Getting Started

To begin using Habitat Digitizer, save the habitat.avx file in either ArcView's Ext32 directory or the USEREXT directory. The coral.hcs and coral.avl files can be saved anywhere, but preferably, they should be placed in the working directory of the project.

After starting ArcView, load the Habitat Digitizer Extension (and any other desired extensions) by selecting "File/Extensions." and click on the check box next to the Habitat Digitizer Extension in the "Available Extensions" list. Click OK to install the extension. If a project already exists that used the Habitat Digitizer Extension, opening the project will automatically load the extension.

Setting the Projection Parameters for the Image Data:

The Habitat Digitizer allows users to specify a Minimum Mapping Unit (MMU), digitizing scale, and offers several other spatial functions that require the View's projection and Map Units to be set properly. The projection properties of the View must be set to those of the image data from which habitats are being interpreted. Once the View's projection is set properly, shapefiles created using Habitat Digitizer will be unprojected (in decimal degrees). To set the projection properties, select "View/Properties" and set the Map and Distance Units as well as the Projection information of the image. If this information is not set, the shapefile will be created in the projection coordinates of the image files (not in decimal degrees) and the MMU, scale restriction, and other spatial functions of the extension will not work.