Add information to attribute field

[GeorgeNikolich]

I want to add a new field with data to attributes so that I may use that data for symbology. I created an excel file that looks exactly like the attribute table, but with an additional column that contains the new information. The project is a soils map. A field called MUKEY contains values that correlate to a soil classification. The Excel file contains a soil classification for each unique FID value. How do I get the soil classification information into the shp or mxd file so that I can use it to assign colors to polygons within the symbology dialogue? Arcmap 10.1. (I am using NRCS soil survey tools to create thematic maps, but ultimately, I want to combine several survey areas into a single KML file, and to do that, I think I need to get to a single layer that I can use the conversion tool on. The way the NRCS soil viewer adds data to maps does not seem to lend itself to such a conversion. A single survey area would have probably been fine, but I have had to stitch together multiple survey areas due to size limit for any single one.)

[RichardFairhurst]

Why use Excel at all?  Why didn't you open the table view of the shp file and add the column there and fill it in through the tableview in ArcMap?  This help explains how to do that.  I recommend direct addition of the column to the shp file for performance reasons, update ease, and performance reasons no matter what you do with the Excel file.

You can open the Excel file in 10.1 and use the FID field to create an attribute join.  Check out this link.  Excel tables are very limited because they do not support ObjectID values.  This help explains how that limitation affects use of Excel tables in ArcMap.

I would perform an attribute Join and use the Field Calculator to populate a column added directly to the shp file rather than symbolize based on the join.  Symbology based on a join gets messed up if you ever break the join.  If the attribute join or calculation does not work properly due to the limitations of Excel tables let me know.

The online 10.1 help my links will take you to is available to familiarize yourself with other aspects of how to deal with data in related tables.

[GeorgeNikolich]

Thanks, I was fumbling around trying to do just that, and your post helped clarify.

Now I have a second issue. I was able to create the KMZ file I wanted, but when I change the transparency in Arcmap, change the transparency of the layer, and create a new KMZ file, the rendering in GoogleEarth shows the overlap among SHP files that were merged as less transparent. (The larger map is made up of seven merged SHP files. NRCS soil survey viewer has a limit on size of survey area one can process and download.) Any way to overcome that with the overall map comprised of seven SHP files? Do I need to create separate KMZ files for each of the seven survey areas or will I wind up with the same issue when combined in GE? I'm working with polygons only. There are 7,000 FIDs.

[RichardFairhurst]

I cannot help you with GoogleEarth, since I don't use KMZ files.  This is a new topic, so you should probably start another discussion to attract answers from people who work with GoogleEarth.  Your original topic won't get their attention.