Book Image

Programming ArcGIS with Python Cookbook, Second Edition

By : Donald Eric Pimpler, Eric Pimpler
Book Image

Programming ArcGIS with Python Cookbook, Second Edition

By: Donald Eric Pimpler, Eric Pimpler

Overview of this book

Table of Contents (22 chapters)
Programming ArcGIS with Python Cookbook Second Edition
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Introduction


In this chapter, we're going to cover the creation, testing, editing, and sharing of add-ins created with Python. Add-ins provide a way of adding user interface items to ArcGIS for Desktop through a modular code base designed to perform specific actions. Interface components can include buttons, tools, toolbars, menus, combo boxes, tool palettes, and application extensions. The add-in concept was first introduced in ArcGIS for Desktop 10.0 and could be created with .NET or Java. However, starting with the release of ArcGIS 10.1, add-ins can now be created with Python. Add-ins are created using Python scripts and an XML file that defines how a user interface should appear.

Add-ins provide an easy way to distribute user interface customizations to end users. No installation programs are necessary. A single compressed file with a file extension of .esriaddin is copied to a well-known folder, and ArcGIS for Desktop handles the rest. To simplify the development even further, a Python...