Shapefile with database

Question

I have a bunch of shapefiles for each township in our county.  Along with the shapefile is a database in access with tax roll information.  I can join each one manually but there are 48 of them so I'm looking for a script that will automate the task.  I've already merged all of the shapefiles together then merged all the databases together then finally I joined the shapefile to the db.  Like I say I would like to do the same thing to each individual file but that will take a couple of days to do and I need to do this each month (as things are updated).

Hope that all made sense.  I can answer questions if needed.

Thanks for the help.

WesMiller · Answer

Model builder sounds like the way to go!

BenGrod · Answer

Darren's on the money with all the options. Of the available options I would suggest Model Builder. Here's a quick video on how to get started with Model Builder. I think you'll find it easy to build models by dragging familiar tools from ArcCatalog onto the canvas and interacting with common dialogues to create the joins/outputs etc. It will take some time to add and create the 48 features and joins but all you have to do is build it once then you can run it quickly each month when you receive updates.

DarrenWiens2 · Answer

There are many ways to save yourself from repetition in ArcGIS, most of which rely on stringing together geoprocessing tools and clicking a "Go" button. You can do this using ArcObjects (personally, I wouldn't bother), Python script, ModelBuilder, or batch processing (listed in my order of most flexible/hardest to learn to least flexible/easiest to learn). You need to decide which road you feel like going down.

The main tool(s) you're looking to repeat are Add Join or Join Field.