Essentials of relating tables

Relating tables simply defines a relationship between two tables. The associated data isn't appended to the layer's attribute table like it is with a join. Instead, you can access the related data when you work with the layer's attributes.

A relate is similar to a simple relationship class except it can involve data from different workspaces (such as a dBASE table can be related to a coverage) and is stored in a layer file or ArcMap document. If you already have a relationship class set up for your data, you can use it as you would a relate in ArcMap.

Relates can be used in the Table and Identify windows to find data that is related to the selected record or records.

The following describes how relates behave when used in ArcMap:

Related Topics


9/17/2012