Rotate symbols in a Schematic diagram based on feature attributes

Summary

Instructions provided describe how to rotate symbols in a Schematic diagram based on feature attributes. Symbols in a Schematic diagram can be rotated based on the underlying feature attributes by configuring a Direct Property. Depending on the underlying data, it may be necessary to first convert from a Geographic value to Arithmetic. This conversion is done with a Script Attribute if using ArcGIS 9.2 Service Pack 5 or higher.

Procedure

1. Edit the Schematic Dataset by using ArcCatalog. Right-click the Schematic Dataset and select ‘Edit Project...‘.
2. In the Schematic Designer application, expand the Element Types tree view node. Follow the next steps for each Element Type that requires rotation.
3. Right-click the Element Type that needs symbols rotated and select ‘Create Attribute...’ to open the Create Element Type Attribute dialog box.
4. Type in a name for the attribute in the Name text box. Pick Static Attribute from the Type drop-down control. Click OK on this dialog box, which opens the Attribute Editor dialog box.
5. The Attribute Editor dialog box displays a list of all the fields in the underlying feature class. Double-click the field that contains the rotation data and click OK on the dialog box. This now keeps the value in that field in-memory when a diagram is opened or created.
6. If the value needs to be converted, use a Script Attribute. Right-click the Element Type and select ‘Create Attribute...’ to open the Create Element Type Attribute dialog box.
7. Type in a name for the attribute in the Name text box. Select Script Attribute from the Type drop-down control. Click OK on this dialog box.
8. On the right-side of the Schematic Designer form, click the Add Parameter button. This adds a new Parameter Name1 line. Use this drop-down control to select the name of the attribute that was created in step 4.
9. Click in the Script field and type in the formula: 'name of attribute from step 4' * -1. So if the attribute created in step 4 was named 'RotValue', the script would end up looking like: RotValue * -1.
10. Now there is an attribute created with the data that can be used for the rotation. To end this process, create a property that does something with the attribute. Right-click the Element Type and select ‘Create Property...’ to open the ‘Create Property...’ dialog box.
11. Type a name for this property in the Property Name text box. Select the 'Direct' option instead of the default, which is 'Textual'. Use the Direct Effect drop-down control to select 'Rotation' and click OK on the dialog box.
12. On the right side of the Schematic Designer screen, use the Attribute Name drop-down control to pick the attribute that this Direct Property will use. If the underlying data did not need to be converted, select the attribute defined in step 4 above. If it did need to be converted, select the attribute defined in step 7 above.
13. Save the work and exit out of the Schematic Designer. Now test the work in ArcMap by either creating a new diagram or opening an existing diagram and updating it.
    
    

    Note:
    Existing diagrams must be updated for the new functionality to work. This is because the definition has been modified since those diagrams were created.