NPS Midwest Region GIS Custom Controls
MaintainDomains
Overview
MaintainDomains is an ArcCatalog custom control that helps
maintain synchronization between lookup tables as defined with
Access and domains as defined with ArcCatalog in the same Geodatabase.
It is common practice when desgining Geodatabases to store
common values for certain fields in a lookup table, and then
store a code for that value in the various data tables that
need that information. For example, one could have a table of
species with names and TSNs in a lookup table and then store
only the TSN in the main data tables when entering data.
A problem with this approach is that ArcCatalog does not allow
a user to specify a table in a personal Geodatabase to serve
this purpose. For this, ArcCatalog supports Coded Value Domains
which are defined at the Geodatabase level and allow the user
to specify code and value pairs for those fields in the Geodatabase
where you desire this lookup capability. To complicate matters,
ArcCatalog does not store this information in an easily accessible
table, but instead stores it in binary format accessible only
through VBA code.
This tool is an attempt to bridge the gap between the standard
way of defining lookup tables and the Coded Value Domains as
defined in ArcCatalog. When a geodatabase is selected in the
ArcCatalog browser pane, the control will become active. When
clicked on, it will open a window that will allow the user to
view and mainipulate the tables and domains defined in a Geodatabase.
On the left-side of the window, it will display a list of all
the tables that have been defined in the Geodatabase. Selecting
one will display its fields and data. On the right-side, it
will display a list of all the domains that have been defined
in the Geodatabase. Selecting one will display the code and
value fields of that domain. There are also controls on the
interface for creating domains from the selected table as well
as for deleting selected domains and tables.
The tool does not allow the user to view or edit information
about either the tables or domains. That must be done within
Access or ArcCatalog.
Requirements
This control was written in VisualBasic 6.0 on Windows XP. It
has been tested and runs with ArcCatalog 8.3 and ArcCatalog
9.0 running Windows XP. It has not been tested on any other
versions of ArcCatalog or Windows. If you have troubles installing
or using this custom control please use the links below to contact
the author.
Download
The link below is to a zipped folder that contains the full
source code of the MaintainDomains Visual Basic project as well
as the compiled .dll and detailed installation instructions
in PDF format. Click the link below and then choose "Save
to disk" to obtain this folder.
Getting Started
* Download the zipped folder from the link above.
* Once downloaded, unzip the folder and save the contents to
a location of your choosing.
* Add the MaintainDomains.dll to the toolbar of your choice
by using the standard procedure for customizing toolbars in
ArcCatalog.
* For more detailed instructions, see the Customizing ArcCatalog
web-page for general instructions on how to install a custom
control in ArcCatalog.
* There are also hightly detailed instructions in PDF format
on how to install the MaintainDomains custom control included
in the downloaded folder.
Questions, Comments or Concerns?
You might wish to try visiting the Custom
Controls Troubleshooting web-page for assistance.
