Book Image

Python for ArcGIS Pro

By : Silas Toms, Bill Parker
Book Image

Python for ArcGIS Pro

By: Silas Toms, Bill Parker

Overview of this book

Integrating Python into your day-to-day ArcGIS work is highly recommended when dealing with large amounts of geospatial data. Python for ArcGIS Pro aims to help you get your work done faster, with greater repeatability and higher confidence in your results. Starting from programming basics and building in complexity, two experienced ArcGIS professionals-turned-Python programmers teach you how to incorporate scripting at each step: automating the production of maps for print, managing data between ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Online, creating custom script tools for sharing, and then running data analysis and visualization on top of the ArcGIS geospatial library, all using Python. You’ll use ArcGIS Pro Notebooks to explore and analyze geospatial data, and write data engineering scripts to manage ongoing data processing and data transfers. This exercise-based book also includes three rich real-world case studies, giving you an opportunity to apply and extend the concepts you studied earlier. Irrespective of your expertise level with Esri software or the Python language, you’ll benefit from this book’s hands-on approach, which takes you through the major uses of Python for ArcGIS Pro to boost your ArcGIS productivity.
Table of Contents (20 chapters)
1
Part I: Introduction to Python Modules for ArcGIS Pro
5
Part II: Applying Python Modules to Common GIS Tasks
10
Part III: Geospatial Data Analysis
14
Part IV: Case Studies
18
Other Books You May Enjoy
19
Index

ArcPy environment settings

ArcPy environment settings allow you access to general geoprocessing settings, as well as the geoprocessing settings of a specific tool. For tools, they act as parameters you can set to change the results of a tool. There are many that can be used, but there are some you will use more commonly than others.

In this section, we are going to look at two of the most common ones and see how to set them: arcpy.env.workspace and arcpy.env.scratchWorkspace. Setting your workspace and scratch workspace is a good idea, as it allows you to have a default location to send the data you are creating. They are also the workspaces that will be used when using the list functions you will explore below.

Using the workspace properties of the environment class, you can check and change your workspace or scratch workspace. Your workspace is the default location for any data you write and want to maintain. The scratch workspace is for data you do not want to maintain...