[gis_info] Understanding ArcGIS Pro Layer and Map Files

[Eric Pimpler]

One of the more difficult aspects of getting up to speed with GIS software
is the wide variety of data formats that can be used. Just to name a few we
have two or three types of geodatabase including file and enterprise for
ArcGIS Pro and a third, personal geodatabases, for ArcMap. Each geodatabase
can include feature datasets, feature classes, rasters, and stand-alone
tables along with several other less commonly used formats. In addition, we
still frequently use shapefiles and to a lesser degree we use DEM and TIN
datasets. Web service layers streamed from ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS
Enterprise are being used more and more as well. At times we may even load
point data from csv files and other spreadsheet formats. And what are these
things called packages? Obviously this is a lot to grasp if you’re new to
GIS, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed. It’s easy to understand why many GIS
professionals, when confronting yet another format, simply can’t digest the
information and understand how one format is different from all the other
formats.

At the risk of introducing you to yet another format I am going to do just
that in this article because there are some significant advantages provided
by what is known as map and layer files. Map and layer files, while
representing yet another format, provide some significant advantages that
you need to be aware of and are generally easy to use. By the end of this
article you’ll have a much better understanding of what these file types
are and how you can use them effectively.

Read the entire article.
<https://geospatialtraining.com/understanding-arcgis-pro-layer-and-map-files/>


-- 
Eric Pimpler
President/Owner
Geospatial Training Services
215 W Bandera #114-104
Boerne, TX 78006
http://geospatialtraining.com
Twitter - @gistraining
YouTube <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBsovhqqh9xWnuTESkQdtkg>
eric at geospatialtraining.com
210-260-4992
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