Tutorial: Create new parcels in the parcel fabric

Available with Standard or Advanced license.

In this exercise you will learn how to create new parcels in a parcel fabric. You will work with an existing parcel fabric dataset containing a small sample of lot parcels from the City of Encinitas in California.

Setup the tutorial data

1. Install the tutorial data.

   The tutorial data can be installed by using the separate download for tutorial data. This setup is not included in the ArcGIS Desktop download. You can install the ArcGIS tutorial data using setup.exe located in ArcGIS Desktop Tutorial Data download/media.

2. In the Catalog window in ArcMap, browse to \arcgis\ArcTutor\Parcel Editing.

   You will be working with the ParcelEditing map document (ParcelEditing.mxd) and the parcel fabric named FABRIC in the Encinitas_City.gdb\Cadastral feature dataset.

Create a new plan

Before creating a new parcel, you will create a new plan to represent the legal document on which the parcel was recorded:

1. Open ArcMap and load the ParcelEditing map document (ParcelEditing.mxd) from your \ArcTutor\Parcel Editing\ folder.
2. Make sure the map display is zoomed to the parcel editing overview area. Click the Bookmarks menu and click Parcel Editing Area.
3. Click the Parcel Editor arrow on the Parcel Editor toolbar and click Start Editing.
If the Parcel Details dialog box is not visible, click Parcel Details on the Parcel Editor toolbar.
4. Click the Parcel Editor arrow on the Parcel Editor toolbar and click Plan Directory.
The Plan Directory dialog box opens and displays a list of plans existing for this parcel fabric.
5. Click Create Plan to create a new plan.

The Plan Properties dialog box is opened.
6. On the Plan Properties dialog box, click the General tab and enter a name for your new plan. For this tutorial, type Map 9000 as a plan name. You can also optionally enter a plan description.



7. Click the Record Format tab to specify the units that you will be working with in this plan.
You will be working with a plan that displays directions in quadrant bearing format in degrees/minutes/seconds and distance in U.S. feet. Choose Quadrant Bearing from the Direction or Angle Type drop-down list, Degrees Minutes Seconds from the Direction and Angle Units drop-down list, and US Survey Feet from the Distance and Length Units drop-down list.
8. Leave the default for Area Units.



Setting plan units

9. Keep the default values for Circular Curve Parameters and Circular Curve Direction.



Tip:

You will be able to identify which curve parameters a plan uses by looking at the curve dimensions on the plan. Curve dimensions are sometimes displayed in a curve table for labeled curves on the plan.

10. Click the Corrections tab on the Plan Properties dialog box.
Under this tab, you would click the Uses true mid-bearings option if the bearings of your parcel lines in the plan are the bearings from true north at the midpoint of the parcel. This option is typically used for very long parcel lines.
11. Click Apply to apply your changes.
12. Click the Attributes tab.
On this tab, you can enter information in the plan attributes such as the LegalDate and the accuracy category.

Tip:

You can add other attributes to the plans table, and these attributes will become available on the Attributes tab.

Learn how to add additional attributes to tables in the parcel fabric

13. Click the drop-down list next to the Accuracy field and choose accuracy category 3 - 1908 to 1980.
All new parcels created under this plan inherit the plan accuracy category of 3. Accuracy categories are used by the parcel fabric adjustment.
Learn more about accuracy categories in the parcel fabric
When a LegalDate attribute is entered for the plan, this date is copied to the LegalStartDate attribute of all new parcels created in this plan. If there are parcels made historic by new parcels created in this plan, the LegalDate attribute is copied to the LegalEndDate attribute of the historic parcels.

Learn more about historic parcels in the parcel fabric

14. Click OK to create the plan and complete the exercise.
The new plan is listed on the Plan Directory dialog box. Close the plan directory.
15. Click Parcel Editor > Stop Editing to stop the edit session. Make sure to save your edits.

Tip:

If you are not working with plans, your parcels will be stored in the system default <map> plan.

Create feature templates

Before creating a new parcel, you will create a feature template for new parcels in a parcel fabric. Feature templates define all the information required to create a new feature, such as the attributes that are populated with the feature and the layer that the feature is stored in. Feature templates can be added at any time during editing and can be based on existing layer symbology, such as parcel line type.

Learn more about feature templates and the parcel fabric

You will create a feature template for parcels created in the plan Map 9000.

Before creating the feature template, you are going to add a new attribute to the fabric parcels table:
1. In the Catalog window, navigate to the location of your tutorial data and expand the parcel fabric named FABRIC located in the Encinitas_City.gdb/Cadastral feature dataset to display the fabric feature classes and tables.
2. Right-click the FABRIC_Parcels feature class and click Properties.
3. On the Feature Class Properties dialog box, click the Fields tab and on the list of fields, scroll down to the first empty row to type a new field name. Type PlanName as the field name and set Data Type to Text.

4. Click OK to add the field and close the Feature Class Properties dialog box.

Tip:

New fields can only be added outside an edit session in ArcMap.

5. Close or dock the Catalog window.
6. Back in ArcMap, click Parcel Editor > Start Editing to start an edit session to create the feature template.
7. In the Table Of Contents window, right-click the parcels sublayer, point to Edit Features, then click Organize Feature Templates.
On the Organize Feature Templates dialog box, notice the default Parcels template for parcel features.
You will add a new template for creating parcels in the Map 9000 plan:
8. Click the New Template command.
9. With the Parcels sublayer checked, click Finish on the Create New Templates Wizard dialog box.
A second template named Parcels is added to the list of templates.
10. Right-click the second Parcels template in the list and click Properties.
11. On the Template Properties dialog box, rename the template Plan_Map9000. Type 24 in the Type field, type 3 in the Accuracy field, and Map 9000 in the PlanName field.



Setting template properties

12. Click OK to apply the template properties. Close the Organize Feature Templates dialog box.
Each time a parcel is created using the Plan_Map9000 template, its type attribute is set to 24 (which is a Lot parcel for this data), its PlanName attribute is set to Map 9000, and its accuracy category is set to 3. Internally, parcels inherit their accuracy from the plan accuracy as well. You can override the plan accuracy by setting a different accuracy category on the parcel.
13. Save the edit session to complete the exercise.
The above exercise is an example of how templates can be used to automate the creation of new parcel fabric features.

Create a new parcel

You will create a new parcel in the plan you created in the above exercise and join it to the parcel fabric layer. The parcel that you will create already exists in the tutorial data, so before creating the new parcel, you are going to unjoin the existing parcel from the fabric and delete it.

1. If necessary, start an edit session.
2. Click the Select Parcel Features tool on the Parcel Editor toolbar, right-click parcel 97 in the map, then click Unjoin.



Unjoin a parcel.

The Parcel Explorer window becomes visible, and the parcel you unjoined is listed under Unjoined Parcels.



Unjoined parcel

Tip:

If the Parcel Explorer window is not visible, click the Parcel Explorer tool on the Parcel Editor toolbar.

You are going to enter a new traverse for parcel 97. You can leave the existing parcel 97 as unjoined. Unjoined parcels are not part of the fabric layer but can be opened and joined back to the parcel fabric at any time.

Tip:

To delete a parcel instead of unjoining it, right-click the parcel in the map and click Delete. You can also delete unjoined parcels by right-clicking the parcel in the Parcel Explorer window and clicking Delete.

3. Zoom to the area where the new parcel will be added to the fabric layer.



Zoom to the area where the parcel will be added to the fabric layer.

4. Click Parcel Editor > Plan Directory to open the Plan Directory dialog box.
5. Right-click the plan you created in the exercise above (Map 9000) and click New Parcel.



Create a new parcel in a plan.

The Construction tool becomes available in the map, and the Parcel Details dialog box becomes visible.

Tip:

If you do not want to work with plans, you can right-click the <map> plan, which is a system default plan. All parcels will have <map> as their associated plan.

6. Click anywhere in the map to add the starting point of the parcel traverse.



Starting point of traverse

Tip:

You can also click an existing point in the map as your starting point. If you snap to existing points in the map, you will still have to join and connect the parcel to the fabric once it's created.

7. On the Parcel Details dialog box, make sure the Properties tab is active.
8. Click the Template button under the Properties tab and choose the Plan_Map9000 template on the Select Feature Template dialog box. Click OK.
Notice under the Properties tab that the Plan_Map9000 template has the Type field set to 24, the PlanName field to Map 9000, and the Accuracy field to 3 - 1908 to 1980.
9. Type 97 for the parcel Name field.
10. Click the Lines tab to begin entering the parcel traverse.
Templates have been defined for fabric line types in the tutorial data. The lines sublayer was displayed and symbolized by line type, and templates were created for each type so that line symbology could easily be applied to parcel traverse lines in the lines grid.
11. On the Lines grid, click the Template field and choose the Frontage template for the first line in the parcel traverse.
The Template field is the second field in the traverse grid. It is collapsed and just shows the icon. Expand the field to see a full list of line template names.
12. Type 32-30-0-2 (SE quadrant bearing shortcut) in the Bearing field and 69.00 in the Distance field. Press ENTER to create the first line.

Tip:

Notice that the from- and to-points are automatically populated for you unless you edit them. If you edit a from- or to-point, you need to make sure to check and edit the remaining from- and to-points in the traverse lines grid.

13. For the second traverse line, set the line template to Boundary and type a Bearing value of 57-30-0-3 (SW) and a Distance value of 114.00.
14. For the third traverse line, keep the Boundary line template and type a Bearing value of 32-30-0-4 (NW) and a Distance value of 69.00.
15. For the last traverse line, keep the Boundary template and type a Bearing value of 57-30-0-1 (NE) and a Distance value of 114.00.



Parcel traverse

The end point of the traverse automatically snaps to the starting point of the first traverse line. The end point of a traverse will automatically snap to the starting point of the traverse if the end point is within the tolerance defined for Closure on the Tolerances tab of the Parcel Editor Options dialog box.

Tip:

Typing an asterisk (*) after the distance value indicates that this is the last traverse line and that the line's to-point should be the same as the starting from-point of the traverse, which is 1.

Once the traverse is closed onto its starting point, misclose information for the traverse is displayed at the bottom of the Parcel Details dialog box.
16. Click the Keep And Join command to save and begin joining the parcel to the parcel fabric.

Parcel joining is an interactive process where the parcel points of a floating parcel or group of parcels are matched with their corresponding points in the parcel fabric.

Tip:

You can also click the Keep Changes command to save the parcel as unjoined.

17. With the Join Parcel dialog box open, drag the new, floating parcel and position it such that join lines can be easily established.



Drag parcel to join position

18. Make sure the Fabric points held fixed, line points moved to lines join method is chosen.
19. Click the Create Join Link tool on the Join Parcel dialog box and drag a box around the joining parcel's northeastern most point and the corresponding fabric point to create your first join link.
20. Repeat step 18 to join the joining parcel's southwestern most point.



Auto join

Tip:

You can also use the Join a parcel or group of parcels tool to manually snap on the joining parcel's point and snap on the corresponding fabric point to create a join link.

21. Click Auto Join to detect the remaining join lines.
Notice that there are join residuals displayed in the Join Parcel dialog box.
Join residuals are computed from a transformation between the joining parcel's points and the corresponding points in the parcel fabric. If only two points are joined, a Helmert transformation is used. If more than two points are joined, a least-squares transformation is used. Each time another point is joined, join residuals, scale, and rotation are recalculated.
Join residuals are an indication of how well the joining parcel fits with the surrounding fabric.
22. Click Join join the parcel to the parcel fabric.

Tip:

You can click Keep as Unjoined on the Join Parcel dialog box at any time during the join process to cancel the join. The parcel is then saved as unjoined and is listed as an unjoined parcel on the Parcel Explorer window.

23. Save the edit session to complete the exercise.