Modifying representation properties

This topic applies to ArcGIS for Desktop Standard and ArcGIS for Desktop Advanced only.

Feature representations are assigned a representation rule—through the RuleID field— that dictates their appearance. Each component of the representation rule is an editable property of the feature representation. Any change to these properties for an individual feature becomes a representation override to the rule for that feature.

Learn about representation rulesLearn about representation overrides

Visibility is a property that is automatically present on any feature representation, regardless of how the representation rule is structured. Visibility can be overridden for individual feature representations just like any other representation property.

In an edit session, when you change a representation rule property on a feature that follows only a default value in the representation rule (that is, it is not mapped to an explicit representation field), the Override icon appears next to that property on the Representation Properties window, indicating that the selected feature representation contains an override to the representation rule. Any property that is mapped to a field will be indicated with the Explicit Field Override icon . Overrides to that property will be stored in the specified field in the feature class table, overwriting the original values.

Learn about explicit representation fields

You can change representation attributes explicitly by choosing new values or interactively by using the representation editing tools. Both methods will modify the appearance of feature representations and will save the changes with the feature representation until the override is removed.

Learn how to use the Representation Properties window while editing

How to modify representation properties explicitly

1. In an edit session, select a feature representation.
2. Open the Representation Properties window by clicking the Representation Properties button on the Representation toolbar.
3. Click the Drawing tab on the Representation Properties window to see all the properties of the representation rule as applied to the selected feature representation. All the properties of the representation rule can be accessed from this tab, including the global visibility setting, global geometric effects, and the geometric effects and properties of individual symbol layers. If more than one symbol layer is present, use the tabs on the left side of the window to access the properties of each layer.
4. Modify any property by choosing or typing a new value.

Tip:

• You can also view and change representation properties from the Representation tab on the Attributes window, which is accessible from the Attributes button on the Editor toolbar.
• Click either icon to remove an override. The value of the property will revert to the default value specified in the representation rule. If the property is mapped to an explicit field, clicking the Explicit Field Override icon also calculates the value of that field in the feature class table to NULL.
• Type D as a shortcut to open the Drawing tab of the Representation Properties dialog box .

How to modify representation properties interactively

1. In an edit session, select a feature representation.
2. Open the Representation Properties window by clicking the Representation Properties button on the Representation toolbar.
3. Choose one of the following representation editing tools from the Representation toolbar:
   • Rotate tool
   • Orient tool (on the submenu of the Rotate tool)
   • Resize tool
   • Move tool
   • Offset tool (on the submenu of the Move tool)
4. Click the Tools tab on the Representation Properties window to see all the properties of the representation rule that correspond with the current tool, along with the geometry of the feature representation.
5. Check the properties you would like to modify.
6. Use the tool chosen in step 3 to interactively override the selected representation.
7. Use the Drawing tab of the Representation Properties window to see how each checked property has changed.

How to apply a different representation rule to features

1. In an edit session, select one or more feature representations from a single layer.
2. Open the Representation Properties window by clicking the Representation Properties button on the Representation toolbar.
3. Click the Drawing tab on the Representation Properties window.
4. Use the pull-down menu to choose a different representation rule to apply to the feature representation.