Available with Aviation Charting license.
You can set preferences that control how ArcGIS Aviation Charting geoprocessing tools create airspace lines, generate airspace areas, process routes, generate chart leads, and perform change detection in ArcGIS Pro using the Aviation Preferences tool. The preferences you configure with this tool are stored in a preferences table in the Aviation Charting Aeronautical Information System (AIS) geodatabase schema that is provided in the Aviation Charting product data files at My Esri.
Learn more about the AIS geodatabase schema
Prerequisites
For the Aviation Preferences tool to work properly, the following tables and features are required:
| Name | Data type |
|---|---|
Airspace | Feature class |
ATSRoute | Feature class |
ATSRoute_C | Feature class |
AIS_Preferences or Preferences | Table |
AIS_Preferences is the name of the table in current versions of the AIS schema. If this table is not available, the tool will search for the Preferences table. The Preferences table supports older versions of the AIS schema. If the AIS_Preferences and Preferences table are both missing from the AIS geodatabase, the tool will not launch.
Preferences table
A preferences table is a stand-alone table, named AIS_Preferences, that is included in the Aviation Charting AIS geodatabase schema. It contains the following fields:
| Field name | Data type |
|---|---|
| Name | Text (maximum length of 255 characters) |
| Description (Required) | Text (maximum length of 255 characters) |
| JSON (Required) | Text (maximum length of 20,000 characters) |
| Type | Text (maximum length of 255 characters) |
Note:
If the geodatabase schema does not contain a preferences table, you can manually create one. The new table must contain the fields listed above along with the correct data type and text length for the table to populate correctly. The new table must also be named AIS_Preferences.
Open the Aviation Preferences view
To populate a preferences table using the Aviation Preferences tool in ArcGIS Pro, complete the following steps:
- Start ArcGIS Pro.
- Open or create a project containing an Aviation Charting AIS geodatabase.
- If the project contains a map with feature classes from an Aviation Charting AIS geodatabase, proceed to step 8.
- If the Catalog pane is not open, click the View tab, and click Catalog Pane.
- Expand the Databases drop-down arrow in the Catalog pane.
- Expand the Aviation Charting AIS geodatabase.
- Right-click the feature class you want to add, and click Add To Current Map.
The feature class you chose appears as a layer in the Contents pane, and the Aviation tab appears on the ribbon.
- Click the Aviation tab.
Note:
Before the Aviation tab appears on the ribbon, you must add a feature class from the Aviation Charting AIS geodatabase to the map.
- In the Configuration group, click Preferences.
The Preferences tab and the Aviation Preferences view appear.
Add preferences
The Preferences tab allows you to populate a geodatabase's preferences table with preferences for the Process ATS Routes, Generate Airspace Lines,Generate Airspace Areas, Generate Aviation Chart Leads, and Report Aviation Chart Changes tools.
To add preferences, complete the following steps:
- In the Aviation Preferences view, choose the preference to add from the Add Preferences group on the ribbon:
- Generate Airspace Lines—Specify how the Generate Airspace Lines tool generates airspace lines from input airspace boundary features.
- Generate Airspace Areas—Specify how the Generate Airspace Areas tool generates airspace areas from input airspace features.
- Generate Chart Leads—Specify how the Generate Aviation Chart Leads tool generates Chart Leads from the input map frame.
- Report Chart Changes—Specify how the Report Aviation Chart Changes tool identifies data changes between two enterprise geodatabase versions.
- Process ATS Routes—Specify how the Process ATS Routes tool identifies and processes route features.
- Generate Summary Table—Specify how the Generate Summary Table Data tool gathers information from related tables and generates a single user-defined table.
- Abbreviate Annotation—Specify how the Aviation Abbreviate conversion command in the Annotation tool applies abbreviate rules and updates the labeling of annotation features.
A new record appears.
Note:
A red box next to the new record indicates that the record is invalid and cannot be used to populate a preferences table. A record is considered invalid if the preference is a duplicate value or if the preference contains incomplete information.
- Click the new record.
- Go to the Preference Details pane and expand the General Info section.
- In the Name text box, type a unique name that defines the preference you are creating.
Note:
You cannot have multiple preferences of the same type with the same name. For example, you can have two separate preferences called Airspace Route for the Process ATS Routes and Generate Airspace Lines tools. You cannot, however, have two preferences called Airspace Routes for the Generate Airspace Lines tool.
- In the Description text box, type a unique description for the preference.
- In the Tags text box, type descriptive tags for the preference.
- Continue configuring the preference you chose in the appropriate section below:
- Configure preferences for the Generate Airspace Lines tool
- Configure preferences for the Generate Airspace Areas tool
- Configure preferences for the Generate Chart Leads tool
- Configure preferences for the Generate Summary Table tool
- Configure preferences for the Process ATS Routes tool
- Configure preferences for the Report Chart Changes tool
- Configure preferences for the Abbreviate Annotation command
Configure preferences for the Generate Airspace Lines tool
To configure preferences for the Generate Airspace Lines tool in a preferences table, complete the steps below. These preferences determine how the Generate Airspace Lines tool runs on the features.
- In the General Info section, build a query to select features associated with this preference under Filter.
- Expand the Airspace types to process group.
- Click the Types drop-down arrow, and check the check boxes for the airspace classifications you want to process with the Generate Airspace Lines tool.
- Expand the Airspace labels to process section.
- Click the Labels drop-down arrow, and check the check boxes for the labels you want to process with the Generate Airspace Lines tool.
- Provide a Cluster Tolerance value and measurement unit, which defines how close vertices should be to one another to be considered coincident.
Tip:
Providing a value of 0 is an alternate way to specify the default cluster tolerance of the Input Airspace feature.
- Locate the new record in the Aviation Preferences view and ensure that the record is complete and that it is not a duplicate.
As you provide details in the Preference Details pane, the record populates with information automatically. Ensure that the colored box next to the record is green. If it is still red, the record is invalid and cannot be used to populate the preference table.
Note:
You can undo a change to your preferences by right-clicking the record and clicking Undo Changes. You cannot undo changes after you save your preferences to the preferences table.
- On the Preferences tab, in the Preferences group, click Save.
Your changes have been committed, and the preference table in the Aviation Charting AIS geodatabase has been populated.
Configure preferences for the Generate Airspace Areas tool
To configure preferences for the Generate Airspace Areas tool in a preferences table, complete the steps below. These preferences determine how the Generate Airspace Areas tool runs on the features.
- In the General Info section, build a query to select features associated with this preference under Filter.
- Expand the Airspace types to process group.
- Click the Types drop-down arrow, and check the check boxes for the airspace classifications you want to process with the Generate Airspace Areas tool.
- Provide the following values in the Flight level pane:
- Units—The unit of measurement for the preference.
- High limit—The ceiling of the airspace.
- Low limit—The floor of the airspace.
- Use Overrides—Specify whether the high or low limit value can be overridden by an input vertical limit override table.
- Locate the new record in the Aviation Preferences view and ensure that the record is complete and that it is not a duplicate.
As you provide details in the Preference Details pane, the record populates with information automatically. Ensure that the colored box next to the record is green. If it is still red, the record is invalid and cannot be used to populate the preference table.
Note:
You can undo a change to your preferences by right-clicking the record and clicking Undo Changes. You cannot undo changes after you save your preferences to the preferences table.
- On the Preferences tab, in the Preferences group, click Save.
Your changes have been committed, and the preference table in the Aviation Charting AIS geodatabase has been populated.
Configure preferences for the Generate Chart Leads tool
To configure preferences for the Generate Aviation Chart Leads tool in a preferences table, complete the steps below. These preferences determine how the Generate Aviation Chart Leads tool runs on the features.
- In the Chart Leads Details section, click the Source drop-down arrow, and choose the line feature classes from the current workspace or database.
- Click the From Field drop-down arrow and choose an option for the From field in the line feature classes.
Note:
Alternatively, click the Expression button
to set a custom expression. - Click the To Field drop-down arrow and choose an option for the To field in the line feature classes.
Note:
Alternatively, click the Expression button
to set a custom expression. - In the Appearance section, set the appearance for the chart leads.
The defaults are the following:
- Font Size—10
- Offset—0.1
- Font Family—Tahoma
- Font Style—Bold
- Font Color—Black
- Optionally, check the appropriate check box in the Flip Chart Leads option to flip the chart leads:
- Top
- Bottom
- Left
- Right
- Locate the new record in the Aviation Preferences view and ensure that the record is complete and that it is not a duplicate.
As you provide details in the Preference Details pane, the record populates with information automatically. Ensure that the colored box next to the record is green. If it is still red, the record is invalid and cannot be used to populate the preference table.
Note:
You can undo a change to your preferences by right-clicking the record and clicking Undo Changes. You cannot undo changes after you save your preferences to the preferences table.
- On the Preferences tab, in the Preferences group, click Save.
Your changes have been committed, and the preference table in the Aviation Charting AIS geodatabase has been populated.
Once you run the Generate Aviation Chart Leads tool and generate the text graphics, you can edit them in the label properties.
Configure preferences for the Generate Summary Table tool
To configure the Generate Summary Table preferences in a preferences table, complete the steps below. The Summary Table preferences determine how the Generate Summary Table Data tool runs on the features.
- Click the Source Table drop-down arrow and choose a cartographic feature class to use as the primary source.
You will have access to fields populated by the Prepare Aviation Data tool and other fields from the source table, which may be needed for summarization.
- Click the Target Table drop-down arrow and choose a stand-alone table to be populated by the Generate Summary Table Data tool.
Before creating the preference, you must also create the target stand-alone table with the following required text fields:
- Preference_Txt—The tool populates the output with the preferences used to create the row.
- ChartID_Txt—The tool populates the output with the ChartID_Txt value from the Charts Table parameter value.
- PanelID_Txt or Panels—The tool populates the output with the AIS_ChartPanels.PanelId_Txt value if the Has Panels preference option was used.
The target stand-alone table must also contain user-created fields that will be populated with source attributes specified in the Summary Table Data preference.
- Optionally, click the Tables drop-down arrow and check the check boxes next to additional related tables.
Select the tables containing attributes needed for summarization.
If one or more additional tables are selected, provide a WHERE statement. Add clauses as needed to select from additional tables or filter the data on attribute values.
- Under Field Mappings, click Add
to add a field mapping row. - Use the drop-down arrow in the Target Field column to select a field from the Target Table value to be populated.
- Use the drop-down arrow in the Source Field column to select a source field to be used to populate the Target Field value.
Ensure that field mapping is done using compatible field types.
- Add additional field mapping rows as needed.
- Under Key Field(s), click Add to add a key field row.
- Use the drop-down arrow in the new row under Key Field(s) to select a source field from the Source Table value to be used as a key field.
The key field is used to set uniqueness for the summarized rows. It is similar to the Case Field parameter in the Summary Statistics tool. The Generate Summary Table tool creates a record in the Target Table value for each unique key field value.
- Optionally, add more key field rows to further refine uniqueness.
They key field values are combined to construct a unique key.
- Optionally, check the Has Panels check box to have the Generate Summary Table Data tool populate the PanelID_Txt or Panels fields in the Target Table value with the panel IDs from the Source Table value.
- On the Preferences tab, in the Preferences group, click Save.
Your changes have been committed, and the preference table in the Aviation Charting AIS geodatabase has been populated.
Configure preferences for the Process ATS Routes tool
To configure preferences for the Process ATS Routes tool in a preferences table, complete the steps below. These preferences determine how the Process ATS Routes tool runs on the features.
- In Preference Details, expand the Define Overlaps group.
- Click the ATSRoutes Fields drop-down arrow and check the check boxes for the fields you want to use to define overlapping features.
ATSRoute, EndPoint_Id, and StartPoint_Id are the recommended fields to define overlaps.
Note:
Only features with identical values in the chosen fields are considered overlapping.
- Click the ATSRoutes_C Fields drop-down arrow and check the check boxes next to the fields to use to define overlapping features.
- Check any of the following check boxes to define overlapping features:
- Hide Overlapping Routes—Overlapping Target Cartographic Route Features will have their IsVisible field set to 1 (Yes) on the first overlapping route and the IsVisible field set to 0 (No) on subsequent overlapping routes, allowing them to be filtered with a definition query.
Note:
If this option is checked, the Offset Overlapping Routes option has no effect in the output.
- Concatenate Idents—Identifiers (denoted by the ATSRoute feature class's Ident_Txt field) are combined for overlapping routes. The IdentConcat_Txt field in the Target Cartographic Route Features is populated with the IDENT_TXT values from the coincident input route features. When overlapping routes share a route prefix, such as V25 and V87, they are concatenated with a hyphen, such as V25-87.
- Offset Overlapping Routes—Positive and negative numeric values are calculated in the RouteOffset_Val field in the Target Cartographic Features for overlapping routes.
Note:
If this option is checked, you must provide a value for Offset Value, which determines how far apart the features appear on a chart.
These values can be used as input to symbolize the features in a map.
Note:
If the Hide Overlapping Routes option is checked, the Offset Overlapping Routes option has no effect in the output. The Hide Overlapping Routes option takes precedence.
- Hide Overlapping Routes—Overlapping Target Cartographic Route Features will have their IsVisible field set to 1 (Yes) on the first overlapping route and the IsVisible field set to 0 (No) on subsequent overlapping routes, allowing them to be filtered with a definition query.
- Locate the new record in the Aviation Preferences view and ensure that the record is complete and that it is not a duplicate.
As you provide details in the Preference Details pane, the record populates with information automatically. Ensure that the colored box next to the record is green. If it is still red, the record is invalid and cannot be used to populate the preference table.
Note:
You can undo a change to your preferences by right-clicking the record and clicking Undo Changes. You cannot undo changes after you save your preferences to the preferences table.
- On the Preferences tab, in the Preferences group, click Save.
Your changes have been committed, and the preference table in the Aviation Charting AIS geodatabase has been populated.
Configure preferences for the Report Aviation Chart Changes tool
To configure the Report Chart Changes preferences in a preferences table, complete the steps below. The Report Chart Changes preferences determine how the Report Aviation Chart Changes tool runs on the features.
- Click the Tables drop-down arrow and check the check boxes for the features to include in the report.
- Choose the feature name from the box below the Tables drop-down menu.
- In the Fields table, check the check boxes for the fields to include in the report.
Note:
The Fields table only shows fields for the feature you selected in step 2.
Tip:
You can click Select All to select all the fields in the Fields table. You can click Clear All to deselect all fields in the Fields table.
The fields you selected to be included in the report are grouped in the Fields table in the Selected section. Fields that are not selected are grouped in the Unselected section.
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each table you chose.
- Locate the new record in the Aviation Preferences view and ensure that the record is complete and that it is not a duplicate.
As you provide details in the Preference Details pane, the record populates with information automatically. Ensure that the colored box next to the record is green. If it is still red, the record is invalid and cannot be used to populate the preference table.
Note:
You can undo a change to your preferences by right-clicking the record and clicking Undo Changes. You cannot undo changes after you save your preferences to the preferences table.
- On the Preferences tab, in the Preferences group, click Save.
Your changes have been committed, and the preference table in the Aviation Charting AIS geodatabase has been populated.
Configure preferences for the Abbreviate Annotation command
To configure annotation abbreviation preferences in a preferences table using the Abbreviate Annotation command 
, complete the steps below. The Abbreviate Annotation preference determines how the Annotation tool's Aviation Abbreviate command can update the labeling on feature-linked annotation features.
Note:
Before you can configure abbreviation rules, the database must contain feature-linked annotation feature classes. Those annotation feature classes must have at least one annotation class defined, which is made available in the Annotation Class drop-down menu in the Preference Details pane. The associated linked feature class must contain at least one coded value domain field, which is made available as an Abbreviation Field option in the preference.
- Click the Annotation Feature Class drop-down arrow and select the annotation feature class in the database that needs abbreviation rules.
- Click Add at the bottom of the pane to add an entry.
- For each entry in the Abbreviation Rules table, click the Annotation Class column drop-down arrow and choose an annotation class; then click the Abbreviation Field column drop-down arrow and choose an abbreviation field.
- On the Preferences tab, in the Preferences group, click Save.
Your changes have been committed, and the preference table in the Aviation Charting AIS geodatabase has been populated.
Only one preference per annotation feature class can be defined. The preference’s Name value is automatically set to the name of the selected annotation feature class, and the Name text box is unavailable.
Note:
Each preference can contain abbreviation rules entries that can associate multiple annotation class names to abbreviation fields; however, an annotation class name can only be defined one time in the Abbreviation Rules table.
Delete records
To delete unwanted records in the Aviation Preferences view, complete the following steps:
- Right-click the record to delete and click Delete.
Tip:
To delete multiple records at once, press the Ctrl key while clicking the records you want to delete.
Tip:
Optionally, you can delete selected records by pressing the Delete key.
A strike-through mark appears on the selected records.
- On the Preferences tab, in the Preferences group, click Save.
Your changes have been committed, and the preference table in the Aviation Charting AIS geodatabase has been populated.