Each shapefile is linked to a table in DBF format. Additionally, the tables of a vector layer may also be stored in a Geodatabase. To access the attribute table of a vector file in ArcGIS Pro, the user must right-click on the layer (e.g., buildings) in the “Contents” panel and select the “Attribute Table” option.
Table of attributes in ArcGIS Pro.
Once the table is open, a new field can be created by navigating to the table menu and clicking on the “Add” button. This action opens the “Current Layer” tab, where the new field can be configured.
In the “Field Name” column, a name is assigned to the new field (for example, “Type”). It is essential to avoid accents, spaces, or special characters. Furthermore, the maximum length for names in shapefiles and DBF tables is ten characters.
To specify the data type, the user must double-click on the corresponding cell in the “Data Type” column. Available field types include numeric values (short, long, float, or double), text, and date. The “Length” column allows setting the number of characters for text fields or the precision of numeric fields.
Once the configuration is complete, the user must click the “Save” button located in the “Fields” tab, within the “Manage Edits” group. This option becomes available only when a new field has been added and the “Current Layer” is selected. After saving, the user can close the “Fields” table panel.
Adding new fields to a table.
To select the appropriate data type for a new field, it is important to consider the following information:
- Short: Integer values between -32,768 and 32,767.
- Long: Integer values between -2,147,483,648 and 2,147,483,647.
- Float: Fractional numbers between -3.4E38 and 1.2E38.
- Double: Fractional numbers between -2.2E308 and 1.8E308.
- Text: A string of characters, limited to 255 characters in length.
- Date: Stores date and time values in Universal Time Coordinates (UTC).