Essential vocabulary for geoprocessing packages

Term	Description
Analyze	A process that identifies errors that you will need to address before you can share a geoprocessing package. When you click the Analyze button (), the Prepare window opens, identifying the issues you need to address. Once you have addressed all of these issues, your package is ready to share.
Consolidate	Consolidate is a term used to describe the process of gathering up all the resources that need to be included in a package such as datasets, layer files, toolboxes, scripts, and so on. When a package is created, all resources are first consolidated into a folder, the folder contents are written to a package file, and the folder is deleted. There are tools in the Package toolset to consolidate resources into a folder and skip the packaging process.
Geoprocessing Package	A geoprocessing package is a single compressed file created from one or more results found in the Results window. Results contain all needed resources, such as custom tools, input datasets, other project data, and so on, to successfully reexecute the workflow or analysis when unpacked and run by the consumer of the package.
Package	A package is a single compressed file used for sharing. Within ArcGIS you can create packages to share layers, maps, geoprocessing results, address locators and map tile caches.
Project data	Project data is a term used by geoprocessing to describe input data that is not a parameter; that is, the data is not supplied by the user of the tool or task, but is used internally by the tool or task. For example, the San Francisco Network Dataset variable in the model below is project data because it is used by the model but not exposed as a parameter. Essentially, a model's project data is a blue oval without a P next to it. Project data can appear in scripts as well, as shown in the Python code snippet below. import arcpy # The inputPoints variable is considered to be project data # since it is not an input parameter. # inputPoints = r"c:\data\Toronto\residential.gdb\shelters" arcpy.Buffer_analysis(inputPoints, 'shelterBuffers', '1500 Meters')
Result	When a tool executes, it creates a result that contains information about the execution of the tool such as all input and output parameters and execution messages. To work with your results, use the Results window.
Schema Only	In packaging, schema only is an option used to determine if just the schema of your data, and not the data itself, will be consolidated in the package. A schema is the structure or design of a feature class or table that consists of field and table definitions, coordinate system properties, symbology, definition queries, and so on. If schema only is specified, no data or records will be included in the package. Note: For geoprocessing packages, schema only applies to input and output datasets that are used in parameters for the tool that is being packaged. Schema only does not apply to project data.
Unpack	When a package is added to ArcGIS, it is unpacked into a known location. Packages can be unpacked by dragging and dropping the package into ArcMap, ArcCatalog, or ArcGlobe. Additionally, packages can be unpacked by double-clicking a package file from a file browser or e-mail client, by using the Extract_Package tool or by downloading from ArcGIS Online. Note: By default, all packages are extracted to your local profile. To change the default location of where your packages will be unpacked, click Customize > ArcMap Options from the ArcMap main menu. This opens the ArcMap Options dialog box. Click the Sharing tab, and check Use user specified location as illustrated below. Enter the location of where you want packages to be unpacked.