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This course will teach you how to download, evaluate, and prepare GIS data from public online sources and set up a project in ArcGIS Pro.

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The Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD) Public Data website is another great source of Houston data related to land parcels and other boundaries and is available at: https://hcad.org/hcad-online-services/pdata/. 

OPTION 2: Accessing tutorial data from Fondren Library using the gistrain profile

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Option 2 Option 2

If you are completing this tutorial from a computer in Fondren Library and are logged in using the gistrain profile, follow the instructions below:

1. In the taskbar at the bottom of the screen, click the File Explorer Application.
   
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2.  In the Navigation pane on the left side of File Explorer, double-click GISData (\\smb.rdfFrom the Start menu, click Computer > gisdata (\\file-rnas.rice.edu\research\FondrenGDC) (RO:) > GDCTraining > 1_Short_Courses > Introduction_to_GIS_Data_Management > Downloads.
3. To create a personal copy of the tutorial data, select all four zip folders and drag them into the IntroTutorialData Downloads folder onto in the DesktopNavigation pane.
   
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4. Close all windows.

OPTION 3: Accessing tutorial data online using a personal computer

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Option 3 Option 3

If you are completing this tutorial from a personal computer, you will need to download the tutorial data online by following the instructions below:

1. Click Downloads.zip above
2. Using a web browser, go to the Introduction to GIS short course webpage at: http://library.rice.edu/gis-intro
3. At the bottom of the webpage, under the Resources section, click the Introduction to GIS – Tutorial Data link to download the tutorial data.
4. Unzip the IntroTutorialData folder.
5. Copy the unzipped IntroTutorialData folder to your Desktop or another location of your choice. Ensure that you note the file path of the location you have selected.

Any time throughout the tutorial that you see reference to the file path C:\Users\gistrain\Desktop\IntroTutorialData, you will need to substitute it with the file path you have just selected.

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1. Open your Downloads folder.
2. Right-click the compressed Downloads folder and select Extract All....
3. In the 'Extract Compressed (Zipped) Folders' window, click the Browse... button.
4. On the left side of File Explorer in the Navigation pane, single-click the Downloads folder and click the Select Folder button.
5. Uncheck Show extracted files when complete.
6. Click Extract.
7. Right-click the original compressed Downloads folder and select Delete.

Preparing the Downloaded Data for ArcGIS Pro

Once you have downloaded the Census and Major Roads data from H-GAC and the Bus Stops and Bus Routes data from Houston METRO and the Census and Major Roads data from HGAC, you should be able to find locate the data files in your Downloads folder. You will see

1. Open the Downloads folder.
2. Ensure that you see the four folders shown below.
   
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Notice that all the files folders are zipped, meaning they contain compressed files of data within them (you can tell a file compressed, or zipped, which allows you to download a single ZIP file, instead of numerous individual files. You can tell a folder is zipped when the file type 'Type' column reads “Compressed 'Compressed (zipped) Folder”). You will need to unzip the folders to be able to see the data inside them. To do that:Folder' and the folder icon has a zipper on it. In order to view and utilize the data within ArcGIS software, you will first need to extract, or unzip, the folders.

If you have 7-Zip installed or would like to install it for free:

1. Select 
2. Open the Downloads folder.
3. Ensure that you see the following zipped folders in your Downloads folder.

   1. Census2010_Redistricting_Data_Shapefiles

   2. HGAC_Major_Roads-shp

   3. RS2688_Bus Stops - shape file

   4. RS2689_Bus Routes - shape file

4. Select all four folders.
5. Right-click any of the selected folders and select 7-Zip > Extract hereHere.

If you do not have 7-Zip installed:

1. Right, you will need to right-click each file zipped folder individually and select Extract all, then  Extract All... and then click Extract.

Your data should is now be in a file folder in its decompressed in an uncompressed format and ready to be brought into ArcGIS Pro.

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Creating a New Project in ArcGIS Pro

1. From the Start menu, launch ArcGIS Pro.
2. When ArcGIS Pro opens, under the 'New' section, click the Map project template template.
3. In the 'Create a New Project' window, for Name, type "Intro".
4. For Location, click the Browse... button to the right.
5. In the 'Select a folder to store the project.New Project Location' window, click Computer in the left column and click Desktop in the right column and click OK.
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6. In the 'Create a New Project' Window, click OK.
7. Maximize the ArcGIS Pro application window

Managing GIS Data

The full layout of the software will be covered in the Introduction to ArcGIS Pro tutoril. For now, all you will be using is the Catalog pane along the far right side of the application window.

1. In the Catalog pane, under the Folders section,  click the arrow to expand Folders > Intro > Intro.gdb. 

You will notice there is currently no data in the Intro project geodatabase that was automatically created when you created the Intro project. Over the next few steps,

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you will import the data

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you downloaded online from the Downloads folder to

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your project geodatabase.

Connecting to a folder

1. In the Catalog pane, right-click Folders and select Add Folder Connection.
2. In the left column, click Computer. In the right column, single click on Downloads'Add Folder Connection' window, click Computer in the left column and single-click Downloads in the right column. Click OK.
3. In the Catalog pane, expand Downloads.
4. Fully expand all folders and geodatabases in the Downloads folder.
5. Your 'Folders' directory should look like the below.
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1. and ensure it looks as shown below. (If you followed Option 3 for obtaining the tutorial data and downloaded the data from this wiki page, you will only see four shapefiles listed.)
   
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Importing and exporting data in the project geodatabase

For this tutorial, we are working with vector data, which is a spatial data format that uses points, lines, and polygons to represent real features on the Earth's surface. Vector data is ideal for discrete themes with definite boundaries. A Feature Class is a vector storage format that represents a homogeneous collection of common features. There are two types of Feature Classes: a Shapefile feature class and a Geodatabase feature class. A Shapefile feature class is an open source format. Its file extension is .shp and its icon is green. A Geodatabase feature class is an Esri proprietary format. A Geodatabase feature class must be stored inside a Geodatabase (.gdb) and its icon is white. To better organize our project, we will import data into our Project Geodatabase.

All of the data you have downloaded is in the shapefile format. Since shapefiles and geodatabases are different file formats, you must convert the data.

1. In the Catalog pane, hold down the Ctrl key and clickHGAC_Major_Roads.shp, HGAC_tracts.shp, METRO_BusRoutes.shp, and METRO_BusStopsare Shapefile feature classes, so these Shapefiles require a specific method to be imported into the Project Geodatabase. In the Catalog pane, right-click on HGAC_tracts.shp and select Export > Feature class(es) to geodatabase.
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2. In the Geoprocessing pane, click the Folder button to the right of the blank input features drop-down.
3. In the 'Input Features' window, click Project > Folders > Downloads in the right column and click Open.
4. Find and select HGAC_Major_Roads.shp and click OK. 
5. Repeat steps 2-4 for METRO_BusRoutes.shp and METRO_BusStops.shp.
6. .shp to select all four shapefiles, as shown below.
   
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7.  Right-clickHGAC_Major_Roads.shp and select Export > Feature Class(es) To Geodatabase....
   
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Note that the Geoprocessing pane opens on top of the Catalog pane. To toggle between the panes, you can use the tabs at the bottom of the pane.

1. Ensure your 'Feature Class To Geodatabase' tool parameters appear as shown below and clickRun.
   
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2. At the bottom of the Geoprocessing pane, click the Catalog tabIn the Geoprocessing pane, accept default settings as shown below and click Run. 
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   Navigate back to the Catalog pane by selecting the Catalog tab at the bottom of the Geoprocessing pane.
3. In the Catalog pane, right-click on  the Intro.gdb and  geodatabase and select Refresh. 
4. Expand If necessary, expand the Intro.gdb geodatabase. Your Project Geodatabase project geodatabase should now contain four Geodatabase geodatabase feature classes: HGAC_Major_Roads, HGAC_tracts, METRO_BusRoutes, and METRO_BusStops, as shown below.
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5. In the Catalog pane, in the Folders section, right-click on  the Downloads and  folder connection and select Remove.
6. In the Quick Access toolbar at the top of the application window, click the Save button.
   
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7. Close ArcGIS Pro.