ArcGIS Explorer - Identify

Identify

This task may not be available in the current map because its publisher may have disabled it.

When you click on the map with the Identify location tool, the Location field shows you the x,y coordinates of the location you clicked. When you select an identified feature from the list on the left of this dialog box, the Location field shows you the x,y coordinates of that feature's location (if it is a point feature) or that feature's centroid (if it is any other sort of feature). You can't enter different coordinates in this field or edit the values, but you can choose which units the coordinates are shown in. Use the small button to the right of this control to choose the units you want to use.

The units default to Degrees Minutes Seconds, which is shown in bold in the list.

If you want to be able to type in an x,y coordinate and pan or zoom to it on the map, or draw a point on the map at the location, use the GoTo Location task.

When you want information about a feature displayed on the map, you can use the Identify task. Identify allows you to see the attributes of your data and is an easy way to learn something about a location in a map. Clicking the location tool on the map will present the attributes of the data at that location. When identifying features with Identify, the attributes are presented in a feature-by-feature, layer-by-layer manner in the Task Center.

You can customize Identify to narrow down the amount of data you see by filtering the layers you are interested in. By reducing the number of layers Identify works with, you can quickly focus on what is important to you when exploring a map.

Choosing which layers to identify

When you use the Identify tool, it defaults to identifying the topmost layer in your map. If you click a location and do not find that the topmost layer interests you, you can use the Layers drop-down list at the top of the Identify window to choose from specific layers in your map or generic layer settings.

The Identify tool will act on whichever option you choose in the Layers drop-down list:

Topmost layer: Identify will give you the attributes of the feature or features from the layer that is uppermost in the drawing hierarchy—in other words, highest in the Contents window or Manage Layers list—at the location you click. This option won't identify features in a layer that is turned off in the Contents window or currently not being drawn because of the scale of the map. With this setting, you'll usually get the attributes of the feature you click without getting the attributes of features in other layers that are drawn underneath that feature.
Visible layers: Identify will give you the attributes of the features belonging to all layers that are currently drawn on the map at the location you click.
All layers: Identify will give you the attributes of the features from all the layers at the location you click. This includes layers that are not currently drawn on the map. This setting is useful if you want to get a cross section of all the attributes of all layers at a particular location.

In addition, you can choose a specific layer in your map to identify. If you choose a particular layer name rather than a generic option, its features will be identifiable even if the layer is not currently drawn on the map.

Why does Identify let you identify a feature that's not drawn on the map? This is because in some situations you may want to be able to access a layer's attributes without drawing its features. For example, you may want to be able to find out what ZIP Code a particular street segment is located in without drawing the ZIP Code boundaries on your street map. In this case, you would choose the ZIP Code layer from this drop-down list but turn this layer off in the Contents window. Clicking a street with the Identify tool will give you the attributes of the ZIP Code layer at the location you clicked.

Working with the Identify task

The immediate result of using the Identify task displays in the Task Center and shows three categories of information: a list of features that have been identified, the attributes belonging to each identified feature, and location coordinates.

The left side of the window lists each feature that has been identified. Features are listed using the value of the layer's primary display field, under the name of the layer to which they belong. You'll see multiple layers listed if you have identified features from more than one layer.

The right side of the window shows the attributes of the feature you identified. When you have identified features, you can click a particular feature in the list on the left and see its attributes in the right panel. In this way, you can compare attributes for different features. You can interact with the attributes of identified features by right-clicking within the attributes panel.

The x,y coordinates for the location you clicked are displayed on the right side of the window above the attributes panel. When you click an identified feature from the list on the left, the location box will display the x,y coordinates of that feature's location (if it is a point feature) or centroid (if it is any other type of feature). You can also choose the units with which these coordinates are displayed, and you can select the coordinates and copy them.

If there are no layers on the map that can be identified, the tool will be displayed and you'll see an explanatory note to that effect:

Working with Identify results

You can interact with identified features by right-clicking a feature in the list on the left side of the window. This menu allows you to do a number of actions with the identified feature, including flashing, zooming, and panning to it. You can also organize the list of identified features, and copy the feature's attributes.

At the bottom right of the task you'll see an Add Result button with two options to its right. Selecting one of the options and clicking this button will place the resulting geometry of the actual feature or the centroid of the feature in the Results window. You can then use this result as input to appropriate tasks.

Working with the attributes of identified features

By clicking or right-clicking the right side of the Identify window, you can interact with the attributes of identified features. Some of the actions you can perform include accessing hyperlinks and rasters, managing fields, and copying field names or attribute values. When you have hyperlinks or rasters available, you'll see their icons in the Value column.

Accessing hyperlinks: A field that contains a text value that is a full URL or full path can be used to link to either a Web site or launch a document.
Viewing images in a field of type raster: The attribute tables of geodatabase feature classes and standalone tables in geodatabases can contain a field of type raster. These fields can contain any supported image or raster file, such as a photo of a feature. When you identify a feature containing a raster field, a small icon appears next to the raster field if a picture exists for the record. Clicking it opens the raster in a new window.
Managing fields: You can hide, show, sort, and select fields by right-clicking the right side of the Identify window. You can also sort the attribute list by clicking either the Field or Value title bar above the results.
Copying fields and values: To copy all the field names and attribute values, right-click the left side of the window and use the Copy Record command. To copy individual field names or individual values, right-click the right side and click Copy. For a field/value pair, right-click the right side and click Copy Selected Fields.

How to identify features

Click the Identify tool at the upper right corner of the Task Center.
Click the mouse pointer over the map feature you want to identify.
Right-click the left side of the window to interact with the identified features, or click the right side to work with their attributes.

Tips

Hold down the Shift key while clicking the map to keep the results of your previous clicks in the Identify window.

Feature geometry is needed to perform Fly to, Move to, and Flash. In some cases, feature geometry is not available, so these commands are dimmed. These cases include the identification of features from any WMS layer and features from an ArcIMS image service that do not include geometry in any query results.

Click a feature to flash it on the map. Clicking a layer will flash all identified features for that layer.

Click a field to select it. When a field is selected, it will remain visible in the right side of the window as you identify additional features from that layer or switch between features from that layer in the left side of the window. This makes it easy to compare the attributes for multiple features, especially when the layer has a large number of fields.

You can hide unwanted fields to simplify the listing by selecting the field or fields by right-clicking and clicking the Hide Fields command. Use Show All Fields to unhide fields that you have hidden. Hiding fields in the Identify window is temporary and only affects your current Identify session. It does not affect which fields are shown or not shown in any other dialog boxes or when you open the attribute table window for the layer.

When you right-click a feature in the left side of the window, the menu has several commands that make it easy to work with features you have identified. For example, you can sort the features and remove unwanted ones from the window. Copy Record copies all the attributes of the feature you right-clicked.

Changing the units of the x,y coordinates displayed

On the right side of the Identify window, click the small arrow next to the location information.
Click the units you want to use.