Highlight the current index feature when using Data Driven Pages

Summary

The instructions provided describe how to highlight the current index feature that is focused on when Data Driven Pages is enabled. The purpose of this is to help identify the area of focus when there may be several index features on one page, to prevent working on overlapping areas.

Procedure

Follow the steps provided to highlight the current index feature when using Data Driven Pages:

1. Configure and enable Data Driven Pages.
2. In the Table of Contents (TOC) make a copy of the Index layer.
   1. Right-click the layer name and select Copy.
   2. Right-click the data frame name and select Paste Layer(s). To rename the pasted layer, right-click the layer name in the TOC > select Properties, click the General tab and add the word 'Highlighted' to the beginning of the layer name.
3. Symbolize the highlighted layer (created in Step 2). Users can highlight the selected polygon in any way they prefer.

Note:
In most cases it is best to make the feature hollow, with an outline color that stands out on the map (for example red) and an outline width that displays well (for example 2).

4. Right-click the highlighted layer (created in Step 2) and select Properties.
5. Click the Definition Query tab.
6. Click the Page Definition button.
7. Check the Enable check box.
8. Set the Page Name Field from the drop list (this is the same field as the Name Field set for the Data Driven Pages).
9. Set the Page Definition to Match so that it highlights the current index feature on the map.
10. Click OK.
11. Click Apply and OK.

This allows the user to identify the active index feature on the current page; as highlighted in red on the map image below.