NPS Grid Tools Extension Documentation
Installing extension
1. Close any open ArcGIS applications, e.g. ArcCatalog or
ArcMap. Uninstall any previous version of the NPS Grid Tools
Extension.
Note: In Windows 2000, please install Service Pack
3 before installing the extension. In Windows XP, please install
Service Pack 1 before installing.
2. Unzip the NPSGrid_1.1.zip file. Double-click on
the NPSGrid_1.1.exe file to start the setup program.
Default values for file locations, etc. should work fine.
3. Start ArcMap. To get the extension toolbar to appear, first
select Tools arrow Extensions… and check the box next
to NPS Grid Tools and close Extension window. Next, right-click
the toolbar in ArcMap and select the NPS Grid Tools from the
popup menu.
Uninstalling
Go to Start -> Settings -> Control Panel and double-click
on the Add/Remove Programs. Scroll down to the NPS Grid Tools
entry and select it. Click on the Change/Remove button.
Tools
Click on the grid tool button 
to open the Create Grid window:
File name
Name of the shapefile or coverage to create. Click on the Browse...
button to select an existing folder.
Columns/rows
Specify the number of rows and columns. As these values are
changed, the cell width or height will change to match the current
extent.
Width/height
Specify the cell width and height in the current map units.
As these values are changed, the number of columns or rows and
maximum X or Y extent will change to include a whole number
of columns or rows.
Grid Extent
Specify the minimum or maximum X and Y extent of the grid, or
click on From layer... to use the current extent of
a layer or its selected features. The cell height and width
will change to reflect new extent values.
Rotate grid
Click the checkbox next to Rotate grid to specify a
rotation angle. Specify an angle in degrees that the grid will
be rotated counter-clockwise about the origin (the minimum X
and Y coordinates in extent). The maximum X and Y fields will
be greyed out or unavailable with this option selected.
Randomize origin
Click the checkbox next to Randomize origin to have
the tool choose a random origin for the grid. Specify the maximum
X and Y offset (the range used by the random number generator
or maximum distance from the minimum X and Y extent) in current
map units. These values default to the current cell width and
height.
Cell labeling
Choose the type of cell label (a text field in the output grid)
to create. If specified, the x and y coordinates will be separated
by a delimiting character. For both numeric or both alpha, the
delimiter automatically defaults to "_".
Using grids
With DSMapBook
The resulting grid can be used in ESRI's DSMapBook
extension to create a map book. After installing DSMapBook and
creating a grid to define the pages of the map book, click on
the Create Map Book button. In the first page of the
wizard that appears, choose the data frame you'd like to use
(probably "Layers") and then select the grid you've
created as the index layer with "Label" field
as the page name. Page 2 allows you to select a subset
of the grid tiles, e.g. skip tiles that don't have any features.
Page 3 allows you to set several options including choosing
the scale for the tiles and labeling the edges of each page
with the name of adjacent tiles. Clicking the Finish
button on this page will create the map book. Once finished,
click on the Map Book tab at the bottom of the map's
table of contents. You'll see a list of all of the tiles or
pages created for the map book.
As map grid/graticule
Note: This is an advanced operation--please review the ArcGIS
documentation before proceeding.
A grid or graticule within ArcMap is a way to reference locations,
e.g. locate town in "F7", or create an index (look
for "graticule" in ArcGIS help index for more information).
To allow for the use of a custom graticule, you'll need to turn
off the graticule wizard. Under Tools -> Options...
select the Application tab and turn off the Wizard
mode. Next, right-click the current data frame and select Properties
and then the Grid tab. Click on the New Grid...
button, scroll to the bottom of the Reference System
Selector window that appears, choose the Custom Overlay.
Then, click on the Properties... button, under System
select Browse..., and select the grid file you've created.
Under Label field choose the "Label" field
within your grid file. Set the other labeling, axis, and border
options within the remaining tabs and click OK. Under
the View menu, select the Layout View to display
the grid. Note that the labels aren't perfect, but this is the
best that ArcMap can currently do under the existing Custom
Overlay options.
Notes
