What is the difference between a shapefile and feature class?

Feature classes are homogeneous collections of common features, each having the same spatial representation, such as points, lines, or polygons, and a common set of attribute columns, for example, a line feature class for representing road centerlines. By this definition, a Shapefile is a Feature Class.

Is a feature layer a shapefile?

Open a shapefile stored on the device and display it as a feature layer with default symbology.

How do I turn a feature class into a shapefile?

Search for the Feature Class to Shapefile (multiple) tool. For Input Features, select the desired layer package file. For Output Folder, click the Browse icon to specify the location. Click OK to generate the shapefile.

What is the difference between a layer file and a feature class?

A layer file preserves layer symbology and settings for use in other projects, but the feature class referenced must still be available.

What is a feature class?

Feature classes are homogeneous collections of common features, each having the same spatial representation (such as points, lines, or polygons) and a common set of attributes (for example, a line feature class for representing road centerlines).

What is the difference between a feature dataset and a feature class?

A feature dataset stores feature classes that have the same coordinate system and the same spatial extent, meaning they occupy the same geographic area. While all features in a feature class must have the same geometry type, the same is not true for feature datasets.

What is the difference between feature and feature class?

Feature Layer: A layer that references a set of feature data. Feature data represents geographic entities as points, lines, and polygons. Feature Class:In ArcGIS, a collection of geographic features with the same geometry type (such as point, line, or polygon), the same attributes, and the same spatial reference.

What is the difference between shapefile and layer?

A shapefile (. shp) is a vector data storage format for storing the location, shape, and attributes of geographic features. A layer file primarily stores the symbology for a feature and other layer properties related to what is seen when the data is viewed in a GIS application.

What is a feature class dataset?

A feature dataset is a collection of related feature classes that share a common coordinate system. Feature datasets are used to facilitate creation of controller datasets (sometimes also referred to as extension datasets), such as a parcel fabric, topology, or utility network.

How do you name a feature class?

When you create a feature class, give it a name that indicates the data the feature class stores. Feature class names must be unique in a database or geodatabase—you can’t have more than one feature class with the same name.

How many feature classes can a shapefile use?

A shapefile is an Esri vector data storage format for storing the location, shape, and attributes of geographic features. It is stored as a set of related files and contains one feature class.