Remember to click Finish or OK when you are done editing. You can also documentation for the parameter by right clicking the tool in the Model Builder window and selecting Edit Documentation. You can then click one of the icons to add paragraphs, links, illustrations, code and formatting options. The Parameters Dialog Reference allows you to fill in information about the parameters and can be populated by selecting Dialog Reference under the parameter name. The Abstract allows you to fill in information about what the tool does. The most useful documentation for me is the Abstract and Parameters Dialog Reference. You can add as much information about the tool/model as you like.

Editing tool documentation: The tool and parameter descriptions for a model can be edited in ArcMap by right-clicking the model and selecting Edit Documentation.

Note that the new personal geodatabase name is enclosed with the percent signs (%new personal geodatabase%). With a precondition set on the new personal geodatabase, the output notation for the projected dataset is %new personal geodatabase%ProjectedDatasetName. The name and location of the new personal geodatabase is only defined when the model is run, so I had to use in-line variable substitution to parse the processes together within the same model. Using the example above, I wanted to create a tool that projected a dataset into a new personal database, which I set as a parameter.

In-line variable substitution: In-line variable substitution is useful if you have a model parameter that serves as a precondition to another process in your model.

Since the geographic transformation depends on the selected coordinate system, I set the coordinate system as a parameter before I set the geographic transformation method as a parameter. I also had several other parameters in my model, including a coordinate system and a geographic transformation method. I relayed this information to Model Builder by right clicking the Project tool and setting the new personal geodatabase as a precondition. Before projecting the feature dataset, the new personal geodatabase had to be created. For example, I wanted to create a tool that projected a dataset into a new personal database, which I set as a parameter of my model.

Controlling the flow: Setting preconditions and parameters in Model Builder guarantees that the geoprocessing operations will run in the correct order.

But then when you double click the tool in the ArcToolbox window, you get right into the user interface for the tool. Create personalized tools in Model Builder: Model Builder is the editing environment to create a custom tool from existing tools and personalized parameters and conditions.

Here are a few things that made my list for what I wish I had known about Model Builder before I started using it: We’ve been compiling a list of tips for various “What I wish I had known about …” topics.

Arcmap model builder