Forgive me if this is very basic, as I'm new to GIS work (though I've been a programmer for 10 years) and so I'm not really sure how to approach this, but here goes...

Can I take a table with xmin/xmin ymin/ymax coordinates and use it to create a bunch of polygons in ArcMap 10.0? I have a connection set up to SQL Server 2008 wherein there is a table that has several pieces of information regarding various maps that our team keeps track of.

Here's what I'm working with:

Said table contains the lat/long data in the form of xmin/xmax ymin/ymax, in addition to several other attributes - gmap_id, author, year, scale, etc. My boss asked me if I could create a connection to our SQL Server, use that information to create polygons on a map of the US, and set up a little attribute window with the other information (author, gmap_id, scale, etc) for each polygon.

I've got the first part covered, I think, thanks to this question. I set up the Data Query and pulled the columns that I initially wanted from SQLServer. That gave me a table like so:

I had a screen cap but the image won't post due to my rep < 10, so the table looks like:

gmapId, scale, usgsIdF, xmin, xmax, ymin, ymax
18015, 250000, 13139, -121.891, -123.071, 43, 45.5
18016, 125000, 13140, -117, -118.936, 34.25, 35.624
...

And I now have the data listed as a Source under the Table of Contents window.

How can I now translate that information into a bunch of squares on the map? And then can I use that to set up an attribute table?

I have a lot of python experience, so if that is the way to go I can do it. I am also good with SQL Server 2008, though I have not used it's spatial capabilities yet. So if there is a solution to be had involving TSQL I can also go that route.

I'm just scratching around trying to figure a good way to start.

Forgive me if this is very basic, as I'm new to GIS work (though I've been a programmer for 10 years) and so I'm not really sure how to approach this, but here goes...

Can I take a table with xmin/xmin ymin/ymax coordinates and use it to create a bunch of polygons in ArcMap 10.0? I have a connection set up to SQL Server 2008 wherein there is a table that has several pieces of information regarding various maps that our team keeps track of.

Here's what I'm working with:

Said table contains the lat/long data in the form of xmin/xmax ymin/ymax, in addition to several other attributes - gmap_id, author, year, scale, etc. My boss asked me if I could create a connection to our SQL Server, use that information to create polygons on a map of the US, and set up a little attribute window with the other information (author, gmap_id, scale, etc) for each polygon.

I've got the first part covered, I think, thanks to this question. I set up the Data Query and pulled the columns that I initially wanted from SQLServer. That gave me a table like so:

I had a screen cap but the image won't post due to my rep < 10, so the table looks like:

gmapId, scale, usgsIdF, xmin, xmax, ymin, ymax
18015, 250000, 13139, -121.891, -123.071, 43, 45.5
18016, 125000, 13140, -117, -118.936, 34.25, 35.624
...

And I now have the data listed as a Source under the Table of Contents window.

How can I now translate that information into a bunch of squares on the map? And then can I use that to set up an attribute table?

I have a lot of python experience, so if that is the way to go I can do it. I am also good with SQL Server 2008, though I have not used it's spatial capabilities yet. So if there is a solution to be had involving TSQL I can also go that route.

I'm just scratching around trying to figure a good way to start.