Adding and Ordering Layers in a Project
Credits: L. Meisterlin with Moses Levich (2021)
Included in this tutorial
Adding a Folder Connection
Adding Data to a Map
Reordering Layers
Software version in examples: ArcGIS Pro 2.8.0
Tutorial Data: The tutorial includes demonstration with sample data available here.
Adding a Folder Connection
Your project file can access datasets and other files within folders that you have “connected” to the project. Data stored in other locations cannot be utilized within your project unless access is granted with a “folder connection.”
Option 1: from the Catalog Pane
To connect a new folder to the project, right-click on Folders and click Add Folder Connection. In the Add Folder Connection dialogue, navigate to the folder you would like to connect, then click OK. The folder should now appear in the Catalog pane.
connecting to a folder called “Data” in this example
Option 2: from the main menu
You can also connect to a folder by clicking Add Folder under the Insert tab in the top ribbon. This will bring up the same folder connection window.
another way to add a folder connection
TIP: Adding other connections works similarly, by clicking through Insert Connections in the main menu ribbon. There, you can directly connect to specific databases, servers, or other asset types.
Another TIP: Even before adding data layers, saving your project will save these folder connections and other settings
To examine the contents of the connected folder, expand it within Catalog Pane. From there, you can expand geodatabases (for example, below) to examine their contents (indicated with different icons by type).
viewing the contents of the data folder and geodatabases
Adding Data to a Map
Once the folder containing your data is accessible within the project, you can add a dataset to your map project.
Option 1: from the main menu
To add a data layer from the connected database, click through Map > Add Data in the main menu. In the Add Data dialogue, you will see your folder connections under Project (in the left side list of connections). Navigate to the dataset you want to add, select it, the click OK to add it to the map.
(In the example below, these are census tract polygons in a portion of the Bronx.)
adding data with the Add Data dialogue
Option 2: by clicking and dragging
You can also add data to your map by clicking and dragging its name from the Catalog Pane. (In the example below, a polygon feature class representing the boundaries of four community districts in the Bronx are added.)
Adding a new layer to the project by clicking and dragging from the Catalog Pane
Reordering Layers
the “List by Drawing Order” option
To change the drawing order of the layers, first ensure that the Contents pane is displaying layers by Drawing Order (right).
Then, you can change the order in which layers are displayed by clicking and dragging.
Layers are rendered top-to-bottom, matching the Drawing Order list. The check box next to a layer's name determines whether it is visible.