Editing in ArcMap

Adding the "Merge" button to ArcMap

Depending on your particular workflow, many repetitive tasks can require multiple clicks that could be reduced.  A common example is the “Merge” tool.

If you’re merging geographic features on a regular basis, then you’re already familiar with the process.  It likely goes something like this:

• In Edit mode, select the features to be merged with the ‘Edit’ tool.

• Go to ‘Editor’ --> ‘Merge’.

• Choose the feature whose attributes you wish to keep.

• Click ‘OK’ to execute the merge.  The features are now merged!

• Proceed with your workflow…

Although not particularly involved, this workflow has the possibility to be streamlined by taking advantage of the customization potential of ArcGIS.  By default, you have the ability to redesign the ArcMap interface without any required programming. 

In this case, we can add a “Merge” button to the interface, which will ultimately result in a net gain of one mouse click.  While this may seem an oversimplification, the elimination of having to pull down the ‘Editor’ menu to choose the “Merge” button every time will add up to a lot of time saved over the long haul.  Combine that with other clicks that you may be able to eliminate in your normal workflow and you can really hone your workflow for maximum efficiency. 

To add the “Merge” button to your ArcMap session:

• Go to ‘Tools’ --> ‘Customize’ to open up the customization dialog window.

• In the resultant window, choose the ‘Commands’ tab, and then scroll down the list of ‘Categories’ in the left pane and select ‘Editor’.  On the right side, scroll down to the “Merge” ‘Command’.

• Before adding the command to ArcMap, you must decide whether you want the command to appear only in the current project or in all ArcMap sessions.  Notice the “Save in:” drop down menu at the bottom left of the interface.  Upon pulling down, you have two choices: 

• “Normal.mxt” – the ‘Normal’ template, upon which all local ArcMap sessions are based and
• The current project “.mxd”.

• Once you’ve made your selection in the drop down, you need to add the button.  You do this by simply left-clicking the command in the right pane of the “Customize” dialog and dragging the tool onto an existing menu in your ArcMap session.  In this example, I’m dragging the tool next to the “Editor” pull down.  Notice the vertical black line that appears letting you know it’s a good location for the button.  Release to place the new button.

• The button is now on the toolbar.  While in “Customize” mode, you can apply a couple more tweaks based on your preference.  If you right-click on the new button, you’ll get some choices regarding how the button will appear.  In this case, we’ll just go with the text.

• Another thing we can do is put a separating line between the new button and the “Editor” drop down to the left.  Right-click on the new button and select “Begin A Group” and notice the change. 

Now when you need to merge features, you simply select the features and click your new “Merge” button for a faster operation.

Notes:

• If you chose to save the tool only in the current project, be sure to save the project before closing as the tool will be a part of the project’s .mxd file.

• Some other handy tools to add for operational efficiency are ‘Selection’ tools (i.e. “Zoom To Selected”, “Clear Selected Features”; etc.).

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