The HCAD GIS files contained on this page/CD are in Environmental Systems Research
Institute's
shapefile format. They can be accessed using any of ESRI's ArcGIS products,
including
ArcExplorer 2.0. This page/CD contains everything required to use
ArcExplorer 2.0 for Windows.
For more information, Please see the ESRI web site at http://www.esri.com
Note: For Unix/Linux users, you can download ArcExplorer 9.1 Java Edition at
http://www.esri.com/software/arcexplorer/download9.html.
There is also a Windows version of ArcExplorer 9.1 Java Edition.
The projected coordinate system for the data is
State Plane of South Texas (Zone 4204) and Datum NAD 1983.
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The "parcels" shapefile contains polygons for every parcel of real
property in the
county. Parcels.shp Attribute Field Definitions:
HCAD_NUM -- text (length 13): Unique 13-digit real property account number. Use this field to "join" to real data files.
BLK_NUM -- text (length 20):
LOT_NUM -- text (length 20):
CONDO_FLAG -- text (length 1): Value of 1 means stacked, otherwise value is 0.
Denotes if a parcel is stacked (duplicated onto itself). HCAD uses stacked parcels
for condos and undivided interest accounts as well as pure accounts.
(A pure account is a new account built for a special taxable value in an individual jurisdiction.)
Note the above fields are only populated for NEW accounts added since October 2004.
A Harris County Appraisal District account number (HCAD_NUM) is attached to each
property which will allow an individual to link detailed property information
(also
available from pdata.hcad.org) to every parcel. See "Joining GIS to
Real Property data" below.
The "row_anno" shapefile contains right-of-way text for Harris county.
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Follow these steps:
1. Run the "ae2setup.exe" program to install ArcExplorer on your
computer.
Follow the instructions in the dialog boxes to install ArcExplorer. You
will have to re-boot your machine
before using ArcExplorer.
2. Double-click the "hcad.aep" file to view the HCAD public data
layers included.
(This file can only be opened if you have ArcExplorer 2.0 installed.) If
the error "Invalid Database" comes up,
you need to add the shapefile layers or "themes" manually using
ArcExplorer.
For detailed instructions on using ArcExplorer refer to the instruction manual
called "arcexplorer.pdf."
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"Joining GIS to Real Property data":
Joining GIS shapefile to Access MDB tables required 3rd party GIS software,
such as ArcGIS Desktop ArcMap from ESRI, some GIS aptitude and database
relationship knowledge.
GIS parcel shapefile can be joined directly to the Access tables (see below) using the
"HCAD_NUM" field (13 characters) in parcel.shp and the "Account_Number"
field (13 characters)
in the Access tables. For example, if you want to join real property
parcel information,
you would join the "Account_Number" field in the Real_Acct.mdb Access Database to
the "HCAD_NUM" field in the
parcel shapefile.
Please read the instructions provided on http://pdata.hcad.org/Instructions.html
for information on how to get the Access database populated with data from the text files.
Specifically, The Data Import Instructions