GEOG 4560 - GIS Programming

Spring, 2008. Tuesday 6:00 - 8:50 PM, EESAT 336

(This syllabus is for undergraduates only. See GEOG 5560 for graduate syllabus)

 

Dr. Pinliang Dong

EESAT 310B

(940) 565-2377

pdong@unt.edu

http://www.geog.unt.edu/~pdong  

Office Hours: Mon 2 - 4 PM, Tue 1:30 - 3:30 PM, or by appointment.

   Prerequisites

   GEOG 4500: Introduction to GIS (or consent of department)

   Objectives

This course includes lectures and hands-on exercises. It is for those who work with ESRI's ArcGIS on a technical level but may be new to programming with Visual Basic (VB) or Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). Therefore, about half of the classes will concentrate on the fundamentals of Visual Basic programming (Week 1 to Week 8). Based on the knowledge of Visual Basic programming, students will learn about the ArcObjects architecture and ArcGIS customization using VBA (Week 11 to Week 15). Emphasis will be placed on the ArcMap and Map Layer objects which are inseparable components of GIS applications built with ArcGIS. It is expected that the students will learn basic skills in ArcGIS programming using VB and VBA after completion of this course.

Textbooks

[VB]    Julia Case Bradley and Anita C. Millspaugh, 2002, Programming in Visual Basic 6.0 (update edition). McGraw-Hill Irwin, ISBN: 0-07-251381-0.

[AO]    Robert Burke, 2003, Getting to know ArcObjects - Programming ArcGIS with VBA. ESRI Press. ISBN 158948018X. 422 pages (with CD-ROM).

In-Class Exercises and Homework

In-class exercises should be saved in your folder at R:\CSAM\class\4560\StudentFolders\. The instructor will check your in-class exercises every Wednesday. If you miss a class, you should contact the instructor and finish the in-class exercises by the following Wednesday. In-class exercises count 10% of the final grade. 

Six individual homework assignments (10% each) will be turned in and marked. Late homework will be marked down 10% for every day late. Homework files should be submitted to R:\CSAM\class\4560\StudentFolders\<your_last_name>.

Grading Structure  

In-Class Exercises

10%

Six Homework Assignments (10% each)

60%

Midterm Exam (including hands-on programming)

15%

Final Exam

15%

Total

100%

90-100: A; 80-89: B; 70-79: C; 60-69: D; 0-59: F. 

Schedule

Week

Date

Topic

Reading Homework

1

Jan 15

(1) Course Introduction

(2) Projects, Forms, Controls, and Properties

In-Class Exercises

VB: Ch1 - Ch2

2

Jan 22

Menus, Events and Methods

In-Class Exercises & Homework 1 (Due Feb 5) 		VB: Ch3

3

Jan 29

Variables, Arrays, Types, and Constants

In-Class Exercises 		VB: Ch4, Ch7

4

Feb 5

Decision and Looping

In-Class Exercises & Homework 2 (Due Feb 19)

VB: Ch5, Ch8

5

Feb 12

Procedures and Functions

In-Class Exercises 

 VB: Ch10

6

Feb 19

Dialog Boxes and File Access

In-Class Exercises & Homework 3 (Due Mar 4)

VB: Ch11

7

Feb 26

Database Access

In-Class Exercises 

VB: Ch9

8

Mar 4

Classes and Objects

In-Class Exercises & Homework 4 (Due Apr 1)

VB: Review

AO: Ch1, Ch4, Ch9

9

Mar 11

Midterm Exam (6:00 - 8:00 pm)

 

10

Mar 18

Spring Vacation (no class)

 

11

Mar 25

COM and ArcObjects Object Model Diagrams

In-Class Exercises

AO: Ch2, Ch12

12

Apr 1

Customizing ArcGIS

In-Class Exercises & Homework 5 (Due Apr 15)

AO: Ch14, Ch16

13

Apr 8

Accessing ArcGIS Maps

In-Class Exercises

AO: Ch15

14

Apr 15

Accessing ArcGIS Map Layers

In-Class Exercises & Homework 6 (Due Apr 29)

AO: Ch17, Ch18

15

Apr 22

Accessing ArcGIS Map Features

In-Class Exercises 

AO: Ch20

16

Apr 29

(Pre-final week): Review

 

17

May 6

Final Exam (6:00 - 8:00 pm)

Extra Credit

The Department of Geography does not allow extra credit assignments (work not specified on a course syllabus).

Academic Dishonesty

Students caught cheating or plagiarizing will receive a "0" for that particular assignment or exam.  Additionally, the incident will be reported to the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities for further penalty.  According to the UNT catalog, the term "cheating" includes, but is not limited to:

  1. Use of any unauthorized assistance in taking quizzes, tests, or examinations;
  2. Dependence upon the aid of sources beyond those authorized by the instructor in writing papers, preparing reports, solving problems, or carrying out other assignments;
  3. The acquisition, without permission, of tests or other academic material belonging to a faculty or staff member of the university;
  4. Dual submission of a paper or project, or resubmission of a paper or project to a different class without express permission from the instructor(s); or
  5. Any other act designed to give a student an unfair advantage.

The term "plagiarism" includes, but is not limited to:

  1. The knowing or negligent use by paraphrase or direct quotation of the published or unpublished work of another person without full and clear acknowledgment; and
  2. The knowing or negligent unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling of term papers or other academic materials.

Accommodations

The Department of Geography, in cooperation with the Office of Disability Accommodation, complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act in making reasonable accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. Please present your written accommodation request before the 12th class day.