Top 100 ArcGIS Commands for Experts

The Top 100 ArcGIS Commands Every GIS Professional Must Know

ArcGIS is one of the most powerful Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools available today, enabling users to analyze and visualize spatial data. Whether you are a seasoned GIS professional or a beginner looking to sharpen your skills, knowing the top 100 ArcGIS commands can drastically improve your productivity and efficiency.

Here is a detailed list of the Top 100 ArcGIS Commands along with their uses explained in a sentence:

1. Essential Mapping Commands

1. ZoomIn: Quickly zoom in to a specific area of interest for a closer view of your data.
2. ZoomOut: Zoom out to see a broader view of your map.
3. Pan: Move the map in any direction to focus on a new area.
4. Select Features: Select specific features on the map for further editing or analysis.
5. Identify Features: Click on a feature to retrieve detailed information from the attribute table.
6. Full Extent: Return the map view to the full extent of all data layers.
7. Previous Extent: Return to the previous map view after panning or zooming.
8. Next Extent: Move forward to the next map view after navigating back.
9. Refresh Map: Update the map to reflect any recent changes or updates in data.
10. Zoom to Layer: Zoom the map view to the extent of a specific data layer.
11. Zoom to Selected Features: Zoom to the extent of the selected features in your map.
12. Bookmark: Save the current map view for quick reference later.
13. Add Basemap: Add a base map layer to provide context for your map data.
14. Clear Selection: Deselect any currently selected features in the map.
15. Measure Tool: Use the measurement tool to measure distances or areas on the map.
16. Find: Search for specific attributes or locations within your map or dataset.
17. Go to XY: Jump to a specific coordinate location (latitude and longitude).
18. Modify Map Scale: Change the scale of your map to zoom in or out.
19. Change Projection: Reproject your data to a new coordinate system.
20. View Layer Properties: Open the properties dialog of a layer to modify its settings.

2. Editing Commands

21. Create Feature: Add new features such as points, lines, or polygons to your map.
22. Modify Feature: Edit an existing feature to change its shape, size, or attributes.
23. Delete Feature: Remove a selected feature from your map and its dataset.
24. Move Feature: Move a feature from one location to another on your map.
25. Rotate Feature: Rotate a selected feature to a new angle on your map.
26. Resize Feature: Change the size of a feature while maintaining its shape.
27. Trim: Cut off part of a feature to shorten or modify its shape.
28. Extend: Extend a feature to connect or lengthen it based on other features.
29. Cut: Remove features from the map without deleting the data.
30. Paste: Place features you’ve cut or copied into a new location on your map.
31. Merge: Combine two or more features into a single, unified feature.
32. Split: Divide a feature into two or more separate features.
33. Snapping: Ensure that features align precisely with other features while editing.
34. Undo: Revert the last editing action you made on the map.
35. Redo: Reapply the most recent editing action you previously undone.
36. Align Features: Align features along a specific axis or direction during editing.
37. Convert to Polygon: Transform a selected feature into a polygonal shape.
38. Convert to Polyline: Convert a feature into a polyline format.
39. Add Vertex: Insert a new vertex into a line or polygon feature.
40. Delete Vertex: Remove a vertex from an existing line or polygon feature.

3. Geoprocessing Commands

41. Buffer: Create a buffer zone around selected features to analyze proximity.
42. Clip: Extract a portion of data within a specific boundary or clipping layer.
43. Intersect: Find the common area between two or more layers and their features.
44. Union: Combine multiple layers, preserving all attributes and features from each layer.
45. Dissolve: Merge features that have the same attribute into a single feature.
46. Erase: Remove features that overlap a specified boundary.
47. Simplify: Reduce the number of vertices in a feature to smooth or simplify its shape.
48. Eliminate: Remove small, unnecessary polygons or features based on defined criteria.
49. Select by Location: Select features based on their spatial relationship with another feature.
50. Select by Attribute: Select features based on attribute criteria from the data table.
51. Field Calculator: Perform calculations on data fields in the attribute table to update or create new values.
52. Reclassify: Change the values of a raster layer to a new classification based on specified criteria.
53. Spatial Join: Combine the attributes of two layers based on their spatial relationships.
54. Near: Find the nearest features from a given feature and calculate their distance.
55. Symmetrical Difference: Identify the area where two layers do not overlap.
56. Merge: Combine multiple datasets or features into a single one.
57. Append: Add new features or records to an existing dataset.
58. Append Geodatabase: Add data to an existing geodatabase without altering its structure.
59. Project: Change the coordinate system of a dataset or map layer.
60. Define Projection: Assign a coordinate system to a dataset without altering its data.
61. Clip Raster: Extract a portion of raster data using a polygon layer.
62. Extract by Mask: Extract raster data using a mask layer to define the extent.
63. Rasterize: Convert vector data into raster format for further analysis.
64. Reproject: Change the coordinate system of raster data while maintaining its spatial accuracy.
65. Convert to KML: Export your data to the KML format for use in Google Earth.

4. Spatial Analysis Commands

66. Overlay: Combine multiple layers to analyze the overlapping areas between them.
67. Overlay Layers: Perform analysis between two layers to determine their spatial relationships.
68. Line of Sight: Analyze the visibility between two points based on terrain data.
69. Hot Spot Analysis: Identify areas of statistically significant clusters in your data.
70. Viewshed Analysis: Determine visible areas from a specific location based on terrain.
71. Proximity Analysis: Analyze the relationship between features based on their distance.
72. Zonal Statistics: Calculate statistics for raster data within specific zones.
73. Spatial Autocorrelation: Analyze the degree of clustering in spatial data to identify patterns.
74. Density Analysis: Calculate the density of features within a defined area or grid.
75. Distance Analysis: Measure the distance between features and identify relationships based on proximity.
76. Correlation: Analyze the relationship between two spatial datasets and identify any patterns.
77. Aspect: Calculate the direction of slope in a raster dataset, often used in terrain analysis.
78. Slope: Determine the steepness or incline of a terrain surface using raster data.
79. Contour: Generate contour lines that represent elevation or other continuous data.
80. Contour List: List all contour values from a given surface or raster dataset.
81. Fill Sinks: Fill depressions or sinks in raster data to prepare it for further analysis.
82. Euclidean Distance: Calculate the straight-line distance from each cell in a raster to a specified feature.
83. Cost Path: Analyze the least-cost path between two locations on a surface.
84. Surface Analysis: Perform analyses such as slope, aspect, and viewshed on raster surface data.
85. Raster Calculator: Perform mathematical operations on raster datasets to create new raster layers.

5. Raster Data Commands

86. Reclassify: Change the values of a raster based on specified ranges or classes.
87. Resample: Change the resolution or cell size of a raster dataset.
88. Convert to Raster: Transform vector data into raster format for raster-based analysis.
89. Extract by Attribute: Select and extract raster cells based on their attributes.
90. Extract by Location: Extract raster data within a defined spatial boundary.
91. Set Null: Replace specific raster values with NoData to exclude them from further analysis.
92. Raster to Point: Convert raster data into point features representing individual cells.
93. Raster to Polygon: Convert raster data into polygon features.
94. Raster to Polyline: Convert raster data into polyline features.
95. Map Algebra: Perform mathematical operations on raster data to create a new raster layer.
96. Calculate Distance: Create a raster that represents the distance from each cell to a specified feature.
97. Focal Statistics: Calculate statistics for each cell based on the values of neighboring cells.
98. Raster Statistics: Calculate statistical measures (mean, median, etc.) for raster data.
99. Spatial Analyst Tools: A suite of tools for raster-based spatial analysis in ArcGIS.
100. Multidimensional Analysis: Perform analysis on multidimensional datasets such as time or depth.

6. Database Management Commands

101. Add Data: Import external data layers into your ArcGIS project.
102. Export Data: Save data from a layer to a new format for further use.
103. Join Data: Combine data from two different datasets based on a common attribute.
104. Relate Data: Link two datasets together based on a relational database key.
105. Create Field: Add a new field to an attribute table for storing additional data.
106. Delete Field: Remove an existing field from an attribute table.
107. Add Domain: Define valid values for a field to ensure data integrity.
108. Create Index: Create an index on a field to improve the performance of queries.
109. Geodatabase Validation: Check for errors in a geodatabase and validate its integrity.
110. Optimize Geodatabase: Improve the performance and storage efficiency of a geodatabase.
111. Analyze Geodatabase: Identify potential issues or inefficiencies in a geodatabase structure.
112. Copy Features: Create a duplicate of selected features to use in other datasets.
113. Create Table: Create a new table in a geodatabase to store tabular data.
114. Delete Table: Remove a table from a geodatabase.
115. Update Geodatabase: Modify an existing geodatabase by adding or changing its contents.
116. Move Data: Transfer data between different datasets or geodatabases.
117. Backup Geodatabase: Create a copy of a geodatabase to prevent data loss.
118. Compact Geodatabase: Reduce the size of a geodatabase by eliminating unused space.
119. Repair Geometry: Correct errors in the geometry of features within a geodatabase.
120. Calculate Geometry: Update the geometric properties of features in a layer.

This completes the list of Top 100 ArcGIS Commands, each with a brief description of its purpose and use in GIS workflows.

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