Query by Location Tool

This tool allows you to select a biology or human-use layer on an Environmental Sensitivity (ESI) map to query map objects to find out what they represent. The tool provides a drop-down menu of the available biology and human-use layers in the ESI geodatabase. (At this time, you are limited to querying one layer at a time.) After a layer is selected, you may use the ArcMap Select Feature Tool or the Selection menu items to view the species (or the names and types of the socioeconomic and management features) that are present in a particular area. In addition, you can click the "Select the fields to display" button to access a form where you can select the fields of the biology and socioeconomic tables that you would like to view.

Learn more about the Query by Location Tool, including:

• Downloading the Query by Location Tool
  
• Installing the Query by Location Tool
  
• Using the Query by Location Tool

Downloading the Query by Location Tool

Download the Query by Location Tool from the Tool Downloads section at the bottom of this page. Note: You can download the suite of ESI tools for ArcMap from the ESI Toolbar page.

The Query by Location Tool is in compressed format as a self-extracting zip file: LayerSelect.zip. However, if you are using an operating system that doesn't automatically open the compressed file, you may need to use a decoding utility (such as WinZip or Stuffit Expander) to unzip the file.

Once the file is unzipped, place the DLL file on your hard drive. For consistency, you may want to place it in the directory where most of the ArcGIS DLL files reside: ProgramFiles/ArcGIS/Bin.

Installing the Query by Location Tool

After you have saved the uncompressed LayerSelect.dll file to your hard drive, launch ArcMap.

To install a single tool onto the ArcMap toolbar:

1. Right-click on the ArcMap toolbar and scroll down to Customize (or choose the Customize option under the Tools menu).
   
2. Select the Commands tab on the Customize window.
   
3. Click the "Add from file" button. Navigate to the LayerSelect.dll file on your hard drive. Select the file and click Open to add the Query by Location Tool to your available commands. Click OK.
   
4. Click the icon next to the Query by Location Tool and drag it onto your standard toolbar. Release the mouse button when your cursor becomes a vertical bar. (You need to release the mouse button at or before the last icon on your toolbar.)
   
5. Exit the Customize window.

Using the Query by Location Tool

To use any of the ESI tools, you'll need to begin by moving the atlas directory that resides in the Geodatabase directory on your ESI CD/DVD to your computer's hard drive. The tools are dependent on the layer names and relationships that have been set up inside the MXD file provided.

Follow these steps to use the Query by Location Tool:

1. Click the tool depicting a fish and two map layers.
   
2. You'll see the ESI Layer Select dialog box, shown below. A drop-down menu provides a list of the biology and human-use layers that are currently available to query. (These are the layers that have a relationship established with the ESI Biofile or Soc_Dat table.) Select the layer of your choice; you can only query one layer at a time.

   In this example, the Invertebrates layer is selected.

3. Next, click the "Select the fields to display" button.
   
4. If you have chosen a biology layer from the drop-down menu, you will see the Biofile Display Properties dialog box (shown below). Here you can select which fields of the Biofile table you want to view. Select the fields you would like to display, then click OK. There is a similar dialog to select which fields in the Soc_Dat file you would like to display. That dialog will display when you have chosen the Socecon or Management layer from the drop-down menu. (Note: The Link fields provide the connection from the Biofile table to the other ESI tables.)

   In this example, the "Select all general info" option was chosen, which checked all of the General Information fields and two fields in the Status section. The General Information fields are Element, Subelement, Name, Genus/species, Concentration, and Seasonality Summary. (The Seasonality Summary field shows a monthly range for presence of the species--for example, January through October.) The two Status fields selected include species that are designated as threatened or endangered by the state or federal government.

5. Click OK on the ESI Layer Select dialog box.
   
6. You may now query objects on the layer you selected using either the ArcMap Select Features Tool, or one of the options on the ArcMap Selection menu.

For More Information

ESI Maps Overview of ESI maps.

ESI Toolkit Tools and resources for ESI maps.

ESI Specialist Contact our ESI Specialist for more information about the ESI Tools and ESI mapping in general.

Tool Downloads

Query by Location Tool Download the latest version of this tool. Updated April 3, 2009. (Software format: Zip, size: 44.6 K)