Support

Desktop GIS FAQs

Install/License Manager

  1. Do I need to De-Authorize my Licenses if Uninstalling ArcGIS Desktop?
  2. None of my extensions are listed. How to install and activate my extensions?
  3. Why do I get the error: “Invalid license file syntax”?
  4. Unable to start ArcGIS Desktop applications; error message FLEXlm error-15,10. System error: 10061 "Winsock: Connection refused"? appears.
  5. I have an existing License Manager on my machine. What is the procedure for upgrading to the new License Manager?
  6. Are there any changes that have been made to the FLEXlm License Manager at ArcInfo 8.x?
  7. Can I use different license types when using ArcGIS on Citrix?
  8. Can I install different versions of different ArcGIS products on the same machine?
  9. Why do I get "Error: You do not have access to make the required system configuration modification. Please rerun this installation from an administrators account." when trying to run the Registration Wizard?
  10. What is the process to install the License Manager on a different machine?
  11. Why does the license manager report that licenses are checked out, even though ArcGIS is not in use?
  12. Does a clean uninstall/reinstall functionality, similar to /cleanup switch in 8.x, exist for ArcGIS 9.x?
  13. Why do I get the error "The system clock has been set back to the past. This is not allowed!" and how do I fix it?
  14. Why do I receive the message "Unable to communicate with the Sentinel SuperPro key"?
  15. How do I create an options file to restrict users to ArcGIS licenses on the license server?
  16. Why is the Desktop Administrator empty of all its folders and/or options ?
  17. How can I evalute the common ArcGIS extensions?
  18. How do I connect to a license server through a firewall in Windows XP?
  19. How do I specify/change the license server I am connecting to?
  20. How do I stop and start the license server?
  21. How do I install ArcGIS without updating any systems files?
  22. What is the difference between a single use license and a floating license?
  23. Why can't I install ArcReader on a machine that has ArcGIS?
  24. How do I install ArcReader from the ArcGIS installation disk?
  25. My hostname matches the one in my license file but I get a "Cannot find SERVER hostname in network database" error when starting an ArcGIS application?
  26. How do I install the ArcGIS License Manager on UNIX without installing ArcInfo Workstation?
  27. I have installed ArcEditor Single Use 9.3 but the registration is asking me for an ArcView UNK number
  28. (ARCGIS) UNSUPPORTED: "ArcReader" (PORT_AT_HOST_PLUS) SYSTEM@<host> (License server system does not support this feature (-18,327)
  29. After installing the license manager, I cannot get the service started
  30. Registration Problem: Error Retrieving Authorization File

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General

  1. What technical resources are available online from ESRI Inc. and ESRI Canada?
  2. How do I eliminate the warning message that my extension registration has expired?
  3. What is the difference between joining and relating datasets?
  4. Can a concurrent use license for extensions be used with a single use installation of ArcView or ArcEditor?
  5. I have too many dangles to fix one at a time using the Error Inspector - is there a faster way to do this?
  6. How can I view CDED (Canadian Digital Elevation Data) in ArcGIS?
  7. What are the differences between ArcView, ArcEditor and ArcInfo level of licenses?
  8. What to do before calling Technical Support if you have issues with data?
  9. Are ECW (ERMapper) files supported with ArcGIS?

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ArcMap

  1. How to rebuild a geometric network in an area
  2. Unable to create Address Locator – Address Locator Style is empty
  3. Why do my MrSID image files look overexposed in ArcMap?
  4. Why can't I edit my coverages in the same manner as I edit geodatabases or shapefiles in ArcMap?
  5. Why do my MrSID image files look overexposed in ArcMap?
  6. How can I create doughnut polygons in my Shapefile?
  7. Why do my shapefile features disappear when zooming or panning in ArcMap?
  8. When starting ArcMap, why does the Table of Contents flash up and then disappear?
  9. Can I print the complete style sets from ArcMap?
  10. Why does the edit pointer leave a trail on the screen?
  11. Why is my extension toolbar visible but I am unable use it? I have a license for it.
  12. How can I customize my ArcMap default values?
  13. Why does ArcMap crash when I am using the Shared Edit Tool?
  14. How do you symbolize a layer based on proportion, rotation and color?
  15. Why are my points showing as characters in my map?
  16. How can I import a data frame from one *.mxd into a different *.mxd?
  17. Why does all data get removed from the data frame when a feature is selected and deleted?
  18. When joining two datasets why can't I see the values from either a portion or the entire resulting dataset?
  19. Why is the Map Scale control disabled?
  20. How do I convert geodatabase annotation to coverage annotation?
  21. Why do I get strange characters in my shapefile or dbf table instead of my French accents when I view it in ArcMap or in ArcCatalog?
  22. After I have performed a relate, how do I open the related table?
  23. In ArcMap, how do I hyperlink to an application with a parameter attached?
  24. How do I update Area, Perimeter, and Length for a shapefile?
  25. Why are the pan and/or zoom tools disabled in the Tools bar?
  26. Why, when I change my label name for classified layers in the symbology tab of the layer properties, if I use the ampersand (&), does it underline the next character and not put an ampersand?
  27. How do I pan or zoom without clicking on the toolbar while in edit mode?
  28. Why do my labels disappear when I place a graphic on the screen?
  29. I'm trying to display 2nd in ArcMap but it comes out as 2nd. How can I display it correctly?
  30. When mosaicing images why do I see white or black strips between my images?
  31. When trying to set map tips for a shapefile, why is the Show Map Tips option disabled in the Layer Properties dialog box?
  32. How can I get my data to line up correctly in ArcMap without having to re-project it?
  33. How do I create a new multipart feature or create a multipart feature from existing features in a shapefile or geodatabase feature class?
  34. How do I get labels to maintain their relative size?
  35. Can I customize the color ramp of my feature class or raster images?
  36. How can I query only the NULL values on a joined table and symbolize them as excluded data?
  37. How can I view or change the current snapping tolerance?
  38. How do I obtain the x,y coordinates for an Annotation Feature Class?
  39. Why does Microsoft Office 2000 applications close immediately after I have installed ArcGIS?
  40. Do I need to re-install my NTv2 files after an ArcGIS Desktop upgrade?
  41. How do you construct a SQL query that allows me to select text based on a specified number of characters?
  42. How can I avoid reaching the maximum sample size when symbolizing my data?
  43. How do I add selected table records to the layout page?
  44. Are ArcGIS Map documents forward or backward compatible?
  45. How can I change the name of a field ?
  46. How do I add my own custom area patch to display polygon layers in the table of contents in ArcMap?
  47. What are the required fields to create a COGO (coordinate geometry) feature class from a survey traverse?
  48. How do I convert polygon boundaries to a polylines in ArcMap?
  49. Why is the data not correctly entered into columns when a table for a tab delimited text file is opened in ArcMap or ArcCatalog?
  50. Why do my labels not rotate when the data frame is rotated?
  51. How do I delete a customized button I have added to a toolbar in ArcMap?
  52. How do I create shortcut keys to make editing easier?
  53. How do I convert my polyline feature class to a polygon feature class?
  54. How to set or edit an environment variable on Windows?
  55. How can I obtain a count in a new field for the amount of points that fall within my polygons?
  56. Why can I no longer view EMF image files that that were created in Adobe Illustrator in ArcMap?
  57. How do I move/copy my MXD document to a new location without losing the connection to my data?
  58. How do I spatially join a point layer to a polygon layer in ArcMap?
  59. How can I display the contents of the attribute table for each individual feature in my layout?
  60. Why do I get the error message "The coordinates or measures are out of bounds" when editing a personal geodatabase?
  61. How can I label my contours at a given interval?
  62. My ArcGIS desktop help is very slow or has simply stopped working, what is wrong?
  63. Why isn't my Geostatistical Analyst result saved on disk?
  64. Why do I get the error: "Failed to connect to database; An underlying database error occurred; Unrecognized database format: {path to .mdb}"
  65. How do I extend only one side of a polygon boundary?
  66. Why does my ArcGIS try to install when I am accessing a pdf or a Microsoft Word Document?
  67. How to delete or maintain intermediate data when you run a model in Model Builder?
  68. Using the ArcMap Advanced Settings utility
  69. How can I select features in my feature class based on the values in another table?
  70. Why do my shapefiles not show up in the geographic space?
  71. Why is my data missing after running a geoprocessing operation and exiting ArcMap?
  72. How to troubleshoot corrupted mxds and print issues
  73. How can I edit my legend?
  74. How can I edit my labels?
  75. Why are the Macros and Visual Basic options grayed-out from Tools > Macros menu?
  76. Can I add hyperlinks to two fields in ArcMap?
  77. Why do my Area calculations have a negative value?
  78. Can I change the angular units the Direction command uses in an Edit Session?
  79. How to clip a polygon feature with a polyline feature?
  80. Why do some legend symbols appear hatched or disappear when exporting to PDF
  81. How to split a polygon with an existing line or polygon feature?
  82. How can I clip raster files to an irregular shape without the Spatial Analyst Extension?
  83. Why does my edit session close after each save operation?
  84. Why do some of the commands from the customize window never become active when added to the ArcMap interface.
  85. Is it possible to add a Date/Time stamp to the layout of my map?
  86. How can I see layers underneath a particular layer without having to turn them off?

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ArcCatalog

  1. If I have common metadata fields that I want to apply to many datasets, how can I copy them over without having to re-type them?
  2. How do I connect to my Access database?
  3. Can I connect to my MS SQL Server on my network from ArcCatalog?
  4. Can I unregister a feature that is versioned in ArcCatalog?
  5. The ArcCatalog splash-screen appears but ArcCatalog does not start up. What's wrong?
  6. How do I maintain the spatial reference for CAD files in ArcCatalog?
  7. How do I define the projection of a coverage in ArcCatalog?
  8. How can I decrease the size of my personal geodatabase after validating topology?
  9. What is the difference between a CAD drawing and a CAD feature dataset?
  10. How do I import specific information from a CAD file into a Geodatabase feature class?
  11. How can I define a coordinate system for my raster or grid?
  12. Why can't I make a Thumbnail for a feature class that is stored in an ArcSDE Geodatabase?
  13. Where are My Toolboxes saved and how do you set the location of My Toolboxes in ArcCatalog?
  14. Why can I change the style, font and colour but not font size of CAD annotation?

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ArcToolBox

  1. How do I convert my raster data to a Mr.SID format?
  2. What is the difference between the Define Projection tool and the Project tool found in the Projections and Transformations Toolset in ArcToolbox?
  3. How can I view Raster Calculator command usage and list recently used commands?
  4. How to Set and Save Environment Settings in Arc Toolbox and Share them with other Users.
  5. Why am I receiving the error "The input raster maximum () is out of range" when running the Reclassify tool in ArcToolbox
  6. What do the Check Geometry and Repair Geometry tools do?
  7. Create and Manage Domains using ArcToolbox Geoprocessing Tools

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Error Messages

  1. Why do I get a "Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library - Runtime Error!" when I start my ArcInfo Desktop applications?
  2. Why do I get the message "Could not edit the data..., Check to see that you have the appropriate permissions" when I'm trying to edit my shapefile?
  3. I am getting "Error 1327. Invalid Drive..." when installing ArcGIS Desktop, what can I do now?
  4. When I get Windows error messages in ArcGIS, how can I find more information about them?
  5. Why do I get a Type Mismatch error when trying to open the ArcMap Advanced Settings utility?
  6. Why do I get "Error: “Unable to compress field ‘NAME'. Field length is 2147483647 and it contains values longer than 256 characters" when trying compress a file geodatabase?

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ArcObjects

  1. How do I change the ArcSDE connection properties for my layer files (*.lyr) programmatically?
  2. Can I run an AML using VBA in ArcInfo 9.x?
  3. How can I stack my labels in ArcMap?
  4. How do I label features using a field from a one-to-many related table?
  5. How do you add X,Y and Z attributes to a 3D point layer attribute table?
  6. How can I automatically unload extensions when exiting ArcMap?
  7. What do I require on a machine to deploy an ArcObjects application?
  8. How can I stack labels based on different field values?
  9. How do you display the layer properties dialog using VBA?
  10. How can I programmatically change the focus to another mapframe in the layout?
  11. How do you debug a custom ArcGIS Extension or PropertyPage in Visual Basic 6?
  12. How do you programmatically handle the SDE username and password when opening an ArcMap mxd?
  13. How do you load a custom style automatically when ArcMap starts?
  14. Where can I find documentation on element hierarchy needed to create my custom metadata synchronizer?
  15. How do I programmatically set the drawing order in ArcMap's Advanced Drawing Options?
  16. How do I debug a custom ArcGIS extension or property page in VB 6?
  17. What is the difference between product licenses and extension licenses and which ones are needed to run an ArcGIS Engine application?
  18. What are the different ArcGIS Engine development, testing, and deployment licensing options?
  19. What are the essential elements of the ArcGIS Engine Media Kit and what are they used for?
  20. How do you show map tips in the MapControl of an ArcGIS Engine application?
  21. How do I troubleshoot the ArcGIS Server Post-Install error: "The password does not meet the password policy requirements."
  22. How do I change the port of an ArcGIS Server .NET application?
  23. Where can I find developer resources and samples for ArcGIS 9.3?
  24. Why does my python script not execute when I import the win32com.client OR why do I get the message "ImportError: No module named win32com.client" when executing my python script?
  25. How can I select by colour with ArcGIS?

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Projections

  1. How do I convert my data from NAD27 to NAD83 using NTv2?
  2. Does ArcGIS come with predefined MTM projections?
  3. Why is there a discrepancy between the Nad27 to Nad83 (NTv2 1976 adjustment) conversion when projecting a coverage with Workstation ArcInfo (cnt) and a shapefile with ArcToolBox (gsb)?

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Business Analyst

  1. Why are the data source paths broken when I open BusinessAnalyst_CAN.mxd?

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Crime Analyst

  1. Date fields do not import properly when using the MS EXCEL IMPORT TOOL with Crime Analyst.

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Data Interoperability

  1. Why do I only see 3 file formats when using the Quick Import or Quick Export tools in the Data Interoperability toolbox?

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Spatial Analyst

  1. How can I run ArcInfo GRID functions from ArcMap with Spatial Analyst?
  2. Can I clip my raster based on a shapefile?
  3. When performing analysis with Spatial Analyst, how can I set the extent for the results to only include the area of interest?
  4. Where can I find more detailed information about the functions available in the raster calculator for the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst Extension?

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Geostatistical Analyst

  1. How can I change the maximum number of points from 300?

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Geocoding

  1. How can I create a Geocoding Service programmatically using my own fields?

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Supplément Français

  1. Pourquoi mes images et photos utilisent le dégradé de couleurs "Brun et Jaune" après avoir installé le supplément français 8.1.1, au lieu du "Noir et Blanc"?
  2. Why do my images and photos use the color ramp "Brown&Yellow" after installing the French Supplement for ArcGIS 8.1.1, as opposed to the default "Black&White"?

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Workstation ArcInfo

  1. I just used BUILD with the POLY option, and now my attributes are gone.
  2. Using DXFARC with AutoCAD BLOCKS does not write the BLOCKS correctly.
  3. Guidelines for Transferring e00 files from one platform to another.
  4. How do I convert a Polygon Shapefile to an ARC/INFO coverage and retain the attributes?
  5. Why do the colours on my output plot not match the colours in my shadeset symbol dump?
  6. How do I join my AutoCad text attributes to my lines in ArcInfo?
  7. What are the possible files that may exist in a coverage directory?
  8. Why when I convert shapefiles to coverages do the features get shifted?
  9. What can I do to try and fix corrupted coverage data?
  10. Why can I export a shapefile to a coverage using ArcInfo Desktop applications, yet I receive an error when I try using SHAPEARC in Workstation?
  11. When I BUILD my coverage I get a Fatal Error, "BAD IREC (VREAD)"
  12. SHAPEARC returns: Unknown type... bailing out of CONVSHAPES.
  13. How can I use ARCEDIT FORMS in an AML?
  14. How can I assign the number of features selected in ArcPlot to a variable in AML?
  15. How can I use INFO commands in AML?
  16. How can I transfer my annotation into an attribute table?
  17. How do I convert a Character type field to a Binary type in ArcInfo Tables?

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