6. GIS Book: Generation of vector entities

6.1. GIS Book: Creating shapefiles

The ArcCatalog application (open from the Windows Start menu) is used to create new vector entities such as points, lines or polygons. On the left-hand side of the window there is a panel called Catalog Tree. Right-click on Folder Connections (Figure 10) to select the directories that will serve as the location of working files within ArcGIS (it is possible to select an entire hard disk drive, to avoid creating excessive connections).

Once the directories have been connected, a new entity can be created by right-clicking on the Contents > New > Shapefile… section or by going to the File > New > Shapefile… menu.

Set up the fields shown in Figure 11 as follows:

• Name: Assign a name to the new shapefile; it is recommended not to use special characters or spaces.
• Feature Type: Select the type of layer: point, line or polygon.
• Spatial Reference: In this section you define the reference system using the Edit button.
• For the present case, the following applies: Projected Coordinate Systems > UTM > WGS 1984 > Southern Hemisphere > WGS 1984 UTM Zone 17S. The boxes “Coordinates will contain M values. Used to store route data” and “Coordinates will contain Z values. Used to store 3D data” are left, as they are by default. Practice: Create point, line and polygon shapefiles from Table 1; use reference system WGS 1984 UTM Zone 17S.

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