So I am working from my laptop using ArcMap 10.1 on a GIS class lab and am running into the same problem. At first I thought it was maybe the data sets I was using but now it seems to be the ArcGIS software itself. In the task I am creating different shapefiles from selections I make. Here are the steps I am taking as for my lab...
1.) I first opened ArcMap and loaded the “buffer_no_lakes” shapefile and the “malformed_frog_locations.csv” file. I then had to set the coordinate system for the .csv file by right clicking on it and clicking “display XY data”. I then set x to longitude and y to latitude and clicked edit. I then navigated to the “geographic coordinate system” folder then to the “world” folder and then clicked on “WGS 1984” and pressed ok and ok. On the pop up menu I also clicked ok.
2.) Next I had to turn the “malformed_frog_locations.csv Events” file to a shapefile by right clicking on it in the contents tab and clicking “data” then “export data”. I then clicked the “the data frame” button to use as coordinate system and selected the folder I wanted to save it in and named it “malformed_frog_locs.shp” and created it as a new layer and removed the events file.
3.) Next I wanted to separate all of the year 1 malfrog locations from the year 5 malfrog locations. To do this I did select by attribute and set the layer to “malformed_frog_locs”, method “create a new selection”, double clicked on “year_” clicked “=” and typed in 1. Then I pressed ok and all malfrog locations from year 1 were selected. I right clicked the “malformed_frog_locs” layer then clicked “selection” and “create new layer from selection” and renamed it “malformed_frog_locs_yr1”. I then redid these steps but with year 5 attributes instead of year 1 and renamed this new layer “malformed_frog_locs_yr5”.
4.) Now it is my job to isolate each malfrog location for each year and buffer zone and create separate shapefiles. To do this I first wanted to start with year one frogs in buffer zone 0.5. To start I did select by attribute and set the layer to “buffer_no_lakes”, method “create a new selection”, and the query reads ““distance”=0.5” and then I pressed ok. Next I used select by location and made the selection method “add to the currently selected features in” target layer “malformed_frog_locs_yr1” and source layer “buffer_no_lakes” (check “use selected features”) and set spatial selection method for target layer features “are completely within the source layer feature”. I now have all the malfrogs from year one that were located within the 0.5 buffer zone selected. I then right clicked on the “malformed_frog_locs_yr1” layer and went to “selection” then “create new layer from selection” and renamed the new layer “malformed_frog_locs_yr1_0-5”.
5.) Next I created a shapefile from the new layer by right clicking on “malformed_frog_locs_yr1_0-5” and going to “data” then “export data”. I clicked on “the data frame” for coordinates and saved it into the proper folder as “malformed_frog_locs_yr1_0-5.shp” and pressed ok and ok again to create a new layer. I then deleted the old layer.
6.) My next step was to find the nearest neighbor. With the features still selected I clicked on ArcToolbox Analysis Tools Proximity Near. I put “malformed_frog_locs_yr1_0-5” as the input layer and as near features and pressed ok. Once that was completed I opened the attribute table for the “malformed_frog_locs_yr1_0-5” layer and right clicked on “near_dist” field and clicked statistics. I then wrote down the mean distance which was 145.16 meters.
7.) My next step was to create random points so I could calculate the NNR. To do this I cleared my selection then did select by attributes, set layer as “buffer_no_lakes” and set the query to “”distance”=0.5” to select a proximity for the random points. Then I clicked on the ArcToolbox Data Management Tools Feature Class Create Random Points. I then set the output location to the folder I wanted and set the output point feature class to “random_points_yr1_1” and the constraining feature class to “buffer_no_lakes” and then set the number of points to 62 and pressed ok.
8.) My next step was to find the nearest neighbor for the random points by repeating step 6 for “random_points_yr1_1”. The mean was 92.74 meters. To calculate the NNR for year 1 buffer 0.5 I then divided 145.16/92.74=1.56=Dispersed.
The problem comes in when I go to redo the process for each buffer zone, I get all the proper attributes selected and am back at step 5. As soon as i go to create the new shape file it says there was an error, it does not give an error number. No matter what I try it continues to give me an error. But if i save the session and reopen ArcMap it magically works again, until I finish step 8 and am back on stop 5 for the next shapefile I need to create, same thing in order to create the new shapefile I have to save the session and reopen ArcMaps. If anyone can please help me figure out what the problem is that would be very much helpful. Thank you.
1.) I first opened ArcMap and loaded the “buffer_no_lakes” shapefile and the “malformed_frog_locations.csv” file. I then had to set the coordinate system for the .csv file by right clicking on it and clicking “display XY data”. I then set x to longitude and y to latitude and clicked edit. I then navigated to the “geographic coordinate system” folder then to the “world” folder and then clicked on “WGS 1984” and pressed ok and ok. On the pop up menu I also clicked ok.
2.) Next I had to turn the “malformed_frog_locations.csv Events” file to a shapefile by right clicking on it in the contents tab and clicking “data” then “export data”. I then clicked the “the data frame” button to use as coordinate system and selected the folder I wanted to save it in and named it “malformed_frog_locs.shp” and created it as a new layer and removed the events file.
3.) Next I wanted to separate all of the year 1 malfrog locations from the year 5 malfrog locations. To do this I did select by attribute and set the layer to “malformed_frog_locs”, method “create a new selection”, double clicked on “year_” clicked “=” and typed in 1. Then I pressed ok and all malfrog locations from year 1 were selected. I right clicked the “malformed_frog_locs” layer then clicked “selection” and “create new layer from selection” and renamed it “malformed_frog_locs_yr1”. I then redid these steps but with year 5 attributes instead of year 1 and renamed this new layer “malformed_frog_locs_yr5”.
4.) Now it is my job to isolate each malfrog location for each year and buffer zone and create separate shapefiles. To do this I first wanted to start with year one frogs in buffer zone 0.5. To start I did select by attribute and set the layer to “buffer_no_lakes”, method “create a new selection”, and the query reads ““distance”=0.5” and then I pressed ok. Next I used select by location and made the selection method “add to the currently selected features in” target layer “malformed_frog_locs_yr1” and source layer “buffer_no_lakes” (check “use selected features”) and set spatial selection method for target layer features “are completely within the source layer feature”. I now have all the malfrogs from year one that were located within the 0.5 buffer zone selected. I then right clicked on the “malformed_frog_locs_yr1” layer and went to “selection” then “create new layer from selection” and renamed the new layer “malformed_frog_locs_yr1_0-5”.
5.) Next I created a shapefile from the new layer by right clicking on “malformed_frog_locs_yr1_0-5” and going to “data” then “export data”. I clicked on “the data frame” for coordinates and saved it into the proper folder as “malformed_frog_locs_yr1_0-5.shp” and pressed ok and ok again to create a new layer. I then deleted the old layer.
6.) My next step was to find the nearest neighbor. With the features still selected I clicked on ArcToolbox Analysis Tools Proximity Near. I put “malformed_frog_locs_yr1_0-5” as the input layer and as near features and pressed ok. Once that was completed I opened the attribute table for the “malformed_frog_locs_yr1_0-5” layer and right clicked on “near_dist” field and clicked statistics. I then wrote down the mean distance which was 145.16 meters.
7.) My next step was to create random points so I could calculate the NNR. To do this I cleared my selection then did select by attributes, set layer as “buffer_no_lakes” and set the query to “”distance”=0.5” to select a proximity for the random points. Then I clicked on the ArcToolbox Data Management Tools Feature Class Create Random Points. I then set the output location to the folder I wanted and set the output point feature class to “random_points_yr1_1” and the constraining feature class to “buffer_no_lakes” and then set the number of points to 62 and pressed ok.
8.) My next step was to find the nearest neighbor for the random points by repeating step 6 for “random_points_yr1_1”. The mean was 92.74 meters. To calculate the NNR for year 1 buffer 0.5 I then divided 145.16/92.74=1.56=Dispersed.
The problem comes in when I go to redo the process for each buffer zone, I get all the proper attributes selected and am back at step 5. As soon as i go to create the new shape file it says there was an error, it does not give an error number. No matter what I try it continues to give me an error. But if i save the session and reopen ArcMap it magically works again, until I finish step 8 and am back on stop 5 for the next shapefile I need to create, same thing in order to create the new shapefile I have to save the session and reopen ArcMaps. If anyone can please help me figure out what the problem is that would be very much helpful. Thank you.