Creating new parcels using the parcel traverse

This topic applies to ArcGIS for Desktop Standard and ArcGIS for Desktop Advanced only.

A parcel traverse is entered under the Lines tab of the Parcel Details dialog box. The attributes of the new parcel are entered under the Properties tab. New parcels are created in plans. If you are not working with plans, use the <map> plan, which is the system default plan.

Creating a new parcel traverse

To open the Parcel Details dialog box to create a new parcel traverse, do one of the following:

• Click the New Parcel tool on the Parcel Editor toolbar.
• Open the Plan Directory dialog box (Parcel Editor > Plan Directory),right-click a plan click New Parcel .
• Right-click a plan node on the Parcel Explorer window and click New Parcel .

Dimensions are entered in the lines grid using the ENTER and LEFT ARROW and RIGHT ARROW keys. Once the To point of the last leg of the traverse snaps or closes on to the From point of the first leg of the parcel traverse, misclose information is displayed at the bottom of the Parcel Details dialog box. The To point of the last traverse leg will automatically snap to the From point of the traverse if the To point lies within the tolerance you specified for point matching. To specify a tolerance for point matching, open the Parcel Editor Options dialog box (Parcel Editor > Options) and click the Tolerances tab.

Note:

You can also close a parcel traverse by typing an * next to the last dimension of the last leg of the traverse.

Learn more about data entry in the parcel traverse grid

The following parcel attributes are available for data entry on the Properties tab on the Parcel Details window:

Attribute	Description
Name	The parcel name. Also known as PIN (parcel identification number) and APN (assessor parcel number).
Type	Used for adding and migrating your own parcel subtypes.
Unclosed	Specifies whether the parcel is a closed or unclosed polygon. Set to True if the parcel is unclosed.
Stated Area	The parcel polygon area. It should match the area reported on the survey record. The parcel area is automatically calculated if the parcel misclosure is small. You can overwrite the Stated Area value.
Legal Start Date	The date on the record of survey document (plan) of the parcel. This attribute is optional and should be populated if you want to maintain legal parcel history in your fabric.
Legal End Date	The date on the record of survey document (plan) of the parcel that retired this parcel. This attribute is optional and should be populated if you want to maintain legal parcel history in your fabric.
Accuracy	The accuracy level of the parcel. If the accuracy level is set for the plan, the new parcel automatically inherits its accuracy level from the plan.
Compiled	Set this value to True if the parcel is compiled from old survey records or inverted dimensions.
Historical	True if the parcel is historic.
Rotation	System managed. Parcel rotation is automatically populated.
Scale	System managed. Parcel scale is automatically populated.
Misclose Ratio	System managed. The misclose ratio is automatically calculated from the parcel traverse.
Misclose Distance	System managed. The misclose distance is automatically calculated from the parcel traverse.
Misclose Bearing	System managed. The misclose bearing is automatically calculated from the parcel traverse.

Creating an unclosed parcel traverse

Unclosed parcels are used to represent features such road centerlines in the parcel fabric. An unclosed parcel does not rely on an internal traverse loop that closes onto its starting point. Unclosed parcels are comprised of line features but are stored as parcels in the parcel fabric.

You can create unclosed parcels using the parcel traverse tool. Unclosed parcels behave like normal parcels in the parcel fabric in that they need to be connected to the rest of the parcel fabric network.

Unclosed parcel—joined

Steps:

To create an unclosed parcel, follow these steps:
1. In an edit session in ArcMap , traverse in your unclosed parcel just like you would a normal parcel fabric parcel.

The traverse lines do not close back onto the starting point.

2. After you have finished entering your traverse lines, click the Properties tab on the Parcel Details dialog box and click the field next to Unclosed.
3. Choose True from the drop-down list.
4. Click the Keep Changes command on the Parcel Details dialog box to save the parcel or click the Keep And Join command to save and directly begin joining the parcel to the fabric.

Append traverse lines from cadastral XML files

When creating a new parcel, you can click Load Cadastral XML on the Parcel Details dialog box to append a parcel traverse from a cadastral xml file into the Lines grid. The load cadastral xml functionality appends a single set of parcel traverse lines. Any populated line attributes saved with the cadastral xml file are also appended into corresponding attributes in the Lines grid.

A new parcel must be created first before you can click the Load Cadastral XML button to load parcel traverse lines. Only traverse lines and their attributes are loaded into the Lines grid. With the exception of the StatedArea, Rotation, Scale and MiscloseDistance attributes, the parcels plan, template and other attributes such as Accuracy are not loaded . This information must still be defined when you create the new parcel. Since the StatedArea Rotation, Scale and MiscloseDistance attributes are derived from the parcel traverse, these attributes are populated when loading traverse lines from cadastral xml file.

To load and join one or many complete parcels from a cadastral xml file, click Append File on the Parcel Editor menu.

Creating a new parcel traverse in a parcel group

Parcels can be traversed in individually or traversed in with an existing parcel or group of parcels. A parcel traverse can only be entered with an existing group of parcels when the parcel group is unjoined. You can select adjacent parcels and unjoin the selected parcels as a group (right-click the selection and click Unjoin). To enter a new parcel into the unjoined parcel group, right-click any parcel in the group and click New in group.

Note:

When entering in a parcel traverse using an existing parcel group as a starting point, you still need to complete the parcel traverse, even though adjacent boundaries are present in the group. In this way, record information is preserved, and a parcel misclosure can be obtained.

Caution:

When traversing a parcel with an existing parcel or parcel group, make sure to use the existing points in the group rather than defining new, overlapping points.

Entering a parcel traverse with a group of parcels

Creating a new parcel traverse using internal angles

In some cases, parcel dimensions on a plan or record of survey are shown as angles and distances instead of bearings and distances. In this case, the parcel is entered and created using its internal angles.

Internal angles

A parcel traverse using internal angles requires a Starting back-sight value. The starting backsight is the orientation angle, which is used as a reference for entering the first traverse leg. The starting backsight is based on a north azimuth angle type, and the default backsight is 180 degrees.

For example, if you traversed Lot 1 from the above graphic, you could use 90° as a starting backsight when entering the first traverse leg between points 1 and 2.

The remaining angles are oriented with respect to the previous line entered in the parcel traverse. When the parcel is joined to the parcel fabric, it is rotated and scaled accordingly.

To enter side shots or connection lines in an internal angle parcel traverse, the angle measured to the connection line needs to be referenced to an existing line in the parcel traverse. The to-point of the reference line is required as the ReferenceObject value in the parcel traverse grid. For example, when entering the connection line between points 5 and 6 for Lot 1 in the graphic above, the referencing backsight line can either be the line between 5 and 4 or the line between 5 and 1. The reference object would thus be either 4 or 1.

Note:

Parcels entered using an internal angle are always created in a new plan.

Steps:

To create a parcel using internal angles, follow these steps:
1. Create a new plan to store parcels with internal angles.
   When creating a new plan for internal angle parcels, click the Record Format tab on the Plan Properties dialog box and set Direction or Angle Type to Internal Angle
2. In an edit session in ArcMap, open the Plan Directory dialog box, right-click the plan created for internal angle parcels and click Create new parcel.
To open the Plan Directory dialog box, click the Parcel Editor arrow on the Parcel Editor toolbar and click Plan Directory.
3. Type in a starting backsight direction in the Starting back-sight text box under the Lines tab on the Parcel Details window.
4. Enter your first traverse leg. Your first traverse angle is oriented from your starting backsight.
5. Enter your remaining traverse legs. Each traverse leg is oriented with respect to the previous traverse leg.
6. To enter a side shot or connection line, type in the angle and distance of the connection line and type in the reference object of the connection line in the ReferenceObject field. The reference object is the to-point of any line that has the same from-point as the connection line. Angles going counterclockwise are entered as negative values, and angles going clockwise are entered as positive values.