Introduction to the Datum Configuration Tool

ArcPad includes two datum configuration files, Transforms.dbf and DefaultTransforms.dbf, which are located in the ArcPad System folder. These files can be modified to add datum transformations, as well as to override the default datum transformations within ArcPad.

The Transforms.dbf file allows you to add datum transformation parameters that are searched before ArcPad’s internal datum transformations. This means that the data in this configuration file will override the datum transformation information embedded in ArcPad. The DefaultTransforms.dbf file forces ArcPad to use a specific datum transformation if there is more than one available for a given pair of datum names. For additional information on the datums supported in ArcPad, see Supported Datums.

The Datum Configuration Tool is an easy to use tool for editing the Transforms.dbf and DefaultTransforms.dbf files. This tool is run on a desktop PC that has ArcPad installed. Once the .dbf files have been edited, they can be copied to the ArcPad System folder on your mobile device.

The Datum Configuration Tool has the following two tabs:

• The Define Datum Transformation tab is used for editing the Transforms.dbf file.
• The Select Default Datum Transformation tab is used for editing the DefaultTransforms.dbf file.