Exercise 2: Creating a composite address locator

Complexity:

Beginner

Data Requirement:

ArcGIS Tutorial Data for Desktop

Data Path:

C:\ArcGIS\ArcTutor\Geocoding

Goal:

To create a composite address locator

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to create a new composite address locator.

A composite address locator consists of two or more individual address locators that allow addresses to be matched against the multiple address locators and find best matches. For example, a composite address locator may contain a street address locator and a ZIP Code locator. If an address fails to match against the street address locator, the address can fall back to match against the ZIP Code locator.

Like address locators, composite address locators are stored and managed in a workspace you choose. The workspace can be a file folder, file geodatabase, personal geodatabase, or SDE geodatabase. Before you create a composite address locator, you need to find or create the address locators you want to include in the composite address locator.

This tutorial will use the Atlanta address locator you created in exercise 1 and the Postal_US locator available in the Data and Maps for ArcGIS media. The StreetMap data and address locators can be found in the \streetmap_na\data folder.

1. Start ArcCatalog.
2. Navigate to the Atlanta file geodatabase.
3. Right-click within the empty space of the Contents tab and click New > Composite Address Locator.

   

   The Create Composite Address Locator dialog box appears.

4. Click the browse button next to the Address Locators text box.

   

   The Address Locators dialog box appears.

5. Navigate to the Atlanta file geodatabase, select the Atlanta address locator, then click Add.

   Tip:

   Instead of using the Address Locators dialog box, you can drag and drop locators from the Catalog Tree directly into the Participating Address Locator section of the Create Composite Address Locator dialog box.

6. Repeat step 4, navigate to the StreetMap data folder, select the Postal_US locator, then click Add.

   

   The two address locators now appear in the Participating Address Locators section. Under the Name column, each locator is automatically given a name that the composite address locator refers to. Field mapping for all the participating address locators is also automatically created. The fields become the input fields for the composite address locator.

   

Changing the Selection Criteria section is optional.
7. Make sure the output composite locator will be stored in the Atlanta geodatabase by following the substeps below.
   1. Click the browse button next to the Output Composite Address Locator text box.

      The Output Composite Address Locator dialog box appears.

   2. Navigate to the folder of the Atlanta geodatabase and click the geodatabase to select it.
   3. Type Atlanta_Composite in the Name text box.
   4. Click Save to accept the changes and close the dialog box.

   The output path appears in the Output Composite Address Locator text box.

   

8. Click OK to start creating the composite address locator.

   When the process finishes, the new composite address locator appears in the Atlanta file geodatabase.

   

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