Notes on Creating, Saving and Using Personal Toolboxes at WWU...

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    ArcGIS (by default) wants to create and save any new toolboxes within your 'My Documents' folder. Specifically in the C:\Documents and Settings\<user-name>\Application Data\ESRI\ArcToolbox\My Toolboxes folder. Besides being a rather inconvenient location to get to, this happens to be a folder (on AH-16 computers at least) that is deleted automatically when you log out. Thus to save and reuse your toolbox you would need to remember to browse to this folder and copy any toolboxes (.tbx files) that you wanted to save, to some other location... a bit of a hassle.

    You could, if you wish, change the settings for where your toolboxes get stored to any folder you wish (such as C:\temp or to a U:\toolboxes folder). To do this, choose Options... from the Tools menu of ArcMap (or ArcCatalog) and click on the Geoprocessing tab. In the dialog box for My Toolboxes you can specify any folder you wish. The SAL computers were set to use U:\ so that these files would be automatically saved to a location that does not require you to manually copy/save them yourself in order to have them available later. As you create new toolboxes, verify that your new toolbox is, in fact, being saved to your U:\ drive, and proceed as usual... (note that you'll need to do this every time you log in to a computer, but it does allow some control over where your toolboxes are stored).

    To add your existing toolboxes, simply right-click on ArcToolbox and choose Add Toolbox and browse to the location where you have your toolboxes stored (e.g. your U:\ drive or wherever you have specified).

Non-SAL Computers:

    Note that other computer labs on campus (or if you are working at home) you will either need to first specify your desired folder for new toolboxes (see above) or make sure you locate and copy them from the Documents and Settings folder to your folder of choice before you log out from the computer.

The HISTORY Toolbox:

    ArcGIS creates (by default) a History toolbox that contains a record (stored as a series of crude models, saved by date) of all geoprocessing operations you perform. This historical record of your work (inputs, outputs, parameters, etc) has the potential to be a huge life-saver should you ever have to redo a project... It is also can be beneficial for documenting your work. Again, for this to be effective, it needs to be saved in a location that does not get deleted. Note that the History model for your current work session does not become available (is not written to the History toolbox) until you close down ArcGIS.

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