Some Concepts That Underpin GIS - Introducing Geographic Information Systems with ArcGIS - page 42

FIGURE 1-19

The Catalog Tree

As you recall, the main portion of the default ArcCatalog window is usually divided into two panes. On the
left you find the Catalog Tree. 7 The Catalog Tree, when expanded, gives an overall view of the names of your
data sets. You can also look with varying levels of detail at all the data on all the disk drives of the computer
by expanding the entries (items) 8 in the tree. In this way, ArcCatalog's presentation is like Windows Explorer.
A plus sign (+) indicates that (usually) a given disk drive or folder contains additional folders or files that are
hidden from view. A minus sign ( ) preceding an entry indicates that any additional folders or files that are

directly contained within an entry are displayed below that entry. A click on a plus sign changes it to a minus
and expands the entry; a click on a minus sign collapses the list and shows a plus again.

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7. With ArcCatalog running, press the Contents tab in the right pane to make it active. In the
Catalog Tree, click the hard drive designator of the path [___]. 9 The folders on that hard drive
will appear in the right pane. Click the plus sign next to the entry for the hard drive. The folders

7 For future reference, you can (1) “Auto-Hide” the Catalog Tree by clicking the pushpin (experiment with this). If you
close the Catalog Tree (either accidently or on purpose to provide more visual space for the right-hand pane) you can
make it reappear using the Windows menu.
8 If you are a user of ArcInfo Workstation, or earlier versions of ArcInfo, you know that the term “item” refers to a
column heading indicating a coverage's attributes. Although ArcGIS Esri manuals refer to a line of text in the Catalog
Tree as an “item,” I will refer to it as an “entry.”
9 This could be as simple as C:\. Recall that you recorded the drive and path (if any) of the [___] designator in Step 2 of
Exercise 1-2 above. In the event the path to IGIS-Arc does not appear, click File > Connect Folder and navigate to the
IGIS-Arc Folder. Select it with a single click. Then say OK to the Connect to Folder window.