USER GUIDE: Whitestar Metes and Bounds Add-In for ArcGIS Pro

QuickStart

Setup

Install the Add-in

Download the Add-in from the Whitestar download page. Double-click on your local copy to install the Add-In on ArcGIS Pro.

Add Segments

• Click on the Segments Tab to view the segments panel. Select Commencement from the direction combo box. To add the first segment, click the plus button below the segments data grid.

• This will enable the Curve Editor Control and highlight phrases found
  in the deed. Available parameter phrases and used ones will be highlighted in the deed viewer.

• Select the curve type for the first segment.
  Add parameters from the deed (or manually).

• Click save to add the segment to the project. The new segment will appear in the segment data grid.

• Repeat this process for the remaining commencement segments (if any), segments defining the plat.

Reverse Workflow (optional)

Select ‘Back’ from the segment direction combo box. Navigate to the last set of parameter descriptions in the deed (i.e. before returning to the point of beginning). Add a segment as above. When the segment is saved, switch to view All and click on the backward segment in the segment grid view. The reverse segment will be highlighted on the active map, connected to the point of beginning.

Save the Project

Click on the Save button to save your Metes and Bounds project to your ArcGIS Pro project.

Import the plats to your ArcGIS Pro Project

Click the ‘Import’ button to import all metes and bounds plats as polygon features to the active map and file geodatabase. Note: any open polygons will be closed automatically.

Overview: Workflow and Definitions

The Whitestar Metes and Bounds Add-In creates polygon geometry by locating a point of commencement and extracting segment geometry described in deeds. Projects are created and edited using the Metes and Bounds Add-In for ArcGIS Pro. Results are added to ArcGIS Pro as Geodatabase feature classes.

1. Load a deed

   A Metes and Bounds Project will typically begin by loading a deed. The Add-In supports PDF files, image files, and plain text. To load a deed, click on the plus button in the Deeds group of the Plats tab and navigate to the deed file.

2. Set the commencement origin

   The commencement origin describes the point in the deed from which commencement to the point of beginning starts.

3. Extract segments

   There are three segment types: commencement segments describe the path from the commencement origin to the point of beginning. Forward and backward segments describe the path from the point of beginning back, around the plat polygon, and back to the point of beginning. Note: the backward segment type is included for convenience only to enable you to work backward from the point of beginning to better resolve any problems that occur in extracting and rendering the deed plat.

4. Defining segments: parameters, curve types, and units

   Parameters are the direction, angle and/or distance measurements that define each segment.

5. Closing the plat

   A plat is closed when the plat segments meet back at the point of beginning, or if backward segments are used, when the forward segments reach the backward segments. The closure indicator is a guide that shows distance and direction of a line segment that would be needed to close the polygon.

6. Import plats into the map

   As you work on through the plat geometry, the line segments are rendered as a temporary overlay on the active map. Once complete, you can import the plats as a feature layer in the project geodatabase or other geodatabase of your choosing.

7. Multiple deeds and multiple plats

   Add more deeds by clicking the plus button on the deed, just as you would for the first one.  Each deed can contain one or more plats.  Create a new plat by selecting ‘New’ in the Plat Selector Group of the Plats tab.  You will be prompted to name the plat when it is created.

   Remove a deed by right-clicking on the tree view. 

   Remove a plat by clicking delete in the Plat Selector group of the Plats tab.

8. Exceptions

   Exceptions are plats that represent areas to be removed from other plats.

   The plat selector in the plats panel enables you to work with multiple plats and specify exceptions to plats. The ‘New’ button will create a new, empty plat.  Rename it and specify its type as a Plat or Exception.  For exceptions, the plat parent combo box will be enabled and you can use it to specify the parent plat.

    Notes:         
   • You must have a plat already created before you can create an exception to it

   • Exceptions cannot belong to other exceptions

   • If you delete a plat, its exceptions will also be deleted

   • You can convert an exception back into a regular plat using the plat type combo box

   • You can assign an exception to a different parent plat using the parent plat combo box

9. Easements

   Easements are plats that follow a path with a specified width. To create an Easement, create a plat using the ‘New’ button in the Plats panel. Rename it and specify its type as Easement. Switch to the Segments tab and double click on the Easement width label to specify the Easement width. If the Easement is asymmetrical, uncheck the ‘symmetrical’ check box to specify the upper/right and lower/left easement widths.

Controls

Add-in toolbar

Account:

The sign-in button connects you to the Whitestar Cloud to load/save Metes and Bounds Projects and to enable LegalMapper to set the commencement origin from a legal land description.

Project:

The project group contains buttons for opening and saving projects and displaying the Metes and Bounds dock panel for editing and viewing segments or settings.

Direction filter combo box

Sets the filter for viewing deed segments in the grid view below. Commencement, forward, and back modes allow adding new segments, ‘All’ allows editing existing segments.

Segments grid view

Displays the parameters and metadata for each segment. Click on a segment to highlight the parameters in the deed and also the line segment(s) in the map view.

Closure indicator

The closure indicator displays the forward line segment that would close the polygon. You can double-click on the closure indicator to add the closure segment to the forward path.

Deed viewer settings

The menu at the top of the deed viewer panel contains buttons to navigate to the previous and next page of the deed, a checkbox to switch between text and overlay modes, and controls for adjusting the font, font size and zoom level.

Text mode

In text mode, words in the deed are wrapped in the viewer and whitespace is only displayed between sections.

Overlay mode

In overlay mode, the original deed image is highlighted. By default, highlights are rectangular, semi-transparent blocks but text and switched on/off and opacity can be changed from 1-100% in settings.

Selecting a parameter

Click on a parameter in the deed to add it to a segment currently being added or edited. This will populate the first parameter of its type (i.e. distance or direction) in the segment editor. If multiple parameters of the same type define the curve type, click the input box for subsequent parameters to populate them.

Phrase interception and editing

When you click on a highlighted phrase in the deed viewer, the phrase interception control will display above the deed viewer. The parameter value will populate the segment parameter with the value if it is immediately recognized. If there is a problem with how the text was interpreted, you can edit the inbound text:

Click on the parameter in the deed

• Edit the text for the parameter in the input box to the left

• If the parameter is interpreted as valid, click Apply to push it to the segment parameter panel

Adding a missing parameter

You can manually input a parameter in any of the parameter value input boxes by typing it in to the input box. In this case, the parameter value is treated as an override.
Alternatively, you can select a rectangle around deed text in overlay mode and add the phrase to the set for the deed. Note, parameter interception works the same for phrases added manually.

Parameter units

Parameter units are displayed next to the parameter values for distance parameters. The add-in attempts to populate the units from the recognized text and parameter units can be changed and converted using the combo box to the right of the parameter input boxes.