Pre-Buffer Tasks - 1

The following is a listing of how to do this using arc info. All commands for Arc Info will be printed in bold here. Wherever the word "cover" appears, enter the name of the coverage in current working directory.


  1. Starting from your operating system prompt type ARC
  2. When ARC Info starts, type: lc or listcoverages

    A list of all valid coverages in your current directory will be returned:

    Arc: lc
     Workspace:
    /A/BBQ/U5/LOCAL/ETC/HTTPD/NCGIA/EDUCATION/CURRICULA/CCTP/UNITS/UNIT33
    
     Available Coverages
     -------------------
      BUFFER            BUFFER2           BUFFER3           BUFFER4
      BUFFEROUT
    
  3. Select the coverage you wish and type: describe cover

    This will look something like this:

    Arc: describe buffer
                    Description of SINGLE precision coverage buffer
    
                                    FEATURE CLASSES
    
                                        Number of  Attribute     Spatial
    Feature Class          Subclass     Features   data (bytes)  Index?    Topology?
    -------------          --------     ---------  ------------  -------   ---------
    POINTS                                      8        18
    
                                   SECONDARY FEATURES
    
    Tics                                        4
    
                                       TOLERANCES
    
    Fuzzy   =                 0.002 N          Dangle  = 0.000 N
    
                                   COVERAGE BOUNDARY
    
    Xmin =                    1.415            Xmax = 6.398
    Ymin =                    1.156            Ymax = 4.392
    
                                         STATUS
    
    The coverage has not been Edited since the last BUILD or CLEAN.
    
                              NO COORDINATE SYSTEM DEFINED
    

    Notice that the Coverage Boundary is described. If the units are not expected, for example they are too big or too small, this is a cue that there is a problem. If a coordinate system has been defined, it should be completely described. Further resources for resolving this problem can be found in Unit 10.


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