Creating Attribute Domains using Arccatalog- ArcMap 10.2

 CLICK ON THE LINK TO THIS TOPIC AND WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEO DEMO OF THIS PROCEDURE

Task
Creating attribute domains in feature classes using the ArcCatalog. This demonstration shows how to create attribute domains- coded and range, in a feature class-Mast. The Mast feature is a point feature layer containing spatial position of telecom masts and their attributes.
The coded attribute domains will define codes for the Companies that own the telecom masts, while the range attribute domain will define the range in which the masts operate.

Note
- Attribute domains are created in the Geodatabase properties, therefore the User must be working within a File or Personal Geodatabase (See post- Creating File Geodatabase…..)
- Attribute domains can only be created for attribute fields in Feature classes.

Procedure
The User must carry out this process before any editing is done on values in the Attribute field that the domain is to be created within. It is advisable to create the Attribute domains before the Attribute Field is created.
Start by a RightClick on the Geodatabase > Properties.

The Database Properties dialog box will open. Fill in a Domain Name- For the demo, Mast_Owner, and a description.

For Domain properties- Click on the row beside Field type and on the drop down list select the appropriate Field Type. Select Domain Type- In the case of the demo- coded is selected. Go down to the Coded values and insert the codes and their descriptions. The description should be well defined here because that is how it will appear on the Attribute Table of the Feature layer. Click Apply and a coded attribute domain is thus created.

For the Range attribute domain, fill in the domain name  and the description. In the Field Type, numeric values must be chosen. Range attribute domains are always numeric values. For Domain Type- Range, put the minimum and maximum value. As there are no codes, Click Apply and OK.


To apply the attribute domains to the values on the feature layer’s attribute table, Go to the Feature Layer in the ArcCatalog window, Right Click > Properties.


In the Feature Properties dialog window, Click on Fields. Enter the Field under the default fields and select a Data Type from the drop down list. For the demo, the attribute field is Mast_Operator and the Data Type is Text (red boxed) . Under Field properties, Click on the row beside the Domain and select the domain- Mast_Owner (green box) that was created in the Geodatabase. Repeat the same process for the Mast_Range.


To check that the attribute domains are in place. Do some editing on the Feature layer and open the attribute table. For the demo, the Mast-Operator field has drop down domain list as was created in the Geodatabase properties window.


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