Using ArcCatalog

1. Click the feature mask layer in the Catalog tree. Notice
that the layer’s icon appears on a gray background
because a thumbnail hasn’t yet been created.
2. Click the Metadata tab. By default, ArcCatalog automatically
creates metadata for the feature mask layer.
Properties such as the name of the layer file will be
added automatically along with hints about the type of
documentation you should provide.
6. Click the Files of type dropdown arrow and click All
files (*.*). Click the file “feature_mask.met” and click
Open.
7. Click OK in the Import Metadata dialog box. The
information in the feature_mask.met file replaces the
metadata generated by ArcCatalog. Then, properties of
the layer are automatically added to it.
3. Click the Import metadata button on the Metadata
toolbar.
Import metadata
4. Click the Format dropdown list and click FGDC
CSDGM (TXT). Metadata in text files can be imported
if the information is structured following the format
supported by the FGDC’s metadata parser, mp.
5. Click Browse and navigate to the Yellowstone folder.
Now there is just one thing missing from the layer’s
metadata—a thumbnail describing how the layer will
appear when added to a map. Creating thumbnails for
data sources and layers is a manual process.
8. Click the Preview tab.
24 USING ARCCATALOG