Creating a map with relative path data

Steps:

1. Put all the data that will be used to create the map into a directory on a single drive.
2. Add your data to the map.
3. Click the File menu and click Map Document Properties (ArcMap) or Globe Document Properties (ArcGlobe).
4. Check the option to store relative path names and click OK to apply the settings.
5. Click the Publisher menu and click Publish Map.
6. Publish or save the map in a directory that has the same parent directory as the data in the map.

As long as the same directory structure is used at the new location, the published map will still be able to find its data by traversing the relative paths. Send the whole directory to anyone that will be using the map.

Tip:

An example of a relative path is \Project1\Boundary.shp. Relative paths in a map specify the location of the data contained in the map relative to the current location on disk of the map document (.mxd file) itself. As relative paths don't contain drive names, they enable the map and its associated data to be moved to any disk drive without the map having to be repaired.