Remember QuickProject?

No it’s not dead and it hasn’t been discontinued or deleted. In fact QuickProject is in rude good health! With the release of ArcPad 7.1 and then 7.1.1, a lot of the attention of users has been drawn to features such as AXF and the Geodatabase, enhanced querying capabilities and even the new ArcPad Data Manager extension for ArcGIS Desktop.

With all this focus it’s easy to lose sight of QuickProject, a “ready to use” data capture project tool. For many users, especially those new to ArcPad, sometimes there is a need to go into the field—sometimes with no pre-existing data—and start capturing data as quickly and easily as possible. QuickProject was designed specifically for this scenario and is a handy and effective tool for providing a simple and efficient method for capturing data into new shapefiles.

QuickProject is available from both the ArcPad Startup dialog box, which appears when opening ArcPad for the first time as well as in the new submenu, Open ArcPad > New > QuickProject

The QuickProject tool has a number of really great features that make creating a new data capture project easy. Once activated the tool:
• Closes the existing map, or gives you the option of including your existing layers in the new project.
• Creates a uniquely identified project folder featuring a date / time stamp in the title – perfect for identifying your project later
• Creates three basic shapefiles (point, line and polygon) inc. a map projection – this can be the QuickProject default (WGS 1984) or a user selected projection.
• Creates a custom edit “Quick Form” complete with 5 generic data fields and associated attributes in the categories field. These categories are fully editable for description and symbology, plus you add additional categories and symbology as required.
• Finally – the QuickProject tool wraps it all up in a Quick Project .apm and loads it onto ArcPad ready for editing and / or use of the Identify tool.
What could be simpler!!

This addition to ArcPad is a really quick and handy method of getting basic data collection projects underway in no time at all and a real bonus to any new users still finding their feet in the world of MobileGIS.

Further Information
A full explanation of QuickProject and how it works can be found in the ArcPad User Manual as part of Chapter 6: Creating New Data.