Is there any way to clip a polyline with another polyline file that does not match up exactly?

Question

I have two line files. A classified stream shapefile (blue) and a flowline shapefile (pink). They are from different sources and do not match up. I want to clip the flowline shapefile using the classified stream shapefile. Is that possible? Thanks for any and all help.

RonaldHaug · Answer

Hi Louise, What you do depends on the purpose of your map.

Does the blue line accurately display the stream on the ground?  Is it something you will be using to make a land use decision? If yes, then delete the pink line where it is adjacent to the blue line. You can do this by making a clip file of the database reference file with a map extent you make ( a rectangle polygon a bit bigger than your map). That way you can edit it without altering the reference geodatabase. You can then append your clipped flowline with the stream shapefile and make it one big happy family.

I put NHD flowlines on my maps all the time. They are a good indicator that there may be something on the ground, but they need to be checked out in person. Streams move and meander. Sometimes the map lines themselves are moved by accident in GIS.

Best to walk the streams, especially the small ones, both seasonal and perennial, and make tracks with your gps using field maps. You'd be surprised how different they can be from what's on the database.

BobBooth1 · Answer

This thread suggests a method:

https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-pro-questions/how-to-replace-line-geometry-in-layer-a-with/td-p/1127161

The Align Features tool seems like another good option.

Robert_LeClair · Answer

One solution I can think of is to use the Align Features (Editing) GP tool to align the flowline (pink) to the stream (blue) based upon a search distance parameter.  It doesn't clip the line but it does put in the same coincident space.  If the lines were in the same feature class then you could use the Planarize command/GP tool to remove coincident lines.