ArcGIS Data Interoperability Frequently Asked Questions

ETL stands for extract, transform, and load.  ETL means you extract data from a source system, transform the data into the format and data schema required by the destination system, then load the data into the destination system.  The spatial in spatial ETL means you can extract, transform, and load spatial data.

No.  At the 10 release, the ArcGIS Data Interoperability extension is a separate setup available on the ArcGIS for Desktop media.  You may install ArcGIS Data Interoperability without licensing it and gain access to GML simple feature-based formats.  Users who are licensed must still install the extension from its own setup.

No, data accessed from this extension is read-only. However, you can select and export the features you want to edit to a geodatabase, then after editing, convert the features back to the source format.