Instances in a product

Product instances are individual geographic extents that are represented as data frames on the map document. While it is common for most map documents to have only one data frame, maps with insets or data-frame-based surround elements have more than one data frame.

Product instance properties

There are several properties associated with an instance. They are divided into two sections: General and Instance. The General section contains properties such as the name, alias, description, and current status of the instance. The Instance section contains properties such as the instance type and rotation angle for the data frame.

When you add an instance, only the General properties are required. You can optionally include an instance type and rotation angle, and you can associate a database with the instance.

General properties

The properties in the General section allow you to define basic information about the product and its state and include the following:

Property name	Description
Name	The name of the instance
Alias	The name displayed for the instance in the product library tree view
Description	A description of the instance
Visible	Indicates whether the instance is visible to other users when a Spatial Database Engine (SDE) database is used as the product library (The value for this property is dependent on the way it has been set for the parent product.)

General instance properties

Instance properties

The properties in the Instance section include information such as the instance type, the rotation angle, and the parent solution. There is also information related to the database associated with the instance and the spatial reference used.

General properties in the Instance section include the following:

Property name	Description
Instance Type	The type associated with the instance (For example, the data frame you are adding could be the main data frame for the product or an inset.)
Parent Product	The names of the solution, product class, series, and product associated with the instance
Rotation	The rotation angle to be applied to the instance

Instance properties

The database properties include the following:

Property name	Description
Database	The name and type of the database associated with the instance
Location	Indicates where the instance database is being stored (This can be Database or File system. The default value is Database, which means the instance database is stored in the product library. File system means it is stored in a directory on the network or your local machine.)
File	The name of the database file
Type	The database file type, such as personal or file

Instance database properties

The spatial reference properties include the following:

Property name	Description
Spatial Reference	The name of the spatial reference being used with the instance
Use Existing	Indicates whether you want to use a spatial reference that is defined in the product library (The default for this value is False. If it is set to True, you can choose a spatial reference that is referenced in the product library. If it is set to False, you can choose a different spatial reference.)
Name	The name of the spatial reference used with the instance
Description	A description of the spatial reference being used with the instance
Base Spatial Reference	The name of the spatial reference used with the instance

Instance spatial reference properties