Point of view... on points

DanPatterson_Retired · ‎01-12-2018

This is the current state of the Point and PointGeometry .... not the best....

pt2 = arcpy.Point()

pt2
<Point (0.0, 0.0, #, #)>        # ---- make a point

pg2 = arcpy.PointGeometry(pt2)  # ---- make a point geometry

pg2.WKT                         # ---- why does it have valid X, Y values????
'POINT (0 0)'‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

So there is no such thing as a 'null' point (but a 'nominal' point as one of our esteemed participants noted).

'None' isn't good enough. You can create an 'empty' geometry recognized by other representations with a little trickery.

import arcpy

n = np.nan

a = np.array([n, n, n, n])

pt = arcpy.Point()

pt.X, pt.Y, pt.Z, pt.M = a

pg = arcpy.PointGeometry(pt)

pg
<PointGeometry object at 0x200c6ed6ac8[0x200bf9a39e0]>

pg.WKT
'POINT EMPTY'

pt
<Point (nan, nan, nan, nan)>‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

And when you look at the PointGeometry, you decide which is best\.

# ---- by using NaN (not a number) for point properties ----
pt        # <Point (nan, nan, nan, nan)>

pg = arcpy.PointGeometry(pt)

pg.JSON   # '{"x":"NaN","y":"NaN","spatialReference":{"wkid":null}}'

pg.WKT    #  'POINT EMPTY'

# ---- The current state of affairs ----

pt2       # <Point (0.0, 0.0, #, #)>

pg2 = arcpy.PointGeometry(pt2)

pg2.JSON  # '{"x":0,"y":0,"spatialReference":{"wkid":null}}'

pg2.WKT   # 'POINT (0 0)'‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

I should point out that you can use math.nan inplace of np.nan

m = math.nan
b = np.array([m, m, m, m])
pt3 = arcpy.Point()
pt3.X, pt3.Y, pt3.Z, pt3.M = b
pt3  # ---- <Point (nan, nan, nan, nan)>

pg3 = arcpy.PointGeometry(pt3)

pg3.JSON  # ---- '{"x":"NaN","y":"NaN","spatialReference":{"wkid":null}}'

pg3.WKT   # ---- 'POINT EMPTY'‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍