Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
when desired, connects the computer to other computers (e.g., by way of the Internet or other network),
makes copies of files, and performs many housekeeping activities.
Writing sets of instructions to be stored in the computer's memory is known as programming . Developing
and marketing programs (software packages) is an immense business. The operating system that your
computer uses is a software package. The word processor used to write this text is a software package.
And the GIS you are about to learn, known as ArcGIS from Esri, is a software package, or rather a suite of
software packages.
Computer Software: ArcGIS in Particular
ArcGIS is an integrated GIS that consists of different principal parts. We are working with ArcGIS Desktop
software, which is an integrated suite of advanced GIS applications. Esri also has interfaces for managing
geodatabases in a database management system (DBMS). Also there is an Internet-based GIS for
distributing spatial data and services. Esri also has software extensions such as ArcPad, which provides
GIS capability for palmtop or handheld computers.
ArcGIS is called a scalable product because it allows for deployment of GIS of many different “sizes.”
A user can choose to have only a system running on a single computer—a personal GIS —that allows
viewing and simple selection of spatial data without capabilities of editing or extensively analyzing that
data. At the other end of the scale, a multiuser GIS can serve an entire company or governmental agency.
This enterprise GIS allows all the capabilities of the software. Options also include systems of intermediate
functionality known as workgroup GIS and department GIS .
For many products, the price charged depends on the features and utilities that the product provides.
When one manufacturer produces many different products, users must learn how to combine and
package them to provide the correct degree of utility required (you do not need a school bus if a sedan
will do). This is also true of Esri products.
Software Focus of This Textbook
In this introductory text, we confine ourselves largely to ArcGIS Desktop. The other products pertain
primarily to managing GIS data for large applications or organizations and to distribute GIS capability
and data to users over networks. Our emphasis is rather on the analysis, synthesis, and display of spatial
and attribute information. You will see an exercise on publishing map data on the Internet.
ArcGIS Desktop itself is divided in a number of different ways. It has three main software packages:
ArcMap
ArcCatalog
ArcToolbox
ArcMap lets you put together graphic and geographic elements to make sophisticated maps and interact
with them. It allows you to obtain information from those maps and the attributes associated with their
components, by using a variety of processing methods.
ArcCatalog is mainly an operating system for geographic data. ArcCatalog allows you to set up shortcuts
to reach particular files of data quickly and easily and examines those files visually and textually. You can
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