Exploring ArcGIS Packages

Overview

I am looking at the package types supported in ArcGIS 10.1. I read the page here but I want a few more details collected in one place so I am writing this page.

Layer package (.lpk)

These are apparently extensions of layer files (.lyr) that have been around forever. The layer package is a container for a layer file and its associated data.

Tile package (.tpk)

I already wrote some stuff here about ArcGIS and Tiled Maps. A tile package is an ESRI-specific container for a cache of raster tiles.

Related Tools

Package Result Packages one or more geoprocessing results, including all tools and input and output datasets, into a single compressed file (.gpk).