2 : Creating a new Shapefile

Creating a new Shapefile

Shapefile is a storage format in which we can save digital vector data associated to attribute information.  When storing data, we should not exceed 2GB. This geospatial vector data format do not have the ability to store topological information, as we have said it only stores non topological geometry and attribute information. We can store such information in ArcInfo coverages and Geodatabases.

A new Shapefile, is saved with two other files, with the same name, but not the same extension;

- .shp: This is the shapefile itself and itstores geographic features.

-.dbf: It is a Database File. It stores attribute data.

-.shx: Stores the index records of the "shp." file.

To make this tutorial, we need :

•     We will need the “Catalog Window” or the “ArcCatalog desktop application”.
•     Create a new folder in which we will add the shapefile :
•      We can create it from our Desktop or from “Catalog Window” in ArcMap

 Open “Catalog Window”

Create the shapefil

 Choose the projection coordinate system

 Display the shapefile in ArcMap

• ·         Open “Catalog Window” or “ArcCatalog Application” then access your data folder
• ·         Highlight the folder where we will put the shapefile. Right click on it. And Choose “Create a shapefile”
• ·         In the “Create a new Shapefile” dialog that appears, choose a file name, the type of the file (Points, Polylines, Polygons) from the drop down menu, and click on ‘Edit’ to choose set the Spatial Reference.
• ·         We use point feature type to digitize wells and trees, polylines to digitize roads and rives for example, and use polygons for buildings and parcels
  
  

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