Transcript Extending ArcView - RS/GIS Laboratory @ USU

ArcView / Avenue / ArcGIS
Customization
Basic Customization in ArcView 3.x
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Sources for scripts and extensions
Installing an extension
Adding and running a script
Attaching a script to a button
System scripts
Startup and shutdown scripts
Sources for Scripts & Extensions
• ArcScripts (http://arcscripts.esri.com/)
• Sample Scripts and Extensions in the
ArcView help (look under Sample scripts
and extensions in the table of contents)
• Google
• Online communities
– http://www.directionsmag.com/files/
– http://software.geocomm.com/scripts/arcview/
Installing an Extension
On a Windows machine:
• Put the .avx file in the
c:\esri\av_gis30\arcview\ext32 directory
• You can also set the USEREXT
environment variable to use another
location (if you have admin privileges)
Installing an Extension
On our UNIX system:
• Putting the .avx file in your home directory
should make ArcView see it when you are
logged in
• Or you can set an environment variable called
USEREXT to point to a custom location and then
put all your .avx files in that location
• Only the system administrator can install an
extension so all users can see it
Adding a Script
• In the ArcView Project window, select
the Scripts icon and then click New
• Either type, paste, or use the Script |
Load Text File option to get your code
in the new script window
• Use Script | Compile or the checkbox
button to compile the script
• If you don’t get an error message, then
the script compiled successfully
Running a script
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Some scripts can be run from the project
window, just by clicking Run
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Others might need to be associated with
a particular (open) document, like a view
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To associate a script with a view:
1.Open the script
2.Activate the necessary view
3.Activate the script
4.Choose Script | Run
Running a script
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A better way to make a script work with a view
if you’re going to use it a lot is to put a new
button on the View toolbar and associate it
with the script
1. Make a view active
2. Double-click on an empty part of the toolbar
3. Make sure Type is View and Category is
Buttons
4. Select a button and click New (this will create a
new button next to the one you selected)
Running a Script
5. Select your new button
6. Double-click on the empty
box next to Click (in the
bottom part of the dialog)
7. Select the script you want
to run
8. You can also set an icon
for the button by doubleclicking on the Icon
section at the bottom of
the Customize dialog
System Scripts
• A lot of the scripts written by ESRI are
available for you to use
• Use the customize dialog to see what
script gets run by a button or menu item
• You can attach system scripts to your own
custom buttons
Startup and Shutdown Scripts
• You can make a script
automatically run when
you open or shut down a
project
• Choose Project |
Properties
• Set scripts using the
script selection buttons
• You can also set a working directory and a
selection color using this dialog
Calculators
• Field calculator (attribute data)
– Shape calculations
– Number calculations
– String calculations
• Map calculator (raster data)
Field Calculator
• To see a list of
requests available for
a data type, click the
appropriate Type
radio button and then
scroll down the
Requests list
• The example shown here converts a numeric
ID to a string and puts it in a new field called
NewField1
Field Calculator
• Operations on shapes are not shown in the Field
Calculator itself
• To see what shape requests are available, open
the ArcView help and go to the Shape (class)
entry in the index
• You can’t use everything that is listed, but you
can use the ones that return a number, string, or
boolean and don’t require another shape (so you
can use ReturnArea but not Contains)
Field Calculator
• You’ll have to type the
request in yourself
(don’t forget the
period between
[Shape] and the
request!)
• This example computes the area of a shape
(polygon) and puts it in a field called NewField1
Field Calculator
• Descriptions of all requests are in the
ArcView help; either search on the name
of the request you see in the dialog, or go
to the following pages in the index to see a
list of them all:
– Shape (class)
– Number (class)
– String (class)
– Date (class)
Field Calculator Examples
• Autonumber records: rec + 1
• Convert a number to string: [num].AsString
• Concatenate two string fields into one:
– [str1] + [str2] (no space)
– [str1] ++ [str2] (space between originals)
• Extract first 3 characters from a string:
[str].Left(3)
Field Calculator Examples
• Convert a number to a string:
[num].AsString
• Compute absolute value of a number:
[num].Abs
• Get the maximum of two numeric fields:
[num1] max [num2]
Map Calculator
• Double-click on a
grid name and
then you’ll be able
to select request
types from the list
• Use the AsGrid
request to convert
numbers to grids
• This example takes the base10 log of Grid1 and then
adds 5 to that
Map Calculator Examples
• Create a grid that has true everywhere grid1 is
NULL and false where grid1 has data:
[grid1].IsNull
• Create a grid that has values from grid1 where
grid3 is non-zero and values from grid2
everywhere else: [grid3].Con([grid1],[grid2])
• Mosaics 3 grids together:
[grid1].Mosaic({[grid2],[grid3]})
• Check out the Grid (class) section in the help to
see more requests
Basic Customization in ArcGIS
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Normal template
Making your own toolbar
The Visual Basic Editor
Adding and running a Visual Basic script
Attaching a script to a button
Keyboard shortcuts
Normal Template
• Stores information (including
customizations) for the ArcGIS application
• Anything saved in normal.mxt is available
in all map documents
• Make sure you save customizations in the
correct place (normal.mxt for global
customizations, your .mxd file for projectspecific customizations)
Making Your Own Toolbar
• Open the Customize dialog by either
double-clicking on an empty spot in the
toolbar or choosing Customize from the
Tools menu
• Go to the Toolbars tab and click New
• Name your toolbar and choose the
location to save it
• Your new toolbar will open when you click
OK
Making Your Own Toolbar
• Go to the Commands tab in the Customize
dialog
• Drag the commands you want onto your
toolbar
• You can change the
tooltip or icon, or
delete a tool on
your toolbar by
right-clicking on it
while the Customize
dialog is open
The Visual Basic Editor
• Open the Visual Basic Editor
by choosing Tools | Macros |
Visual Basic Editor
• The Project window shows all
of the code VB code available
in the current project
• Code can be in normal.mxt or in the
current project
• Code that you’re adding will most likely be
in a regular Module
Adding a Visual Basic Script
• Open the Visual Basic Editor
• Right-click on one of the Module folders
and either import the file or insert a new
Module
• If you didn’t import the file, paste the code
into the new Module
• Make sure the code compiles by choosing
Debug | Compile Project
Running a Visual Basic Script
• From the Visual Basic Editor, choose Run |
Run Sub/UserForm while your cursor is in
the procedure you want to run
• From ArcMap, open the Macros dialog by
choosing Tools | Macros | Macros, and
then select the procedure you want to run
and click Run
Attaching a Script to a Button
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Open the Customize dialog
Go to the Commands tab
Go to the Macros category
Drag the macro you want to attach to a
toolbar
• Right-click on your new tool to change
tooltips and icons
Creating a Tool with Unique Code
• Sometimes you might want to create a
button that runs code specific to it (rather
than contained in a separate module)
• Open the Customize dialog and go to the
Commands tab
• Select the UIControls category and click
New UIControl
• Make sure UIButtonControl is selected
and click Create
Creating a Tool with Unique Code
• You can change the name of your control
by clicking on it twice (slowly)
• Drag the tool to a toolbar
• Right-click on the new button and choose
View Source in order to view (and edit) the
code
Keyboard Shortcuts
• Open the Customize dialog and click on the
Keyboard button
• Select the command you want to create a
shortcut for
• Put your cursor in the Press new shortcut key
box and press the key combination you want to
use
• You will see if that combination is already
assigned (Currently assigned to section)
• If you want to use that combination, click Assign
Basics of Avenue Programming
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Basic concepts
Classes and objects
Avenue requests to find objects
Places to get help
Basic Avenue Concepts
• Object oriented, which means you have a
collection of objects that you send
requests to
• There are many classes of objects (views,
themes, etc), and more than one object of
each class can exist
• Think of a particular object as a (really
smart) variable and its class as a data type
Basic Avenue Concepts
• An object is smart enough to do its own
processing, which is why you send
requests to it (you tell a theme to turn itself
on, for example, rather than telling the
main ArcView application to turn a specific
theme on)
• Before you can do any processing, you
need to get a “handle” to the object you
want to do processing on
Basic Avenue Concepts
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For example, if you want to turn a theme on,
you:
1.Find the View
2.Find the Theme
3.Make the theme visible
myView = Av.FindDoc(“View1”)
myTheme = myView.FindTheme(“Theme1”)
myTheme.SetVisible(true)
Av.FindDoc(“View1”).FindTheme(“Theme1”).SetVisible(true)
Avenue Requests to Find Objects
• To find a view:
myView = Av.FindDoc(“view_name”)
• To find a theme:
myTheme = myView.FindTheme(“theme_name”)
• To get a vector theme’s attribute table:
myTable = myTheme.GetFTab
• To get a field in an attribute table:
myField = myTable.FindField(“field_name”)
Places to Get Help
• ArcView Help
• http://support.esri.com (the User Forums,
Knowledge Base, and Downloads
sections)
• Listservs at
http://lists.directionsmag.com/discussion/