Modifying data

Editing data

If your Web application has this feature enabled, the Editor task allows you to edit data on the server.

Start and stop editing

• If available, open the Editor task by clicking its name in the menu area (the name of the task may vary). The Editor task window will open. If the Editor link is not visible on the page, then this Web application does not allow editing.
• In the Editor task window, a menu may display for selecting a version to edit. If so, choose a version from the drop-down list. Then click Start Editing. This closes the Editor task window and opens the Editor tools window.
• If the Save button is displayed in the Editor task window, you must use the Save button to save your edits. If you make changes and then close the Editor task window, you will be asked whether to discard your changes: click OK to discard changes, or click Cancel to return to the Editor task window. If you make changes and simply close the browser without saving, your edits will not be saved. (If the Save button is not displayed, then your edits are saved immediately, and you do not need to save them explicitly.)

Setting the edit layer

• Only one layer may be edited at a time. To choose the layer to edit, select the layer from the drop-down list at the top of the Editor tools window.
• Optionally, modify the settings for editing, such as snapping and selection, with the Settings window. Open Settings from the link at the bottom of the Editor tools window. For more information, see the section below on Settings options.

Edit functions

Edit buttons just below the edit layer name enable actions common to all edit operations:

Tool		Description
Select Feature		Click on this tool, then click or click and drag a rectangle on the map. Features clicked on, or within the drawn rectangle, will be selected. Selection is shown with a cyan (blue-green) color (see Settings to change selection color). Features must be selected before they can be modified or deleted.
Clear Feature(s)		Clears any selected features so that no features are selected.
Show Vertices		If feature(s) are selected, displays their vertices in red. Vertices are the points that define the shape of a feature.
Undo		If available, this button reverses the last editing operation. If pressed again, works its way backward to undo actions done. Once you do a Save of your work, you cannot undo operations done before the save.
Redo		If available, this button reinstates the action that had been reversed with the Undo button.
Save Edit(s)		If available, this button saves all changes to the data in the edit session. You must do a Save before exiting the browser in order to preserve your changes to the data. If this button is not present, then any edits are saved immediately.
Enter XY value(s)		Creates a new feature by entering coordinates of vertices in the feature. Clicking this button opens a new window to input the coordinates. For lines and polygons, you can enter multiple vertices by clicking the Continue Adding button. When you enter the last vertex, click Add Final to finish the feature.

Creating a new feature

1. In the section of the Editor tools window labeled Create <layer name>, click a button for the type of feature to create. One or more buttons will be available. If the layer has multiple classes defined for the map display, a button will display for each class. You can hover over the button, and the name of the class type will pop up next to the button. After you click a button, it will have a pressed appearance.
2. Click on the map to create the feature. For lines, click once at each vertex (point), and double-click at the last vertex. For polygons, click at each vertex, then double-click to finish. Do not click back on the original vertex, as the polygon will automatically close. Press and hold the "s" key to temporarily show a red marker at the location to which the cursor will snap if you click to add a vertex. It also shows the layer to which snapping will occur.
3. You can also enable snapping options while adding vertices: see Settings options below.
4. After finishing the feature, it will be highlighted on the map, and the attribute fields will display in the Editor window. Attributes may be entered for the feature and the feature's shape may be edited at this point.
5. You can continue adding features by clicking on the map. Remember to save your edits if necessary.

Selecting features

Before modifying or deleting a feature, it must be selected.

1. Click the Select tool.
2. With the select tool active, click on the map to select the feature. You can also draw a rectangle to select features within the rectangle.
3. After a few moments, the selected features are highlighted. These features can then be modified or deleted.

Modifying and deleting features

After features are selected, they can be modified using the editing tools. The set of tools displayed differs for point, line and polygon layers.

Attributes can also be modified in the Editor task window. If an attribute is entered that does not match the data type, a message will display and the value will be erased. For example, if an attribute field is a numeric type and a value of "Test" is entered, the value will not be allowed.

Tool		Action
Move feature		Moves the feature to a new location. Click first on some point in the feature. As you move the cursor to the new location, a line follows the cursor to indicate the move. Click the second time on the new location. The feature is moved, with the point on the feature click first moved to the location clicked second.
Copy feature		To copy a selected feature, click once on the feature, then move the cursor to the new location and click again. The feature is copied, with the point on the feature clicked first located at the point clicked second.
Split feature		Splits a selected line or polygon feature into two features. For a line, click the tool, then click once at the location to split the line. For a polygon, click to draw a line to define the split. At the last point in the line for splitting the polygon, double-click on the map to finish and split the polygon. Each feature takes the attributes of the existing feature.
Merge features		Merges two or more selected lines or polygons into a single feature. If polygons overlap, the boundary between them is dissolved so that they form a single polygon. Note that this does not snap vertices. The merged feature takes the attributes of the first feature selected.
Delete feature		Deletes the entire point, line or polygon feature(s) that are selected. No warning message is shown, but if the Undo button is available, you can use it to undo the delete.
Add vertex		For a line or polygon, adds a vertex along the edge where you click.
Delete vertex		For a line or polygon, deletes the vertex clicked on. You cannot delete the last two vertices of a line, or the last three vertices of a polygon.
Move vertex		For a line or polygon, moves a vertex. First click on the vertex to move. After clicking, a line follows the cursor, indicating the move action. Click on the new location for the vertex.

Settings options

Settings options modify how selection and snapping occur. Click the Settings link in the lower right of the Editor tools window to open the Settings options. Click the down arrows within the Settings window to display sections of the options. The administrator of the website may limit the options that you can set.

Snapping settings

When you draw a line or polygon, you may want vertices (points) to fall exactly along other existing features. Snapping forces a click to take the precise coordinate of a feature, if the feature falls within the Snapping Tolerance of the click.

Snap tips are automatically available when editing. When adding or moving vertices, press and hold the 's' key to show a marker at the location to which the cursor will be snapped:

The cursor does not actually snap to this location while drawing a line or polygon. But once you finish adding the feature, the snapped locations will be the ones used and displayed.

• Snapping Rules determine which parts of features within a layer can be snapped to. For each layer, you can snap to specific locations within features.
  • Vertex: mouse click location will be snapped to the nearest vertex in a feature of the layer, if within the snapping tolerance.
  • Edge: mouse click location will be snapped to the nearest line or polygon of a feature. Snapped location does not have to fall on a vertex.
  • End: mouse click location will be snapped to an end point of a line or polygon.
• Snapping Tolerance: the location clicked with the mouse will be snapped only if it is within this distance of a feature. The smaller the snapping tolerance, the closer you must click to a feature in order to snap to it.
• Show snap circle: when adding or moving vertices, displays a circle halo around the cursor as you move the mouse. This indicates the snapping tolerance. If a feature in a layer with snapping enabled is within this circle, depending on the snapping rules for end, vertex or edge. Be aware that enabling this option uses CPU time on your computer as you move the mouse.
  

Select Features settings

• Tolerance: When selecting features, features within this distance of the mouse click will be selected. This allows easier selection of point and line features.
• Limit selection to: No more than this number of features can be selected at one time. This limits the potential load on the server and prevents inadvertently selecting large numbers of features.
• Selection Mode: When using the Select Feature tool, this setting determines how the selection affects any features previously selected in the layer.
  • Create new selection: any features previously selected are unselected, and a new set is selected based on the area drawn with the Select Feature tool.
  • Add to current selection: newly selected features are added to the set of features previously selected.
  • Remove from current selection: features found when using the Select Feature tool are removed from the set previously selected. Remaining features, if any, are still selected.
  • Toggle feature selection state: features intersecting the area drawn with the Select Features too that were not previously selected will be selected, while features previously selected will be un-selected. Features not intersecting the area drawn will remain selected.
• Selection Color: Selected features are shown with this color. To change the selection color, click the drop-down arrow, and choose a color from the palette.
• Show highlight:If checked, displays the feature whose attributes are currently being editing with a separate highlight color. If this option is checked, the Highlight Color is displayed and may be set by clicking the drop-down arrow next to the color sample box, which displays the color palette for choosing a new color.