Import of GPS data (points) into ArcView 3.2.a

Source Data from the GPS device

Reprojecting Data ( leave out, if not necessary )

Creating the dataset

1. open your favorit spreadsheet program (e.g. Gnumeric, Star Office, MS EXCEL)
   
   
2. create a file, similar to this: 
   
   

   Sheet1

   id	description	GPS_x	GPS_y
   T1	u/s of N-Y-F	267009	196614
   T2	At mouth of N-Y-F	267000	196592
   T3	d/s of N-Y-F	266985	196585
   T4	Culvert @ Macro	266748	196305
   T5	Morfa Stadium	266504	196021
   T6	Wooden bridge	266408	195417
   T7	U/s of White Rock	266360	195036

   
   id and description are nice, but not essential
   !IMPORTANT!: Don't use commata at all! Use points (instead) to express non integer values.
   
   
3. save this file as "comma delimited textfile" under e.g. "gps.txt"
   
   the output file should look like this:
   
   id,description,GPS_x,GPS_y
   T1,"u/s of N-Y-F",267009,196614
   T2,"At mouth of N-Y-F",267000,196592
   T3,"d/s of N-Y-F",266985,196585
   T4,"Culvert @ Macro",266748,196305
   T5,"Morfa Stadium",266504,196021
   T6,"Wooden bridge",266408,195417
   T7,"U/s of White Rock",266360,19503

Importing the dataset into ArcView

1. start ArcView
2. create a new view in ArcView
3. add a table [Project -> Add Table]
   
   
   
   look for "Delimited Text" files in your directory and open the created dataset (e.g. gps.txt)
   {
   if the import doesn't work and you receive an error message in ArcView, look for trailing commas or other
   disturbing stuff inside your dataset (textfile gps.txt )
   }
   
4. Activate (click into) the empty "View" and choose "View -> Add Event Theme" from the menue bar
   
   
5. Choose tablename, x and y coordinates according to the columns in the table:
   
   
   
   
6. Activate the created Event Theme by ticking the box in front; your ArcView screen should now look like this
   
   
   
   
   
7. If you have additional information about some or each point ( e.g. id, description )
   you may want to display these values as a label, next to each point:
   
   
   1. activate the view window; choose THEME -> EDIT LEGEND
   2.  Double click on the Symbol in the Legend Editor:
      
      
      
      
   3. Choose Color, Fontstyle and Fontsize for your Label from the Palette Manager:
      
      
      
      
   4. Click Apply in the Legend Editor to accept the changes
      
      
   5. Open THEME -> Auto-label from the main menue
      
      
   6. Choose which table column hosts the label, that you like to display
      and choose "Find Best Label Placement" to make sure the Labels don't overlapp
      
      
      
      
   7. Click OK and your labels schould appear, right next to GPS points