The Geodatabase

The geodatabase is so seductive!

And like anything that presents itself as seductive, it may require a considerable investment of time and resources. How far you can go with it depends on your license level. As with so many relationships here in Asheville, developing a "deeper understanding" may call for some sort of sequestered retreat or a seminar with like minded people on the same quest.

As with scientology, with ESRI you can get a taste of enlightenment from several free one hour online courses. Tne next steps are in the $50 to 500 range. After that, the possibilities are limitless.

The geodatabase is worth getting to know and work with.

What tools will it take to work with geodatabases?

Note on training exercises

We started the Building a Geodatabase and Editing Geodatabases exercises in the AB Tech lab using an ArcInfo license. The database we created was File Geodatabase. This created problems when I tried to continue working at home using an ArcView license. According to ESRI we can use the student ArcView license IF we work with a Personal Geodatabase.

Having access to SQL Server Express would be nice for students.

License levels for ArcGIS 9.3

Arcview student 12 month ($100 includes extensions)
Arcview student never expires, service packs but no upgrade ($250 + $150 per extension)
Arcview ($2500 + $1500 per extension)
ArcEditor ($7000 + $1500 per extension)
ArcInfo ($14,000 + $1500 per extension)
ArcInfo Hardware bundle* (>=$9,998+ $1500 per extension)

*http://gis.esri.com/partners/hw_promo/hw_promo.cfm#results includes ArcInfo license

ArcGIS Desktop 9.3 Functionality Matrix