ArcInfo

ArcInfo is a Professional GIS software package from ESRI, Redlands, California. It offers automation, management, display, and professional-quality output of geographic and associated multimedia data.  ArcInfo 8.x or later version has a desktop version that runs under Windows NT and a workstation version available both for Unix and windows NT.

ArcInfo 8.x or 9.x

Workstation ArcInfo and desktop ArcInfo are very different in ArcInfo 8.x or 9.x. 

Desktop ArcInfo (ArcGIS)

Desktop ArcInfo has been completely redesigned and engineered. It includes three desktop Windows applications--ArcMap, ArcCatalog, and ArcToolbox, which provide the fundamental methods people use to interact with a GIS--maps, data, and tools.

ArcMap

is for display, query and analysis of data. It has the power of workstation ArcInfo's ARCEDIT and ARCPLOT modules.

ArcCatalog

is the spatial data browser, which can locate, browse and manage spatial data.

ArcToolbox

contains more than 200 geoprocessing tools, which can perform operations such as data conversion, overlay processing, buffer creation and map transformation.

ArcInfo 8.x  or later version  introduces a new data model, geodatabase. You can implement multi-user geodatabases or single user personal geodatabase. A personal geodatabase is stored in a Microsoft .mdb file (a format used by Microsoft Access) and is directed towards personal or small workgroup use. For multi-user databases, ArcSDE is available as an add-on extension to ArcInfo.

Workstation ArcInfo

Workstation ArcInfo includes these built-in features:

ArcTools:

used to access geoprocessing functions through a menu interface.

ARCPLOT:

used to create maps and perform advanced analysis and visualization on spatial data.

ARCEDIT:

used to construct and maintain spatial databases of coverages, tables, and grids with advanced topological editing functions.

Open Development Environment (ODE):

used to customize ArcInfo using C API, Motif, or TCL/TK.

ARC Macro Language (AML):

used to customize ArcInfo by automating complex operations and building easy-to-use menus.

Georelational data model:

used to represent and analyze real-world geographic features such as streets, parcels, and wells and manage descriptive data about features in a DBMS.

Analysis and decision support:

used to perform advanced spatial analysis using ArcInfo software's geoprocessing tools that support image integration, polygon overlay, raster geoprocessing, surface modeling, and RDBMS integration.

Workstation ArcInfo Extensions

ARC COGO:

supports interactive coordinate geometry for survey data management.

ARC GRID:

a raster geoprocessing toolbox that is integrated with ArcInfo.

ARC NETWORK:

used to model and analyze linear networks.

ARC TIN:

used to create, store, analyze, and display 3-D surface information in the ArcInfo environment.

ArcScan:

allows ArcInfo GIS users to build vector databases using scanned raster imagery as input.

ArcPress:

a graphics rasterization and plotting package for ArcInfo.

ArcStorm:

a comprehensive spatial data manager for storing spatial data and managing transactions in a continuous database.

ArcSDE:

a spatial data application server that combines client/server architecture with a set of software services to perform fast spatial operations on a very large data sets.

Contact the UCLA GIS-site-license Consultant at atsgis@ucla.edu

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