Some Concepts That Underpin GIS - Introducing Geographic Information Systems with ArcGIS - page 39

Anatomy of the ArcCatalog Window
Assuming your computer is on and some version of Microsoft Windows® (or UNIX or other operating
system) is running:
1. Start the ArcCatalog component of ArcGIS. Make it occupy the full screen by double-clicking the
ArcCatalog title bar. Open the File menu and select Connect to Folder. In the Connect to Folder
window navigate to Computer, then to the Local Disk (C:), which you will find under Computer
Click that. Click OK.
2. Click the word Folder Connections at the top of the left-hand subwindow (pane). If you see any
negative (minus) signs in the left pane, click them so they become positive (plus) signs. Now
click the plus sign to the left of Folder Connection. You should see C:\ in the ArcCatalog window
under the Contents pane, similar to Figure 1-16. Double-click on it and the names of the folders
on the C:\ drive of your computer will appear.
3. Click Folder Connections again. Examine the ArcCatalog window.
FIGURE 1-16
That left pane is called the Catalog Tree. At the top level, it provides a view of the slower-speed storage
devices (hard drives, network drives, CD-ROMs, and so on 5 ) of the computer, plus some other entries to
be explained later. At the very top left, in the title bar of the overall window, will be some text. What does it
say? (Fill in the blank below, if there is any text between ArcCatalog and Folder Connections.)
ArcCatalog - _______________________ - Folder Connections
In ArcGIS Desktop version 10.0, examining the upper-left corner of an ArcGIS software window is a way to
know (1) which software component you are using (ArcCatalog, ArcMap, and others), and (2) the license your
computer is operating under: ArcView (the least expensive with the least capability), ArcEditor, or ArcInfo.
With ArcGIS Desktop version 10.1, examining the upper-left corner of an ArcGIS software window is still a
way to know which software component you are using (ArcCatalog, ArcMap, and others). But the licensing
level is no longer revealed. There are still three levels (now called Basic, Standard, and Advanced) but to
5 If you don't have any other folder connections, you are most likely starting ArcCatalog for the first time. These drives
may or may not show up, depending on how your system is configured. Even if they don't appear here, ArcCatalog
has a way to make them accessible to you, in the same way that you added the “C” drive.