Contents Window |
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When you start ArcGIS Explorer the first time, you see the default basemap which is specified by the Application Configuration. On the Home tab, in the Map group click the Contents Window button to show the Contents window:
The Contents window lists the contents of the map:
Initially, the only item displayed in the Contents window is the default basemap. You can change the basemap at any time. As you interact with ArcGIS Explorer, in many cases, you'll have the opportunity to add new content to the map; when you do so, an entry representing that content will also appear in the Contents window.
You can use ArcGIS Explorer to find places, addresses, driving directions, measure point and distances, etc. When you search for or measure something that you want to save with the rest of the map's content and re-use on another occasion, you'll have the option to move the results of these controls' actions to the map. They are added as new notes in the Contents window. The notes are selected and ArcGIS Explorer goes to their location. By default, new notes are inserted at the top of the Contents window, though it is also possible to move them to a folder.
When you exit ArcGIS Explorer you will be prompted to save any new results.
You'll see that some items, like this KML file, have nested sub-items:
Double-clicking the basemap will zoom to the full extent.
To select an adjacent range of items, select an item, hold down the Shift key, and then hold down the item at the end of the range; to select multiple, non-adjacent items hold down the Ctrl key while making each selection.
You can also organize related items (layers, results, links, etc.) into folders and you can order the items in a folder in any order you like. Click and drag the selected items to move them to a folder:
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A range of of adjacent items | ...dragged... | and dropped into a folder |
or right-click the selected item(s) to display a context menu and then click Move To Folder... to display a dialog listing all the folders.
The items in a folder can be sorted alphabetically or by type. To sort the items in a folder, use the sorting buttons on the folder’s Tools tab in the Ribbon:
While the Contents window doesn’t depict drawing order (i.e. which layers draw on top of other layers), you can manipulate the drawing order in the Manage Layers dialog. This moves the layer or result up and down in the drawing order. You can also quickly move a layer to the top or bottom of the drawing order. Note that this affects the map display, but doesn’t affect how the items are listed in the Contents window.
If the underlying data for an item in the Contents window cannot be found, the item’s icon is flagged with an exclamation point and its text is drawn in red and when you hover over the layer name, you'll see a tooltip indicating the reason:
Use a folder’s checkbox to control the visibility of the items contained within it.