Essential data editing vocabulary
Below are common terms that are encountered when editing data with Production Mapping.
Associated batch jobs
The product library can store Reviewer batch jobs that can be used by Feature Manager or the Validate Current Selection/Validate Current Extent tool to validate features. These batch jobs are created to store the enhanced validation or business rules that features and feature templates are validated against.
Composite template
A composite template is a group of two or more feature templates that can be used to create multiple features with one edit sketch. Composite templates define which templates will be used and what order the features will be created in. Specific construction tools have been designed to determine how the features will be created. For example, you can create a composite template for a line layer and a point layer, but it is the construction tool that will determine if the point is created at the start of the line, in the middle of the line, or at every vertex along the line.
Construction method
By default, the Line and Polygon tools create straight segments between the vertices you click. These tools have additional ways to define a feature's shape, such as creating curved lines or tracing existing features. These are construction methods, which are located on the Editor toolbar. To create a curved segment, click that construction type from the palette on the Editor toolbar and draw the curve on the map. You can even switch among construction types after each segment, allowing you to build the exact shape you want. For example, if you are drawing a road with a bend in it, you may want some of it to be straight and some to be curved. To do this, start with the Straight Segment method, digitize the straight segment, then click the Curved Segment method and create the curve.
Construction tool
The top panel of the Create Features window shows the templates in the map, while the bottom panel of the window lists the tools available to create features of that type. The availability of the feature creation tools, or construction tools, depends on the type of template you have selected at the top of the window. For example, when a line template is active, you can see a set of tools for creating line features. If you choose an annotation template instead, the available tools change to those that can be used to create annotation.
Feature-level metadata
Feature-level metadata is attributes on a feature and is used to store metadata about the feature. Feature-level metadata can include information such as the following:
- Source material used to collect the feature
- Date last modified and by whom
- Horizontal and vertical accuracy of the feature
- The security clearance level of the feature
Feature template
Creating features is accomplished through the use of feature templates. Feature templates define all the information required to create a feature: the layer where a feature will be stored, the attributes a feature is created with, and the default tool used to create that feature. Templates also have a name, description, and tags that can help you find and organize them. If templates are not present when you start editing, they are automatically created for each layer in the current editing workspace. Templates are saved in the map document (.mxd) and the layer file (.lyr).
The terms "feature template" and "template" are used interchangeably in the Editing help.
Field configuration
Defines custom Production Mapping properties about your fields. This can be how the field is displayed in tool dialog boxes such as Feature Manager, what type of control is used to edit the field, or if the field is considered feature-level metadata. Field configuration can also be used to determine which attributes will be used when dissolving features with the Production Dissolve tool and how the other attributes will be populated. Field configurations are created using Field Configuration Manager and are stored in the product library.
Incomplete composite templates
Composite templates contain multiple templates that can be from different layers. If one of the templates used in a composite template is deleted or the template's layer is not visible, the composite template will be considered an incomplete template, and you will not be able to use it to create features.
Invalid templates
Production Mapping has the ability to validate templates against additional business rules for your data. Feature templates can be created that do not meet these rules. When you validate templates through Feature Manager, any templates that fail validation will be displayed as invalid templates and cannot be used to create features until the attributes are corrected to meet the business rules.