MRDS geodatabase notes

What is the file geodatabase format?

The data files discussed here are written in a proprietary data format designed by ESRI for use with its ArcGIS software products. The format provides a means to encode multiple data tables and geographic feature classes in a relational database.

What is the personal geodatabase format?

"Personal geodatabase" refers to a geodatabase stored in the format used by Microsoft Access. In contrast to the file geodatabase, which is a directory containing many component files, the personal geodatabase is a single file whose name ends with .mdb.

Tables within the geodatabase

MRDS	Feature class containing a small subset of fields present in the master database, including the primary geographic location of the site, the current site name, the development status, and a hypertext link which, when opened, shows in a web browser window the entire MRDS record for the site.
Names	Table containing alternate names that have been used to refer to the site.
Commodity	Table containing commodity names, codes, and their importance at the site.
Material	Table containing ore or gangue materials, usually mineral names, present at the site.
Duplicates	Table identifying other MRDS records that describe the same site or resource. A hypertext link to each record is given which, when opened, provides a full report of that record.
Accession	Feature class containing a single rectangular polygon that indicates the geographic extent of data contained in this copy of the geodatabase. Associated attributes indicate the date and time information was drawn from the master database to create this geodatabase, and a hypertext link to the download itself.
About	Table describing the tables and fields in this database; columns include table name, field name, and description.

Available downloads

Download	Format	Version	Size	Last updated
mrds-arc9gdb.zip	XML Workspace	9.3	32 -> 669	2012-04-09 09:09
mrds-gdb.zip	File geodatabase	9.3	39 -> 250	2012-04-09 09:13
mrds-mdb.zip	Personal geodatabase	9.3	67 -> 309	2012-04-09 09:13

Using the XML workspace documents

Extract the XML workspace document from its .zip file (for example mrds-arc9gdb.xml)
Open ArcCatalog, navigate to an appropriate folder
To create a new file geodatabase, right-click the folder where you want to create it, and choose New -> File geodatabase. Note that a file geodatabase is a single folder that ArcCatalog will create at this point. Assign it a name ("mrds" might be a good choice), and press Enter. If you wish, you may choose to create the geodatabase as a "personal" geodatabase, which is stored in the Microsoft Access format.
Right-click the geodatabase icon, from its context menu open the sub-menu "Import", choose "XML Workspace document"
A new window opens. Under "What do you want to import?", leave the radio-button checked next to "Data". Click the "open folder" icon in order to choose the XML workspace document, then click Next.
The import program displays a list of the data elements in the workspace, which should match the list of tables shown above. Click Finish. The process may take 30-45 minutes.
Notify Peter Schweitzer if any errors occur.

Using the geodatabase

Open ArcMap
Add a data layer to the map; choose mrds.gdb as the source
Select all of the items within mrds.gdb
Choose the Identify tool and click on a point belonging to MRDS. The attribute information should display the related tables as expandable entries if the site has information in those tables.
To view the complete MRDS report for a given site, select the site using the Identify tool, and click the URL shown in the "Online Report" field. A web browser should open, showing you the full report. If the browser does not open immediately, open a browser and click the link again.

Notes on the geodatabase of MRDS