Geography 485: "GIS Programming and Customization"

GEOG 485 is an elective course in the Master of Geographic Information Systems degree program. It is also one of the optional capstone courses that lead to Penn State's Certificate of Achievement in Geographic Information Systems. The course consists of readings, quizzes, projects, and discussions about constructing tools that solve geographic problems not easily solved using out-of-the-box GIS software. Students learn to use the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) programming environment to add functionality to ArcGIS 8.x. No previous programming experience is assumed. The course covers programming basics like object-orientation, COM, object model diagrams, loops, if-then constructs, and modular code design, as well as GIS-focused topics such as working with maps, layers, tables, and performing queries. Students who successfully complete the course are able to automate repetitive tasks, customize the ArcGIS interface, and share their customizations with others. The course is ten weeks in length and requires a minimum of 8-12 hours of student activity each week. It is offered quarterly (starting in January, April, July, and October).

Instructor: James Detwiler