| EXPORTING GPS DATA TO ARC-INFO |
Map features (points, lines and areas) can be exported to Arc-Info in shapefile format. Selecting Utilities|Export opens the export window (Figure 1).

Figure 1. The Export Window: ArcView
Shapefile is
the selected export setup.
In this example the UNT Parking Lot map (see Displaying Maps and Attributes) is being exported to Arc-Info. The Export Setup (Figure 1) specifies the format of exported files (ArcView Shapefiles in this case). The setup can be modified and saved to provide a number of different output formats. In this case, "Features" are being exported (positions and attributes) and "Not In Feature" positions are not included in the data to be exported (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Specifying format parameters for the export setup.
The attribute data will include some information generated by Pathfinder Office - the length of line features and the area and perimeter of area features (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Specifying attribute parameters for the export setup.
When all required parameters are set, selecting "OK" runs the export utility and brings up the completion window (Figure 4).

Figure 4. The Export Completed Window.
In this example, 10 point features (7 trees, 2 road signs and a fire hydrant) and 1 area feature (the parking lot) were exported (there are no line features in the map). The exported files (in shapefile format) are saved in the project's export directory. There is a separate shapefile for each type of feature exported (tree, road sign, fire hydrant and parking lot - Note: shapefiles actually have three parts - a shapefile *.shp, a database file *.dbf and an index file *.shx - all three are created by the export utility).
Shapefiles can be coverted to Arc-Info
coverages and then displayed in ArcPlot (Note: make sure the shapefile names are in small case).
ArcView shapefiles do not establish topology, so you must clean the coverage to eliminate intersections.
All four shape files in the project's
export directory can be imported at the same time. The map below
(Figure 5) shows the ArcPlot view of the UNT Parking Lot map. Selecting a
feature and opening an attribute table window displays attribute data for the
feature.

Figure 5. An ArcPlot view of the exported UNT parking lot map.
The LIST command can be used to display the attributes of the parking lot feature (Figure 6).

Figure 6. Arc-Info List of attributes for the parking
lot feature.
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