Creating a stand-alone feature class

1. In the Catalog tree, right-click the geodatabase in which you want to create a new feature class.
2. Point to New > Feature Class.
3. Type a name for the feature class. To create an alias for this feature class, type the alias.
4. Choose from the drop-down list the type of features that will be stored in this feature class.
5. If your data will require m- or z-values, check the appropriate check boxes.
6. Click Next.
7. Navigate to the spatial reference you want to use or click Import and navigate to the feature class or feature dataset that uses the spatial reference you want to use as a template.
8. Click Modify if you want to change any parameters in the coordinate system you've chosen. Edit the coordinate system's parameters and click OK.
9. If your data requires a vertical coordinate system, you may import one from another feature class or feature dataset; otherwise, select None. Click Modify if you want to change any parameters in the coordinate system you've chosen. Edit the coordinate system's parameters and click OK.
10. Enter an x,y-tolerance or accept the default value. The default x,y-tolerance is 1 mm on the Earth's surface at the point of projection.
11. If any feature class in the feature dataset will have z-values, enter the z-tolerance or accept the default.
12. If any feature class in the feature dataset will have measures, enter the m-tolerance or accept the default.
13. If you've changed the x,y-; z-; and/or m-tolerances and want to revert to the default values, click the Reset all tolerances button.
14. By default, the Accept default resolution and domain extent check box is checked. If you want to manually adjust the resolution and domain extent values of your new dataset, uncheck this box. If you are creating data in a pre-9.2 geodatabase or chose Unknown for the horizontal coordinate system, you should uncheck this box and confirm that the default values are appropriate.
15. If you have unchecked the Accept default resolution and domain extent check box, there is an additional panel in the wizard that allows you to change the M resolution as well as the minimum and maximum m-values.
16. If your geodatabase is not a file or ArcSDE geodatabase, skip to step 18. If you want to create the table using a custom storage keyword, click Use configuration keyword and specify the keyword you want to use. NOTE: This is available in ArcGIS for Desktop Advanced and Standard only.
17. Click Next.
18. To add a field to the feature class, click the next blank row in the Field Name column, then type a name.
19. Click the Data Type column next to the new field's name and click its data type.
20. To create an alias for this field, click the field next to Alias and type the alias for this field.
21. To prevent nulls from being stored in this field, click the field next to Allow nulls, click the drop-down arrow, then click No.
22. To associate a default value with this field, click the field next to Default value and type the value.
23. To associate a domain with this field, click the field next to Domain, click the drop-down arrow to see a list of the domains that apply to this field type, then click the domain.
24. To set other properties specific to the type of field, either click the property in the drop-down list or type the property.
25. Repeat steps 18 through 24 until all the feature class fields have been defined.
26. Click Import if you want to import field definitions from another feature class or table.
27. Click Finish.

Tip:

• You may want your most frequently used coordinate systems to appear at the top of the list in the wizard so you don't have to navigate down through the tree. First, quit out of the wizard. Now, in ArcCatalog, turn on the Coordinate Systems folder (Customize > ArcCatalog Options under the General tab) if it is not already turned on. Inside the Coordinate Systems folder, drag and drop, or copy and paste, the coordinate systems you use most frequently into the top level of the folder. For example, copy a coordinate system from inside one of the subfolders,then right-click the Coordinate System folder and choose paste. (If you drag and drop coordinate systems to the top level of the Coordinate System folder, they are automatically copied, not moved, by ArcCatalog, so they will still be accessible via their original subfolder too). You can also create new subfolders or reorganize the existing subfolders. Now, when you go into the New Feature Class wizard again, you'll see those coordinate systems that you moved to the top of the Coordinate Systems folder at the top of the list.
• Click Import to populate the Spatial Reference Properties dialog box with information from another feature class. You can then customize the template's spatial reference.
• To modify a predefined (or a template's) coordinate system or to define a custom coordinate system from scratch, click Custom on the Coordinate System dialog box.
• Since the size of the spatial domain is dependent on the value of precision, when the precision is changed, the maximum z-value will change to fit within the size of the spatial extent. Similarly, when the maximum z-value is changed, the precision will change to fit the domain extent.