Assign numeric designations

Assigning meaningful designations to items of interest in a given area is crucial to the success of a task that involves cataloging found items. Clearing Grids allows you to assign sequential designations to features at the time of collection without directly editing feature attributes.

Collect and assign designations to new features

Numeric designations can be added to new features that are collected from your map. Feature classes are used to store designations for points of interest. You can create a feature class or add a new field to an existing feature class.

Create a feature class

To create a feature class to store numeric designations, complete the following steps:

1. On the ribbon, click the tab where you added the Clearing Grids tools, and click Open Clearing Grids .
2. In the Label Method group, click Number .
3. In the Number/Letter Features group, click Add New Layer .

   The Select Output browse dialog box appears.

4. In the Name input box, type a layer name.

   Note:

   When you create a layer, a field is automatically created to store the values for feature designations.

5. Click Save.

Add a field to an existing feature class

To add a new field, complete the following steps:

1. On the ribbon, click the tab where you added the Clearing Grids tools, and click Open Clearing Grids .
2. In the Label Method group, click Number .
3. In the Number/Letter Features group, from the Layer drop-down list, select a point layer in the map.

   The field will be added to this layer.

4. Click Add Field.

   The Add Field dialog box appears.

5. Type a field name.
6. Click OK.

   Note:

   If you add a new field, Clearing Grids automatically uses that field for labeling. Previously shown labels disappear because you have switched the field used for labeling.

Collect points of interest and assign designations

To collect points of interest on a map, complete the following steps:

1. In the Number/Letter Features group, from the Layer drop-down list, select the layer you will use to collect points of interest.
2. From the Field drop-down list, select the field that will store designations for points of interest.
3. Set a Start/Next value.

   After you begin assigning designations, the Start/Next input box can be used to skip numbers in a sequence. The Start/Next input box can also be used to preview the next value that will be assigned.

4. Set an Increment By value.

   After you begin assigning designations, the Increment By input box can be used to change how you assign designations.

5. Select a Sequence Type option.
6. Optionally, customize the designations that will be assigned by doing the following:
   1. In the Number/Letter Features group, click the Clearing Grids Options dialog box launcher .
   2. On the Clearing Grids Options dialog box, under Number Options, check the Use Custom Format check box.
   3. In the Format text box, type the designation format.

      The format specifies how designations will be assigned. Typing one or more pound signs (#) denotes the incremented sequential number. Examples are shown in the following table:

      Typed format	Resulting text written to the field
      ABC-#	ABC-1
      ABC-###	ABC-001
      100-###	100-001

   4. Click OK.
7. Click Add Number .
8. Click the map to collect a point of interest.

Assign designations to existing features

Numeric designations can be added to features in an existing point feature class. To assign numeric designations to existing features in a point feature class, complete the following steps:

1. In the Number/Letter Features group, from the Layer drop-down list, select the layer containing point features you want to assign a designation to.
2. From the Field drop-down list, select the field that will store designations for points of interest, or click Add Field to add a new field.
3. Turn on the Show Points toggle button.

   Note:

   Clearing Grids functionality only displays features that have non-null values. When adding a new field to a feature class that has point features, no features will show if the Show Points toggle button is in the off position.

4. In the Selection group, click Select .
5. Select the features in the map you want to assign a designation to.
6. Optionally, you can set the sorting method that is used to assign designations. To set the sorting method, complete the following steps. Otherwise, go to the next step.
   1. In the Number/Letter Features section, click the Clearing Grids Options dialog box launcher .
   2. On the Clearing Grids Options dialog box, under Auto Number, use the Spatial Sort drop-down list to select a spatial sort method.
   3. Click OK.
7. Click Auto Number to assign designations to the selected features.
8. On the Clearing Grids prompt, click Yes to proceed.

   Note:

   Turn off the Show Points toggle button to see only those points that have been assigned a designation.

9. In the Adjust group, click Clear to clear the selection.