you start editing, the list of layers is now presented in alphabetical order. Finally, to make it even easier now at ArcGIS 10 you can just right-click the layer you want to edit and go to Edit Features > Start Editing. This will automatically make that layer editable and every other layer in the same workspace as that layer editable. This will save you time of having to select the right layer by going to Editor > Start Editing. ... View more

You can currently create very simple or complex marker symbols by going to Customize > Style Manager > Your Style > Marker Symbol > Right-Click > New Marker Symbol. This will bring up the symbol property editor. Through a combination of simple marker symbols, character marker symbols, picture marker symbols, different sizes, colors, offsets and rotation you can create some very customized marker symbols that is saved to your style. You can then share your style with whomever may want to use the same symbology. ... View more

@kreuzrsk, I am not sure what release this was implemented at but it is at 9.3 from my test. When you specify an input that already has a spatial reference you will get a yellow warning icon next to the paramter and when you hover over it will say, "The dataset already has a projection defined. Click for more detailed information.". When you click it will give you a link to a help doc page for warning 000312 which describes the general purpose of this tool and a reference to the project tool if they actually want to change the projection. ... View more

Thank you for all the comments and votes on this idea. We appreciate and understand the importance of this idea to many people's workflows. Unfortunately this functionality is not planned for the next release of ArcGIS Desktop but with your continued support for this idea may be considered for a future release. Until that time I would encourage everyone looking for this functionality to use the arcpy.Mapping Map Book with Index Pages sample discussed in earlier comments or the recent code sample provided by @clm42. ... View more

Thank you for posting the idea. We also see this question come through Technical Support quite often and one of the enhancements we did make as a result is when you add a feature class as an input into the Define Projection that already has a Spatial Reference defined it will display a warning icon next to the input. If you click that warning you will get more messaging as to why and when it is appropriate to use this tool. However, I do see where you are going with this idea and there may be more we can do to help users make the appropriate decision when using this tool. ... View more