Introducing ArcGIS Desktop

     

 

ArcGIS Desktop | ArcInfo | ArcView | ArcView Extensions |ArcSDE | BusinessMAP | ArcReader | ERDAS | MapObjects | ArcPad | ArcIMS | Schematics | Getting Help | Other Resources

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ArcGIS is an integrated geographic information system (GIS) consisting of several elements. The ArcGIS Desktop includes three applications:

ArcMap is the application central to ArcGIS Desktop. It is used for all map-based tasks which may include cartography, map analysis, and editing.

ArcCatalog is a tool for organizing your GIS data, and includes tools for browsing and finding geographic information, recording and viewing metadata, quickly viewing any dataset, and defining the schema structure for your geographic data layers.

ArcToolbox contains many of the tools used for geoprocessing. Two versions of ArcToolbox are available. The first is accessible when using ArcInfo while the other is available when using ArcView or ArcEditor. The ArcInfo version of ArcToolbox contains all the tools while the ArcView/ArcEditor version has fewer tools.

ArcGIS Desktop's Functional Product Levels

The ArcGIS Desktop can be accessed using three software products, each with an increase in functionality:

ArcView 9.0 is a suite of applications including ArcMap, ArcCatalog, and ArcToolbox described above and may be most appropriate for EDS users just getting started with ArcGIS applications available in the ArcGIS Desktop. ArcView 9.0 is functionally equivalent to ArcView GIS 3.x. Users can import their ArcView GIS 3. apr and .avl files into ArcView 9.0.

ArcEditor includes all the funtionality of the features available in ArcView with some additional advanced editing capabilities for coverages and geodatabases.

ArcInfo expands upon the funtionality of both ArcView and ArcEditor to allow advanced geoprocessing as well as polygon processing. The ArcInfo Workstation includes the classic workstation applications and capabilities such as Arc, ARCPLOT™, ARCEDIT™, and more.

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