GIS Tips & Tricks
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Organizations often rely heavily on CAD files to display and manage their utility network systems. This reliance typically stems from a lack of staff or resources to maintain the data in a Geographic Information System (GIS). However, by migrating CAD data into a GIS environment, water utilities, local governments, and campuses can leverage powerful geospatial tools like ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Online to update and maintain their networks more efficiently.
We are seeing a growing interest within the industry in the process of converting floor plans from CAD or BIM format into GIS format, specifically in Esri’s ArcGIS platform. In this post, our primary focus will be on utilizing ArcGIS Pro tools and features to make the conversion, taking a comprehensive look at the steps involved, with an emphasis on Esri’s ArcGIS Indoors solution. So, let's dive right in!
Are your datasets messy, incomplete, and in need of some TLC? Do you want to gain a deeper understanding of certain attributes of your data? Before you share your data in a mapping application, or run analytical workflows, consider using the Data Engineering view in ArcGIS Pro.
Looking for some new professional goals for the new year? If you’ve not yet made the move to ArcGIS Pro from ArcMap, may I suggest that you place that on the top of your list? We all know the time is coming where you’ll need to use ArcGIS Pro for most workflows - some of us were early adopters, some reluctant adopters, and some of us are still holding out.
Are you new to the ArcGIS Pro Parcel Fabric and want to map subdivisions? Find your bearings here with these 5 easy steps. First, review the subdivision plat and legal description. Before you jump into your Parcel Fabric and start editing your Land Records, you will want to read and review the subdivision plat. The plat is the legal record filed with the jurisdictional authority (County Recorder of Deeds, etc.) and is the basis for surveying and mapping a property.
pace is expensive. Due to this simple truth, it is important to ensure the accurate digitizing of features and space inside your facilities. As more features get digitized within a designated facility, the inaccuracies will compound when it comes time to calculate the total ‘Gross Area’ and ‘Net Area’ of the building. These two area measurements are used when trying to optimize time, work and money spent on the building. At the very least, space costs about $10 for every square foot.
Enterprise geodatabase versioning is an integral part of Enterprise GIS workflows and allows for flexible and manageable workflows for multiuser editing scenarios. Branch versioning is a new type of geodatabase versioning available to Esri users. This new type of versioning has been reconfigured to alleviate some of the pain-points when using traditional versioning and relies on a services-based platform for version use and management. The branch versioning configuration also provides the backbone needed to extend available add-ons/usability of GIS data. Certain solutions like the Utility Network, Trace Network, Parcel Fabric, and Indoors within ArcGIS Enterprise all require data to be branch versioned. Another immensely powerful add-on for branch versioned data is the Validation and Batch Calculation Attribute Rules. Branch versioning may be a great solution when evaluating current and anticipated workflows and can open the door to a new age of capabilities for Enterprise GIS data.
In 2010, ESRI started the Community Maps Program with the goal of enhancing and updating their foundational basemap layers with current and detailed local data. Over a decade later, tens of thousands of updates have been made using the tools available from the program. By contributing data, the community itself benefits from having local knowledge input directly into ESRI maps. This additional data helps power advanced analysis and can be used to create in-depth story maps. Apart from the direct use of updating basemaps, this collection of local data also helps to enhance and power the ArcGIS Living Atlas layers.
The Data Loading Tools are a free solution provided by Esri designed to help simplify and streamline the ETL (Extract, Transform, and Load) process from a source dataset to a target dataset. The tools are packaged as a python add-in for ArcGIS Pro and help simplify migration by harnessing Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. Within the spreadsheets migration mapping from the source schema to target schema can be set up for feature classes, fields, and even coded value domains. This toolbox is most used to assist with migrating data into the robust Utility Network schema, but it can be used for all ETL tasks!
