Spatial features are vector files that contain locations or spatial information but may not have associated data, such as USGS DLG files. Typically, spatial features provide locations of various natural or artificial boundaries or shapes to help visualize spatial data and aid in network editing. They also can be used in boundary overlap analysis.
Lines with or without associated data are always treated as spatial features. Points and polygons with or without associated data can be used as spatial features.
When you import spatial features, you can choose whether to import the associated data. Even when the data will not be used for boundary analysis, you still may want to visualize the data in the map. If you imported the data, you can view it by querying the spatial feature map layer.
Spatial features can quicken spatial network editing by automating the removal of inappropriate spatial network links. An outline of the study area, such as a meandering stream, can be imported into the project. Then, this outline can be used as a tool for selecting all links that occur outside of the study area, preventing these locations from being included in later analyses.
Because spatial information without associated data cannot be used for boundary analysis, BoundarySeer does not save spatial features with the rest of the project file (*.bsr). Spatial feature information is saved in a *.pip file that needs to be retained with the project file. The name of the spatial feature file will be the source file name (e.g., "outline.dlg") with a *.pip extension (e.g., "outline.dlg.pip").
If you plan to use the information for network editing and not data visualization, then you may wish to remove the spatial feature from the project once you have edited the network. This way, you do not have to keep track of the *.pip file.
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