Finding point feature changes

Question

Hi,

I'm trying to solve this issue:

I have 2 feature classes, with 2 states of the same point features. I'm not trying to find which specific features have changed by comparing (position or attribution).

I found those tools:

1 - Detect Feature Changes—Data Management toolbox | ArcGIS for Desktop

2 - Feature Compare—Data Management toolbox | ArcGIS for Desktop

but they don't help me in my case, as:

1 - only works with lines

2 - only compares the whole feature class, but does not report which features have changed.

Is there a way around this without explicitly writing a method for this (which will be super slow)?

Any input welcome!

Thanks,

matt

MitchHolley1 · Answer

Have you tried using the '@SHAPEXY' to search the geometries of the points?

For example, if you have a unique ID associated with each point, you can do loop through each record and append the SHAPEXY with the uniqueID to a list.  Then do the same for the other feature and see where the two lists differ.

NeilAyres · Answer

If neither of these tools meets your needs, you may have to "roll your own" using python.

But data comparisons can be tricky (there is so much to compare...).

But the geometry equals and other methods for geometry do enable you to do this. And if you structure it correctly, it might not be that slow.

If you do a spatial joint between the 2 sets of features first, then compare the actual geometries using the method....

Then, the attributes. Can get complicated...