An overview of ArcCatalog

ArcCatalog helps GIS users by providing an integrated and unified view of all the data files, databases, and ArcGIS documents available to ArcGIS users. Unlike other data (a photo or Word document), geographic datasets often consist of a set of files, rather than a single file. When listed in Windows Explorer, the datasets appear as a list of system folders and files, whereas ArcCatalog displays and manages the datasets as single entities. ArcCatalog is the program you use to organize and manage these various datasets and documents in both file-based workspaces and in geodatabases. This program allows you to connect to your data source locations, browse through your workspaces, examine or explore the data, manage data, tables and metadata, and search for data and maps