# Editing ArcExplorer Files **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 27, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/editing-arcexplorer-files/323588 "2005-09-27T00:41:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/editing-arcexplorer-files/323588/1 "2005-09-27T00:41:02Z")
Does anyone know how to edit an ArcExplorer data file (.shp extension)? SO far, the only program I can find that actually opens it is Arc Explorer itself, which just turns it immediately into a map. ---
**Author:** ![Landshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/77aa72/32.png) [@Landshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Landshark)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/editing-arcexplorer-files/323588/2 "2005-09-27T02:27:08Z")
> [@42fish](#): > > Does anyone know how to edit an ArcExplorer data file (.shp extension)? SO far, the only program I can find that actually opens it is Arc Explorer itself, which just turns it immediately into a map. My brother is a regional account manager with ESRI (maker of ArcExplorer). I just sent an email to him that includes a link to this thread and asked if he might be able to make suggestions I could pass on. ---
**Author:** ![PigBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/97f17d/32.png) [@PigBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigBoy)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/editing-arcexplorer-files/323588/3 "2005-09-27T05:09:17Z")
Well, you can certainly do it with the ArcGIS software, but that’ll cost you $1500 or something. I don’t know that ESRI makes anything free (or even cheap) which can edit shapefiles. If by chance you only want to edit attributes and not create or move features around or anything like that, you can open the .dbf files in Excel and change information. Here is a link to a GIS program that claims to have shapefile editing. I’ve downloaded it before, but I never tried to edit anything, so I don’t know what you can actually do with it. [http://www.digitalgrove.net/fgis.htm](http://www.digitalgrove.net/fgis.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Landshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/77aa72/32.png) [@Landshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Landshark)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/editing-arcexplorer-files/323588/4 "2005-09-27T11:04:17Z")
> [@Landshark](#): > > My brother is a regional account manager with ESRI (maker of ArcExplorer). I just sent an email to him that includes a link to this thread and asked if he might be able to make suggestions I could pass on. Here’s my brother’s reply: > [@](#): > > The “\*.shp” file is what is called a Shapefile. This is a published geographic data type that many vendors can read and write. It has become a bit of a standard for sharing geographic data since virtually all GIS or CADD type applications can read it. > > ArcExplorer is a free data viewing application. There are a few different versions out there. But it is a read-only application. To edit a shapefile you will need to use another application - either one from ESRI or from another vendor that can edit and save to Shapefile. > > The least expensive ESRI application would be a Single Use (one user) copy of ArcView. For general info on ArcView you can see this page: > [http://www.esri.com/jumppages/arcgis/arcview.html](http://www.esri.com/jumppages/arcgis/arcview.html) > > We also have a free demo CD (30 day license) that you can request here: > [http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/arcview/eval/evalcd.html](http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/arcview/eval/evalcd.html) > > Now, folks may very well need some help trying to figure out what they need to do. Having the software just solves one piece of the puzzle. We do have web-based training that is very cost effective, and many courses are actually free. > This one costs $175: > [http://campus.esri.com/acb2000/showdetl.cfm?&DID=6&Product\_ID=801&CATID=84&CFID=13310594&CFTOKEN=93717982](http://campus.esri.com/acb2000/showdetl.cfm?&DID=6&Product_ID=801&CATID=84&CFID=13310594&CFTOKEN=93717982) > > This one is free: > [http://campus.esri.com/acb2000/showdetl.cfm?&DID=6&Product\_ID=834&CATID=84&CFID=13310594&CFTOKEN=93717982](http://campus.esri.com/acb2000/showdetl.cfm?&DID=6&Product_ID=834&CATID=84&CFID=13310594&CFTOKEN=93717982) > > I wonder how 42Fish ran across a shapefile and what he wants to pull out of it. Might be a good story behind that. =) > > If anyone really wants to get into it, here are the technical specs on a shapefile. > [http://www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/shapefile.pdf](http://www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/shapefile.pdf) > > If he is just interested in just the attribute data, that is in the DBF file (a shapefile is actually a number of separate flat files together), and that can be opened with Excel. > > Hope that helps! ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/editing-arcexplorer-files/323588/5 "2005-09-27T13:32:59Z")
> [@Landshark's Brother](#): > > I wonder how 42Fish ran across a shapefile and what he wants to pull out of it. Might be a good story behind that. =) The shapefiles were from the Census Bureau web page. I’m mostly interested in editing down the metro areas file, since using the "Unique values’ feature to highlight a specific area of interest is really slow when dealing with a file with 100+ entries. Not much of a story. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![PigBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/97f17d/32.png) [@PigBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigBoy)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/editing-arcexplorer-files/323588/6 "2005-09-27T13:48:37Z")
It looks like you should be able to do that with that Forestry GIS program I linked to.