Frequently Asked Questions

• I am unable to save layer as a shapefile
• I cannot save a shapefile because the file exceeds the 2GB limit
• Where can I find base data at NCAR
• How can I bring in netCDF data into ArcMap
• When I export a map from ArcMap to *.jpg or *.pdf format, the symbology from one of my layers covers the entire extent of the image instead of staying only in the polygons visible in ArcMap.

I am unable to save layer as a shapefile. It goes through the action but my shapefile is empty
The first thing to look at are your field names. If your field names have spaces or special characters then ArcMap will not be able to save the layer as a shapefile. Rename the fields and try the export again.

I cannot save a shapefile because the file exceeds the 2GB limit
If you are working with a lot of data then you may run into this problem. If your .dbf in a shapefile is larger than 2GB a good solution is to save your data as a feature class in a file geodatabase. There is no size limitation for this type of file format.

Where can I find base data at NCAR
NCAR has a site wide license for ESRI products. Through this license agreement we have much data on our internal server. Map a network drive to \\gisData.ucar.edu\data or \\gisData.ucar.edu\usa_data.

How can I bring in netCDF data into ArcMap
We have a tutorial on how to bring netCDF into ArcMap.

When I export a map from ArcMap to *.jpg or *.pdf format, the symbology from one of my layers covers the entire extent of the image instead of staying only in the polygons visible in ArcMap.
The problem may lie in the geometry of your shapefile’s polygons. Though shapefiles do not explicitly store topological relationships, they do consist of ‘rings’. These are closed, non self-intersecting loops. The vertices of a ring maintain a consistent, clockwise order so that the area to the right, as one “walks” around the ring boundary, is inside the polygon, and the area to the left is outside the polygon. This way, no polygons overlap and planar topology can be maintained. However, if nontopological editing methods are used, a shapefile can lose its planar topology during editing. The issue we have run into most likely has to do with ‘incorrect ring ordering’ or ‘unclosed rings’. To fix this problem, we must check and repair the geometry of your shapefile. The Check Geometry tool, found in Data Management Tools > Features inspects all features in a feature class for geometry errors and exports those errors to a table. A table will be created whether errors exist or not, however the table will be empty if no errors exist. If errors do exist, use the Repair Geometry tool, located in the same toolset (Data Management Tools > Features) to repair the geometry. This should fix the issue and you should be able to export your map without errors.