Santa Ana College
BA 150 - Introduction to Geographic
Information Systems (GIS)
Ticket #: 1215001 Instructor: Debbie Crowley
GIS Class FAQ
FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions. This page will be continually updated throughout the semester, with questions I receive regarding the operation of this course. Prior to emailing me with a question, check here to see if it is asked and answered here.
Since our class is just starting nothing appears here yet.Table Of Contents
The following is a list of links to each question in this FAQ. Click on the link of the question you wish answered.
- I can't find my data or my project.
- Problem with GIS Tutorial textbook software installation.
- I am unable to register my trial version of ArcView that came with our text book.
- What is a Census Tract?
- How do I do I access my free ESRI Virtual Campus course?
- Why is ArcGIS 9.1 crashing?
- I can't find my data or my project. I get the little ! next to my data in the ArcMap Table of Contents.
- One of the most common problems with GIS users is not learning GIS but saving and accessing projects.
A GIS project consists of many files. The data displayed on a map is not saved with it. Map layers reference the data sources in your GIS database. This helps to keep map documents relatively small in size. Essentially a GIS is a 'pointer' system that points to locations of other data sources and stores their locations in a small file (mxd).
When reopening the mxd, the GIS searches for the original location and pulls the data together. If you move the original location you will find the GIS will not search for the new location but will respond with a red exclamation point indicating that it cannot locate the files. If this happens you can try to locate it for MapView:
- Right click the layer
- Choose Data / Set Data Source
- In the Data Source dialog box navagate to the folder that contains your data
- Click on the your data file and click Add to set the data source.
If you plan to distribute your map to others, they'll need access to both the map document and the data your map references. Which means you will have to give them the GIS database as well as the map.
Bottom Line - it is important to save your project within a folder which also contains your GIS data. This means either on the hard drive or your flash drive, if you intend to work on assignments in multiple locations.
- Problem with GIS Tutorial textbook software installation.
- There ia a web site for our textbook GIS Tutorial Workbook go there for support. click the link on the bottom right side of the page that says here. This will bring you to a contact Us web page. There you'll find some links that you should find helpful.
- I am unable to register my trial version of ArcView that came with our text book.
- Apparently there is a bug in the registration software that deactivates your EVA registration code. Two of the causes of this is to enter nothing in the Company name field or to put an abreviation in the Company name field. Anyway if your registration code gets deactivated, you will need to contact ESRI to get it reactivated. You can call Customer service at 888-377-5475.
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- What is a census tract?
- Census tracts are small, somewhat permanent statistical subdivisions of a county. Tracts are marked out by a local committee of census data users for the purpose of presenting data. Census tract boundaries usually follow visible features,but could also follow governmental unit boundaries and other non-visible features, however, they always nest within counties. Census tracts are designed to be fairly even units with respect to population characteristics, economic status, and living conditions. Census tracts average about 4,000 people. There are 65,443 census tracts in the United States; if you add those in Puerto Rico and the Island Areas (e.g., the U.S. Virgin Islands), the total is 66,438. Currently, data on census tracts are obtained only from the Census of Population and Housing conducted every 10 years (last in 2000).
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- How do I do I access my free ESRI Virtual Campus course?
- The access code sent to you by your instructor is to be used only once. Think of it like a credit card number, you use it once to pay for the online course, and then you don't need to pay again. Now that the course has been purchased, you then access the course.
To Access the course, do the following:
- Go to ESRI's Training and Education web page (you click on ESRI Virtual Campus link on the left side of the class web page.)
- Click on the Login link at the upper right side of the ESRI web page (just to the left of the key graphic).
- You should now be at the ESRI Login Page, using your ESRI Global Account you should have created after the first week of class, Login.
- Now that you're logged in, click on Go to My Training.
- From the My Training Page, under the heading of My Courses, click on My Virtual Campus Courses link.
- This web page should list the courses you've enrolled in. You should see a link for Learning ArcGIS Desktop (for ArcGIS 9.2-9.3). Click that link and you should be in the course.
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- Why is ArcGIS 9.1 crashing?
- If you computer has Internet Explorer 7 installed on it, this is the cause of your crash. ESRI has released a patch for this problem. Go to ArcGIS 91. Desktop Patch for Internet Explorer 7 Users. Here you'll find the patch and detailed instructions.