Exercise 1c: Setting feature template properties

Complexity: Beginner Data Requirement: ArcGIS Tutorial Data for Desktop Data Path: \ArcGIS\ArcTutor\Editing

About feature template properties

The Template Properties dialog box allows you to review and change the template settings. For example, you can rename a template, provide a description, set the default construction tool, and specify the attribute values that should be assigned to new features created with this template.

In the first exercises, you used feature templates that had their properties already set for you. Now, you are going to set the properties of a feature template for a polygon layer representing private landownership. Before you create features, you should review a template's properties to ensure they are set appropriately.

Prerequisite:

The Exercise1.mxd is open and you are in an edit session.

Steps:

1. In the Create Features window, double click the Tracts feature template. This opens the Template Properties dialog box.
2. In the Description box, type Private lands in Zion. The description appears when you rest your pointer over a template in the Create Features window.
You can also use tags to identify and help search for templates in the future. A tag representing the layer type—Polygon—is added automatically.
3. Click in the Tags box immediately after Polygon, type a semicolon (;), add a space, then type Zion. Type another semicolon, add a space, and type landownership.

   The Tags box should look like this when the tags are entered: Polygon; Zion; landownership.

4. The default tool should be Polygon. If it is not, click the Default Tool arrow and click Polygon. This ensures that the Polygon tool activates each time you choose the Tracts template.
5. Click the Ownership field in the grid. System information about the field is listed at the bottom of the dialog box.
6. Click <Null> for the value on the right side to clear the text and type Private, which will assign the attribute value Private. This sets Private as the default attribute value for that field for all new features created with this template.
7. Click OK.
8. When you rest your pointer on the template, you see the text you entered for the description.
9. To continue to the next exercise, click Exercise 1d: Creating new polygon features.

You are now ready to create features using the properties specified in this feature template.