Book Image

Programming ArcGIS with Python Cookbook, Second Edition

By : Eric Pimpler
Book Image

Programming ArcGIS with Python Cookbook, Second Edition

By: Eric Pimpler

Overview of this book

The book kicks off with the fundamentals of starting to use Python with ArcGIS, followed by recipes on managing map documents and layers, including how to find and fix broken data links in these files. In the second part of the book, you will learn to create custom geoprocessing tools and how to use the Attribute and Location tools to select specific features. The third part of the book covers topics for advanced users including the REST API, and also teaches you how to use Python with ArcGIS Pro. The book finishes with appendices covering how to automate Python scripts, and the five things that should be at the back of every GIS programmer's mind.
Table of Contents (17 chapters)
16
Index

Creating feature layers and table views


Feature layers and table views serve as intermediate datasets held in memory specifically for use with tools, such as Select by Location and Select Attributes. Although these temporary datasets can be saved, they are not needed in most cases.

Getting ready

Feature classes are physical representations of geographic data and are stored as files (shapefiles, personal geodatabases, and file geodatabases) or within a geodatabase. Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri) defines a feature class as "a collection of features that shares a common geometry (point, line, or polygon), attribute table, and spatial reference."

Feature classes can contain default and user-defined fields. Default fields include the SHAPE and OBJECTID fields. These fields are maintained and updated automatically by ArcGIS. The SHAPE field holds the geometric representation of a geographic feature, while the OBJECTID field holds a unique identifier for each feature. Additional default...