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

How to create a script tool

Creating a script tool is a multi-step process. Beyond writing a script to execute a set of geoprocessing tasks, you will need to do the following steps:

  1. Write and test that the script will complete the desired analysis and save it as a Python file, with a .py extension.
  2. Modify the script to take user parameters.
  3. Identify or create the toolbox you will store your script tool in.
  4. Add a script tool to the toolbox.
  5. Associate your script to that script tool.
  6. Set the parameters and properties of the script tool.
  7. Test the script tool to ensure it works as intended. Make any modifications to the script or the script tool parameters or properties as needed.

A script tool must be created in a toolbox. It is where the script tool will live. Toolboxes are created as part of a project when you create a new project using a template. In this chapter, you will be working in a project that already has a toolbox. If...