Annotation: Annotation is one option in ArcGIS for storing text to place on your maps. With annotation, each piece of text * stores its own position, text string, and display properties. Annotation is managed individually, unlike labels, which are managed as a group. This means a user can change the properties of single annotation features including color, font, size, bold, underline, or italics.
Arcade: This is an expression language that was introduced with ArcGIS 10.6 and ArcGIS Pro 2.0. Arcade can be used to create expressions that control labeling and symbology as well as create new informational fields on the fly in the HTML lookup window. Esri continues to work to expand the capabilities of the Arcade expression language with each new release.
ArcCatalog: An application included with ArcGIS Desktop. It was used to manage GIS data and resources. This is one of the older applications from Esri that ArcGIS Pro is replacing.
ArcGIS: A suite of GIS applications from Esri that includes several integrated components such as ArcGIS Enterprise, ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online, Collector, Survey 123, and more. It is designed so organizations can implement components as needed to support their operations and workflows. This makes ArcGIS extremely scalable.
ArcGIS Enterprise: Esri's server-based solution to support enterprise operations through the use of web services, web and mobile applications, multiple user databases, and more. It includes several components – Web Server, Datastores, Web Adaptor, and Portal.
ArcGIS Online: An Esri cloud-based GIS solution for sharing data, maps, and applications. It is one component of the ArcGIS solution suite.
ArcGIS Pro: Esri's newest desktop GIS application. First released in 2015, ArcGIS Pro is replacing the older ArcGIS Desktop applications (ArcMap, ArcCatalog, ArcGlobe, and ArcScene) as the primary desktop application within the ArcGIS solution suite. ArcGIS Pro allows users to visualize, edit, analyze, and share GIS data via an intuitive user interface built around a new 64-bit engine.
ArcMap: An application included with ArcGIS Desktop. It was the primary desktop GIS application from Esri from 1999 to 2018 when it was replaced by ArcGIS Pro. ArcMap allowed users to visualize, edit, analyze, and share GIS information.
Attribute: A specific characteristic (variable) of a feature such as a name, date, size, or material, that can be edited, deleted, and have operations performed on it. Normally associated and stored within a database table in a GIS.
CAD (Computer-Aided Design): This is a software that is used by engineers and surveyors. .dxf, .dwg, and .dgn are common CAD formats.
Concatenate: This is used to join two or more items. In GIS, this usually refers to joining the data found in two or more attribute fields together into a single field.
Coverage: This is the native data format for ArcInfo Workstation 7.x and earlier. It uses multiple folders and files to store both the spatial (location) and attribute (descriptive) data for geographic features. A single coverage can include multiple feature classes.
Data Frame: This is an organization unit in an ArcGIS Map Document (.mxd) that is opened with the ArcMap application. It contains layers in the Table of Contents that share a related theme or map purpose.
Data View: One of two views in ArcMap. Data view allows you to view data for the purposes of analysis and editing.
Datum: A datum is a component of a coordinate system or spatial reference. In very general terms, it is the point that connects the mathematical model of the earth, called an ellipsoid or spheroid, to the physical earth. There are two basic types of datum, horizontal and vertical. With horizontal datums, there are two types of those as well: earth-centered and local.
Feature: Any item contained in your spatial data (that is, a fire hydrant, a manhole, a parcel, a water line, a building, and so on). They are stored together in a feature class.
Feature class: The general meaning of this term refers to a collection of features that share a common geometry (point, line or polygon), attribute table, and spatial reference (coordinate system, datum, projection). Normally associated with Esri’s geodatabase format but can be applied to other formats as well including shapefiles which store a single feature class or CAD and coverages which store multiple feature classes. In a geodatabase, these can be standalone or grouped in a feature dataset.
Feature dataset: This is a collection of feature classes stored together within a geodatabase that shares the same spatial reference; that is, they share a coordinate system, and their features fall within a common geographic area. Feature classes with different geometry types (points, lines, and polygons) may be stored together in a single feature dataset. Feature datasets are required for the use of geodatabase topologies and geometric networks.
Geodatabase: This is the native data format for the ArcGIS platform. There are three basic types – personal, file, and SDE/Enterprise. Geodatabases store geometry, a spatial reference system, attributes, and behavioral rules for data. Various types of geographic datasets can be collected within a geodatabase, including feature classes, attribute tables, raster datasets, network datasets, topologies, address locators, custom toolboxes, and many others. The personal geodatabase is being retired and is not supported in ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Enterprise, or ArcGIS Online.
Labels: Labels are one of two primary methods for adding text to a map. They are dynamically placed, meaning the user configures basic properties but the software makes the final decision on the placement and display of the text. Label text strings are based on feature attributes that are found in the database table. Labels may be expanded to include additional text and multiple fields through the use of Arcade expressions.
Layer: Any spatial or tabular data used in a map. Located in the Table of Contents in ArcMap or the Contents pane in ArcGIS Pro. Layers have properties including Name, Symbology, Label Settings, Display Settings, and Source Location. Layers do not store data. They point to or reference data stored as a geodatabase, shapefile, CAD file, coverage, or raster format.
Layer file: An external file that stores layer property settings such as symbology, data source, display settings, and label settings so that they may be easily used in other maps and by other users that have a connection to your GIS data. They can be created using ArcMap or ArcGIS Pro. If created with ArcMap, they will have a .lyr file extension. If created with ArcGIS Pro they will have a .lyrx file extension. They are used to standardize layer settings within an organization. Layer files do not actually store data. They point to or reference data that might be stored as a shapefile, geodatabase feature class, CAD file, raster, or something else.
Layer package: An external file that stores both a copy of the data and the layer property settings. They can be created using ArcMap or ArcGIS Pro. If created with ArcMap, they will have a .lpk file extension. If created with ArcGIS Pro, they will have a .lpkx file extension. Layer packages are used to share data with those who do not have access to your GIS database or files. They can also be used as an archive for historically important data or as a backup.
Layout: A worksheet where you design your final map product, comprising the view, charts, tables, legend, map scale, text, and the north arrow, sometimes, they are referred to as a virtual page.
Map: A collection of related layers within an ArcGIS Pro project. They allow you to visualize, edit, and analyze spatial and tabular data.
Map frame: A map that has been added to a layout in ArcGIS Pro. A single layout can contain one or more map frames.
Map package: There are two types of map packages, one created using ArcMap with an .mpk file extension and one created with ArcGIS Pro that has a .mpkx file extension. Map packages created with ArcMap contain everything found in a .mxd file. This includes data frames, layers, and the layout, along with all referenced data. Map packages created with ArcGIS Pro only contain the layers and data included in the single map from a project that the file is based on. They will not include layouts or information from other maps within a project.
NAD 27: This stands for North American Datum 1927. It is a local horizontal datum located in Meades Ranch, Kansas, in the United States, which is the approximate center of the continental United States.
NAD 83: This stands for North American Datum 1983. It is an earth-centered horizontal datum.
Project: This term has different meanings depending on the context. One is a noun and one is a verb. The first is the files used by ArcGIS Pro. ArcGIS Pro uses project files with a .aprx file extension. A single project can contain multiple maps, data connections, layouts, and so on that are related to a common purpose. The second meaning is related to coordinate systems. Toproject data is the act of moving data from one coordinate system to another and displaying it on a two-dimensional plane.
Project package: Basically, this is a file that contains all the contents in an ArcGIS Pro project, including maps, layouts, and toolboxes, as well as copies of the related data. It is used to share a project with others who don't have access to your GIS data or to archive a project. They use a .ppkx file extension.
Projection: The representation of the earth’s curved three-dimensional surface on a 2-dimensional surface (a flat map).
Query: Essentially, this is a question used to select features that have specific attribute values or relationships. Within ArcGIS, there are two basic types of selection queries, Select by Attribute and Select by Location:
- Select by Attribute will select features in a given layer based on some value criteria the user enters, such as Parcel Owner Name = John Smith or Pipe Size.
- Select by Location, sometimes referred to as a spatial query, selects features in one or more layers based on their spatial relationships, such as all parcels within the city limits, or all roads within a distance of 100 feet from a hospital.
Raster: This is a simple storage model for spatial data. It stores information using equal-sized cells. Each cell is assigned a number. This number can represent things such as counts, color, elevation, temperature, wind speed, average rainfall, population density, and so on. Rasters are often associated with, but not limited to, aerial photography, Digital Elevation Models (DEM), land use classification, and vegetation classification.
Scene: This is a three-dimensional map. It allows you to look at features not only from a top-down view, as you do with a traditional map, but also by rotating along the z axis. They can be created natively in ArcGIS Pro without the need for an extension or add-in. If you are working in the older ArcGIS Desktop environment, you will need the 3D Analyst extension, which includes the ArcScene and ArcGlobe applications required to create a scene.
Shapefile: Shapefiles are the native format for Esri’s ArcView GIS 3.x application and earlier. This format has become the de facto data transfer format for GIS. Many GIS and GPS packages have the ability to read, import, and export shapefiles. A shapefile stores a single feature class (a point, line, or polygon). Viewed as a single file by ArcGIS software, it is actually made up of multiple files (.shp, .shx, .dbf, and others). Shapefiles are one of the two data formats that are editable within ArcGIS.
Spatial query: A query that uses the spatial relationship between features in one or more layers to select data. In ArcGIS, this is accomplished with the Select by Location query. This allows users to select features in one or more layers based on their spatial relationships such as all parcels within the city limits, or all roads within a distance of 100 feet from a hospital.
Table: A collection of data stored in rows and columns. The columns are referred to as fields and the rows records. They are typically part of a database. In GIS, each layer will also have a connected table referred to as the attribute table. In an attribute table, each record or row is linked to a feature in the layer.
Topology: The general meaning of topology is a model of how spatial features are related to one another. Do they connect?Are they next to each other? Do they overlap? In ArcGIS, a topology is a part of the geodatabase that defines rules on how features in one or more feature classes must relate to one another. A geodatabase topology can only be created within a feature dataset and only the feature classes with that dataset can participate in the topology.
Vector: A simple storage model for spatial data. It stores information using specific coordinates (X, Y, and sometimes Z) that form points, lines, or polygons.