Esri ArcGIS Desktop Professional Certification Study Guide. Mike Flanagan

check-in: A list of tasks that you should be able to perform.

      Navigating the documentation

      Throughout this book are ArcGIS Pro, ArcMap, and ArcGIS® Online documentation topics that you should review. You can browse to the topics by using the online documentation links in this table, by clicking the Help links in the digital version of this study guide, or by consulting the Help documentation installed with the software.

      Online documentation

      ArcGIS Pro https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app

      ArcMap https://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap

      ArcGIS Online https://doc.arcgis.com/en/arcgis-online

      The ArcGIS Pro online documentation reflects the most current release of the software. This version of the ArcGIS Desktop Professional exam tests your knowledge of ArcGIS Pro 1.4. At each release, the ArcGIS Pro online documentation Help topics may be reorganized or renamed. To see what has changed from ArcGIS Pro 1.4 to the current release, go to http://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app /get-started/whats-new-in-arcgis-pro.htm. One important change is that the Project pane and the Project view in ArcGIS Pro 1.4 were renamed the Catalog pane and the Catalog view, respectively, in ArcGIS Pro 2.0. As you read the ArcGIS Pro online documentation, keep in mind that software changes may occur from version to version.

      The ArcMap online documentation is organized by version from ArcMap 10.3 to the present. You can choose documentation for topics or pages corresponding to a specific software version.

      You can also browse to the documentation using the installed Help programs: ArcGIS Pro Help and ArcGIS Desktop 10.5 Help. Occasionally, the name of a documentation topic differs between the online documentation and ArcGIS Pro 1.4 installed Help. In these instances, this book lists the path to the most current version of the ArcGIS Pro Help documentation.

Additional resources

      These resources can be used to supplement the exam preparation information in this book.

      Exam preparation resources

      ArcGIS Desktop Professional 10.5 preparation resources http://bit.ly/2AFUFXc

      Esri ArcGIS Desktop Professional Certification 10.5 Learning Plan http://bit.ly/2Q4pdMD

      Esri Technical Certification: Sample Questions for ArcGIS Desktop Professional web course http://bit.ly/2Q4n7wf

      Esri Academy Course Catalog http://bit.ly/2AC2VXY

      GeoNet http://bit.ly/2DTUx9r

      E360 Esri Video https://www.esri.com/videos

      Chapter 2

      Data Storage

      This section of the exam tests your understanding of data storage. With ArcGIS, you can store your data in a way that fits your system architecture and existing business workflows. This functionality includes storing data as individual files, in relational databases, in geodatabases, or in the cloud. This chapter covers ways that ArcGIS handles data, including the capabilities of the geodatabase and its supported data elements. This chapter is divided into five skills.

Skills measured

      1 Given requirements for a specific project, determine how to design a geodatabase.

      2 Select appropriate data formats for an intended use.

      3 Given a task, determine the data, settings, and parameters for creating a complex dataset.

      4 Given a task, determine the data, settings, and parameters for creating an address locator.

      5 Given a scenario, determine how to synchronize replicated data.

Given requirements for a specific project, determine how to design a geodatabase

      A geodatabase gives you the ability to store data in a central location for easy access and management. It can be used in desktop, enterprise, or mobile environments, and it supports the storage of many types of GIS data. A geodatabase allows you to manage your data using advanced capabilities for modeling behavior, maintaining data integrity, and working with spatial relationships. This section covers the fundamentals of geodatabases and some of their supported data elements. This skill has three parts: (1) geodatabase fundamentals, (2) associating features and records, and (3) topology.

      Geodatabase fundamentals

      A geodatabase provides structure and a framework that allows you to accurately model the real world while maintaining the relational integrity between your spatial data. Three geodatabase types are supported in ArcGIS: personal geodatabases, file geodatabases, and enterprise geodatabases.

      Reminder

      Personal geodatabases are not supported in ArcGIS Pro.

      File and personal geodatabases are supported at all license levels. These two geodatabase types also support the full information model of the geodatabase. They are designed to be edited by a single user and do not support geodatabase versioning. Enterprise geodatabases can be edited and used simultaneously by many users. They provide support for several common database management systems (DBMSs), including Oracle®, PostgreSQL, and Microsoft® SQL Server. Refer to the Help documentation for detailed tables comparing the number of users, supported storage formats, and key workflows of each of the supported geodatabase types.

      When you have decided which type of geodatabase to use, you can create it using one of these methods:

      1 Design a new, empty geodatabase.

      2 Copy and modify an existing geodatabase schema.

      3 Import the schema from other data sources.

      When the geodatabase has been created, you can begin using it to organize your feature classes, raster datasets, tables, and more. You can add data to a geodatabase by creating and adding new datasets directly to it, copying and pasting datasets using the Catalog pane or the Catalog window, or using geoprocessing tools to import data from existing locations or convert data from other data formats. This table lists elements that you can create and manage in a geodatabase.

      Elements managed in a geodatabase

      After you add data to a geodatabase, you can extend its capabilities using rules that manage attribute values and provide additional support in multiuser editing environments. This table lists capabilities for extending feature classes and tables.

      Methods for extending feature classes and tables

      Geodatabases can store more than feature classes, raster datasets, and tables; they also support advanced data elements such as feature datasets, topology, geometric networks, address locators, and mosaic datasets. Feature datasets are especially important because they form the foundation of topologies, network datasets, geometric networks, terrains, and parcel fabrics. A feature dataset organizes thematically or spatially related feature classes into a collection of features that have a common coordinate system. For example, if you had a series of point, line, and polygon feature classes representing hydrologic features, you could combine them into a “hydrologic features” feature dataset. After the feature dataset was created, you could include all the participating features