ArcObjects

ArcObjects is a development environment the ArcGIS family of applications. Using Visual Basic for Applications, it allows developers to extend these applications.

External links

• Introduction to ArcObjects

ArcGIS from Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), Inc. uses a single, scalable architecture. The three versions of ArcGIS (ArcView, ArcEditor, and ArcInfo) share the same applications of ArcCatalog and ArcMap. The geodatabase data model and ArcObjects provide the foundation for these two desktop applications. They also provide the basis for readers of this book to write programs in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) for customized applications in ArcGIS. The geodatabase data model replaces the georelational data model that has been used for coverages and shapefiles, two older data formats from ESRI, Inc. These two data models differ in how geographic and attribute data are stored. The georelational data model stores geographic and attribute data separately in a split system: geographic data (“geo”) in graphic files and attribute data (“relational”) in a relational database. Typically, a georelational data model uses the feature label or ID to link the two components. The two components must be synchronized so that they can be queried, analyzed, and displayed in unison. By contrast, the geodatabase data model stores geographic and attribute data together in a single system and geographic data in a geometry field.