Grab Your Hard Hat and Explore the Data Engineering View in ArcGIS Pro

Matt Junker, GISP,

Ongoing Services Manager

Are your datasets messy, incomplete, and in need of some TLC? Do you want to gain a deeper understanding of certain attributes of your data? Before you share your data in a mapping application, or run analytical workflows, consider using the Data Engineering view in ArcGIS Pro.

Data Engineering allows you to explore the attributes of your data, interact with statistical measures, and prepare your data for mapping and analysis. All users of ArcGIS Pro can benefit from Data Engineering: from the beginner to the experienced, from the Basic license to the Advanced.

Explore

There are many ways to open the Data Engineering View in ArcGIS Pro: from the layer context menu, from the Workflows gallery in the Analysis tab, or from the Data Engineering gallery in the Data tab (and there are some other ways).

When you open the Data Engineering view in ArcGIS Pro, you will see a list of attribute fields displayed.

To find a specific attribute, use the Search Fields text box. Here are a few examples of how you can explore your data:

  • Update Symbology - click the Update Symbology icon to change the layer symbology in the map, based on that specific attribute.

  • Create Chart - click the Create Chart icon to create a chart based on the value for that specific attribute. Any charts you create are added to the Contents pane.

Once you have created a chart, you can choose to Export as a Graphic, and use the graphic in a map layout or other document.

Interact

One way to interact with your data is to calculate statistics, which can provide a better understanding of the values in your dataset. In the Fields panel, simply right click on an attribute field and Add to Statistics and Calculate, or if you wish to calculate statistics for ALL attributes in your dataset, choose the Add Fields and Calculate Statistics option. The statistics for the attribute(s) will display on the right panel of the Data Engineering view.

Prepare

To optimize your data for your mapping or spatial analysis workflows, ArcGIS Pro provides you with the toolsets to help you get your data prepared for those workflows. These tools are found in the Tools gallery of the Data Engineering context tab, and are as follows:

  • Clean

  • Construct

  • Integrate

  • Format

Whether you need to populate missing values, transform field values by applying mathematical functions, summarize values, or reclassify a field, you will find the proper tools for the job in Data Engineering.

Want to learn more about Data Engineering or ArcGIS Pro in general? Contact us today!