Using ArcExplorer as a Data Viewer

ArcExplorer (http://www.esri.com/software/arcexplorer/index.html)is a lightweight GIS data viewer developed by ESRI. This freely available software offers an easy way to perform basic GIS functions. ArcExplorer is used for a variety of display, query, and data retrieval applications and supports a wide variety of standard data sources.

ESRI offers both Windows and Java versions of ArcExplorer. ArcExplorer 2 is the Windows version of ArcExplorer. ArcExplorer 9 is the Java version, which offers cross-platform support for Windows, UNIX, and Linux. Both versions of ArcExplorer can be downloaded for free off the ESRI Web site. This tutorial concerns the Java version. ESRI offers on-line access to the ArcExplorer User's Guide should you wish to see it.

ArcExplorer 9 supports the following data formats:

• Shapefiles
• Images (TIF, JPEG, GIF, BMP, or PNG)
• ArcSDE Layers
• ArcSDE for Coverages

Other images are supported if they are in a Map Service started by ArcIMS Administrator, but for the purposes of this tutorial we'll be using Shapefiles and TIF images. At this point it should be mentioned that for those image formats that use "world files," the world files must accompany the image when used in ArcExplorer 9.

This tutorial will feature the use of Shapefiles (an ESRI developed format), a format of the vector data type, and TIF, an image format of the raster data type.

Shapefiles are a data structure (format) for storing the location and descriptive attribute information of features on the Earth's surface. Features are mapped as points, lines and polygons but topological associations are not provided. A single Shapefile only stores one type of feature, either points, lines, or polygons.

All Shapefiles include a data table with fields that describe the individual features. For example, if the Shapefile stores information about manhole covers, each point in the Shapefile represents the geographic location of a manhole cover, and each record in the Shapefile's data table describes each of these manholes with fields like cover number, manhole depth, last inspection date, etc. A shapefile is denoted by its .shp extension.

Image data is a graphic representation or description of an object that is typically produced by an optical or electronic device. Some common examples of image data include remotely sensed data, such as satellite data, scanned data, and photographs. Image data is stored as raster data set of binary or integer values where each raster/grid-cell/pixel, has a value.

In the case of a remotely sensed satellite image, each pixel will have a value representing electromagnetic energy, perhaps that reflected back to the sensor from a portion of the Earth's surface. In the event the image is that of a scanned document, the value assigned to each pixel is a function of the brightness associated with a particular point on the document.

You can type in four Latitude/Longitude values using decimal degrees. The values should be NAD83 (North American Datum of 1983) based. If you don't know the values clicking on the Show Map button will allow you to interactively draw the bounding box on a map automatically defining the area.

• Download Using ArcExplorer - Java Edition [3.79 MB]. This guide is in Adobe Acrobat format (PDF).
• Installation of ArcExplorer 9 on Windows requires administrator privileges (you may already have them - ask your system's administrator).
• During the installation, files are put in the %TEMP% folder for utility purposes. A %TEMP% variable must be set and the %TEMP% folder should be writable.

• Operating System: Windows 2003, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT, or UNIX operating system.
• Disk Space: 13 MB
• JRE: 1.4.2 with Java Plug-in.

ArcExplorer 9 requires JRE (Java Release) 1.4.2. To find the version of JAVA installed on your machine, go to the Control Panel and then to Add/Remove programs. Your Java version is probably listed there. If you have used GeoStor on your machine previously you are likely to have JRE 1.4.0. If you have a recent version of Netscape installed, say v7.1, then you will have at least Java v1.3x installed.

As for University of Arkansas Mullins Library computers, almost all of them have Netscape v7.1 installed, and so they also have Java v1.3x installed as well. Millennium, the library's management software, also uses Java v1.3x, and that is installed on a majority of the staff computers, but is not on any public access machines.

Regardless of whether or not you have, download this file. It has both the required JRE and the ArcExplorer setup program (note that you must run the JRE prior to launching ArcExplorer 9):

Download JRE and ArcExplorer 9 for Windows (Windows ae90java_jre.zip)
File Size: 21.6 MB

To begin installation, navigate to AE9Java.exe in the directory where you downloaded it from the Web.

Double-click the AE9JavaSetup.exe and follow the on-screen instructions.

After installation, click Start | Programs | ArcGIS | ArcExplorer 9 to open ArcExplorer 9.

For instructions on downloading versions of ArcExplorer for platforms other than Windows or UNIX please visit the ESRI website.

In order to follow along with this tutorial you will need to have the Chicken House layer downloaded from GeoSTOR as part of the preceding GeoSTOR tutorial.

Viewing data in ArcExplorer is EASY! After firing up ArcExplorer load up data for viewing by simply navigating to the data file using the red "+" on the main menu bar.

The Catalog dialog box will open. On the right-hand side use the File Type drop-down menu to select either Shapefiles or Image Files, then browse to the folder containing the file you wish to view.

Once you've reached the data file, select it, then click on the Add Layers icon in the upper left-hand corner.

After closing the dialog box the layer(s) you selected will appear in the margin on the left side. Click on the little empty box next to the layer title and ArcExplorer will display the data in an automatically randomly assigned set of display properties including style, color, and size.

Changing the display properties is a snap. Select the layer you wish to change and then do a right mouse click. On the menu that subsequently appears click on Layer Properties and change the settings as you please.

Once you've edited the display properties your preferences are displayed. It's that easy!

Now that you've learned how to display shapefiles you may wish go on to image files. For this next step let's assume you have download an image file covering approximately the same area as the two shapefiles displayed above. For purposes of this tutorial using GeoStor we have selected and downloaded 1999 Arkansas Land-use/Land-cover: Spring using the Washington County existing polygon geographic filter, and have specified NAD83 Universal Transverse Mercator, Zone 15 N, Meter as the Coordinate Sytem, and GeoTiff as the image format.

After unzipping the downloaded archive file containing the image file change the File Type to Image Files and browse to file then click on the Add Layers icon in the upper left-hand corner as you learned to do earlier.

If you already have layers loaded at the time you display the image file you may have covered them with the image file. Layers are displayed in the order in which they are loaded. Simply drag and drop the layers to change the order of display and therefore visibility. You may wish to change the Layer Properties (as you earlier learned to do)of the image file to make it translucent as was done to the file shown below.

This concludes the tutorial , Getting Started with ArcExplorer.

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