Adding XY - not files showing

[rheitzman]

ArcGIS 10, ArcMap - newbe
main menu: File, AddXY Data

When I use Browse on the Add XY dialog I'm not seeing any files - only folders on my LAN share with lots of files. The 'Show Type' dropdown says 'tables' and that is it.

How to I get to XLS, CSV, etc. data for import?

Should I be using another menu?

What is 'Type' 'Table' in this context?

[mkennedy]

ArcGIS 10, ArcMap - newbe
main menu: File, AddXY Data

When I use Browse on the Add XY dialog I'm not seeing any files - only folders on my LAN share with lots of files. The 'Show Type' dropdown says 'tables' and that is it.

How to I get to XLS, CSV, etc. data for import?

Should I be using another menu?

What is 'Type' 'Table' in this context?

Hi Robert,

You should be able to .xls, .gdb/mdb (because they can contain tables, .txt, etc. Is the tool defaulting to a location where there aren't able files of this type? One thing that I've had to adjust to with ArcGIS 10 is to add folder connections to all my data locations (I usually short-cut it and just add connections to the drives!).

I don't know if it will help. I've attached a picture of what I see in the dialog. Hidden under the location pull-down are some file and personal geodatabases (.gdb,.mdb).

Melita

[rheitzman]

OK - got back to this....

Newbe question.... I have a blank map (ArcGIS Desktop 10/ArcMap.) I want to import XY data from excel or .CSV and create a layer. No clue in help as to how this is done. (I'm pretty amazed at the uslessness of the help files.) All the Internet searches pull up pre-10 directions - there isn't a Tool menu anymore.

The only thing I have found for XY is in the Arctoolbox Add XY Coordinates (Data Management) but that doesn't seem to have anything to do with importing XY data. The one dropdown doesn't accept XLS files and is looking for who knows what. Must be the wrong tool.

How to I create a layer from XY data using an import from an XLS file?

[rheitzman]

Figured it out...

0 Add a new basemap layer (right click layers)
0 Click one of the icons under table of contents (the new layers do not always appear after the first layer is added until one of these icons is clicked - looks like a bug to me)
0 right click the new layer - click Add Data...
0 right click table - Display data...

Doesn't work well with Excel files because on import not all the columns appear when you are selecting X,Y,Z. Must be some magic they aren't telling us about. CSV import shows all columns.

[seefu]

Another way to Add data is to click on the black plus symbol on top of the yellow diamond next to your scale display. That's the Add data button and lets you add .xls and .xlsx sheets.

You can then right-click that sheet and click on Display XY Data and then select its parameters.
Then you can export that afterwards. Note: when displaying XY data from an Excel spreadsheet, it sometimes fails to draw, particularly when zoomed in so it's best to work on it after exporting it.

Sandy.
ArcGIS noob.

[bphillimon]

Go to Data Management Tools=>Layers and Table Views=>Make XY Event Layer. then you will be set. good luck

[tony5729]

Another thing I learned after beating my head for a while. The add data wizard will not find you column titles or allow you to add the data unless the source file is CLOSED. I pounded my head against the wall for a while before I figured that out.

peace

[katanga.mapping]

Hi all,

I still am in trouble as I want to create a new layer from an excel with XY coordinates. Whether I use the Add Data icon or use the File --> Add data option, the excel file doesn't show up in the folder I've stored it under. I've tried reconnecting to that folder but it doesn't help. It has happened to me before with non-excel files. What should I do? I'm using 9.3 Arc Map (same happens in ArcCatalogue).

Thanks,
Elisabeth

[mkennedy]

Hi all,

I still am in trouble as I want to create a new layer from an excel with XY coordinates. Whether I use the Add Data icon or use the File --> Add data option, the excel file doesn't show up in the folder I've stored it under. I've tried reconnecting to that folder but it doesn't help. It has happened to me before with non-excel files. What should I do? I'm using 9.3 Arc Map (same happens in ArcCatalogue).

Thanks,
Elisabeth

Hi Elisabeth,

What version of Excel are you using? ArcGIS 9.3 doesn't support the new .xlsx files. You could also export the data into a csv or possibly tab-delimited file format.

Melita

[katanga.mapping]

Thanks a lot Melita for that suggestion. I had already tried to convert it into .xls but that didn't work either. I will try the cvs option.

Thanks, Elisabeth

[Claudia201]

Hi, I have a similar problem.
Intermittently I saw in the form of tables (xls, cvs, etc) to add pairs of coordinates.
The solution is to rename the file Normal.mxd, but over a few days the problem comes back and we can add pairs of coordinates from tables.
If you know what causes this, I would be very grateful.
Best Regards,
Claudia

[billybgood]

I'm using ArcMap 10 and Excel. Trying to map points for a project I'll do with high school students. Made a dummy excel sheet with about six Lat/Long points around campus and some data--temperature, land cover, time, date. No blank cells, column heads short. Should be OK. I then Add XY data, X is long, y is lat. When the points show up, they are all at 0 Lat, 0 Long. When I zoom in, there is separation among the points, so they are right relative to one another. When I id them, I get the attribute data.

Thanks.

Billy Goodman
APES teacher
Passaic Valley High School
Little Falls, NJ

[mkennedy]

Billy,

What coordinate system is the data frame using? When you add the xy data, make sure that the coordinate system (for the xy data) is set to the geographic coordinate system of the data. In version 10, the Add XY tool defaults the coordinate system to the data frame's.

Another possibility is that the points are in decimal degrees and not DMS or DD.MMmmm or something similar?

Melita

[jeepman50]

Having the same issues as billy,
I have about 4.5 million points that i am trying to map, these are all in a text document, that is 5 documents broken down. I have tried csv, sqlserver database, excel, file geodatabase, everytime its the same thing the LONG field is reading a 0. All my data is in GCS and the units are DD. Need some help!!