Importing DAFIF shapefiles into an AIS geodatabase

The Digital Aeronautical Flight Information File (DAFIF) is a collection of shapefiles that contains various aviation features such as Special Use Airspace, navaids, and airports. This data can be imported into the Aeronautical Information System (AIS) data model, and mapping information can be found in Mapping Information for DAFIF and AIS data models.

Note:

You will need to create an AIRSPACEBOUNDARY feature class for importing the BDRYL, BDRYH, and BDRYC DAFIF shapefiles.

Importing DAFIF shapefiles

1. Start ArcMap.
2. If necessary, create a new geodatabase with the AIS schema using the Create Aviation Geodatabase geoprocessing tool.
3. Add the Import DAFIF tool to a toolbar by doing the following.
   1. Click Customize > Customize Mode.
   2. Click the Commands tab.
   3. In the Categories list, click Aviation.
   4. Drag the Import DAFIF button to the Aviation Data Management toolbar.

      The command appears on the toolbar.

4. Click Close.
5. Click the browse button next to the Import Shapefiles (folder) text box.
6. Browse to the directory that contains the shapefiles and click Select.

   The Shapefiles to Import list is populated with the list of shapefiles that will be imported into the geodatabase. By default, all the shapefiles are selected for importing.

   

   Tip:

   Clicking Clear All unchecks all the shapefiles, and none of them will be imported. Clicking Select All checks all the check boxes, and all the shapefiles will be imported.

7. Click the browse button next to Target Geodatabase.
8. Browse to the geodatabase into which the data will be imported.
9. Click OK.

   The Import DAFIF Shapefiles Into AIS Geodatabase dialog box appears and displays the progress of the import process. Information reported includes the number of features transferred from each shapefile to the corresponding feature class.

10. Click OK to close the progress dialog box.

Creating an AIRSPACEBOUNDARY feature class

The AIRSPACEBOUNDARY feature class must be manually created to fully ingest all of your DAFIF data. The following steps will help you create and archive this feature class.

1. Start ArcMap.
2. In the Catalog window, right-click the geodatabase in which you want to create the new feature class.
3. Point to New > Feature Class.
4. Type AIRSPACEBOUNDARY for the Name field.
5. Click the Type drop-down arrow and click Line Features.
6. Click Next.
7. Either navigate to and click a coordinate system in the coordinate system window or click Import or New to specify a coordinate system.

Import lets you import a coordinate system from an existing feature class or feature dataset.

New allows you to create a new coordinate system.

Once you have chosen a coordinate system, you can click Modify to alter it.

8. Click Next.
9. You can type a different x,y tolerance, but the default should be sufficient.

   The x,y domain is calculated based on the coordinate system you specified.

10. Click Next.
11. If you are creating the new annotation feature class in a file or enterprise geodatabase and you want to use a custom storage keyword, click Use configuration keyword and then choose the keyword you want to use from the drop-down list. If you don't want to use a custom storage keyword, leave the default.
12. Click Next.
You can now add the necessary fields from the source files to make the feature class valid.
13. Click Import if you want to add fields to the feature class.
14. Browse to the BDYHP DAFIF shapefile and click Add.
15. Click Finish.
16. Right-click the AIRSPACEBOUNDARY feature class and click Manage > Register As Versioned.

    This enables versioning on the new feature class.

17. Right-click the AIRSPACEBOUNDARY feature class and click Manage > Enable Archiving.

    The feature class is archived.

Updating AIS geodatabase features

The Import DAFIF tool is used to update features in an AIS geodatabase that were previously imported from DAFIF shapefiles. It uses the CLIENTKEY_ID field from each feature class to match the source field values in the input DAFIF shapefile features.

Matching features are updated based on the source DAFIF attribution and geometry. Additionally, non-matching features in the DAFIF shapefiles are appended to the receiving AIS feature class.

The Import DAFIF tool populates the SOURCE_TXT field found in AIS feature classes with information regarding the update status for the feature in the 'DAFIF'_CYCLE_DATE_'update status' format.

Note:

The components of the status can be further explained as:

• 'DAFIF'—Only features with SOURCE_TXT values that begin with the word DAFIF will be evaluated for update.
• CYCLE_DATE—An attribute found in the source DAFIF that identifies the calendar period in which the record was added or last revised in the imported DAFIF.
• update status—A suffix indicating:
  • new—The feature was added to the AIS geodatabase from the last Import DAFIF tool execution
  • update—The feature had attribute and/ or geometry updated during the last Import DAFIF tool execution
  • delete—The feature was removed from the input DAFIF used in a previous Import DAFIF tool execution. For deletes, CYCLE_DATE is not present.

    Status suffix does not indicate that the feature has been processed by the Import DAFIF tool, since it was added or last updated in the AIS geodatabase. For example, DAFIF_201712_new, DAFIF_201712_update, DAFIF_delete, DAFIF_199907.

    Caution:

    Deletions are not made by the Import DAFIF tool, instead SOURCE_TXT is populated with 'DAFIF_delete'. You may retain these features or optionally delete these features by other methods.

The tool log reports the details of DAFIF to AIS feature class data transfer and lists the total number of features transferred and counts for New, Updated, Unchanged and Marked for Delete.

You can save these as text files by clicking the Save Log button on the Import DAFIF dialog box.