Add data to attributes based from a sheet without adding another field

Question

I'm sure this has been posted somewhere but I can't find a solid answer. I'm assuming it's an easy solution.

I have a feature class with 5 unique features, each with their own ID, and multiple fields that have no data. I have an excel spreadsheet with those same fields, and they have the data and the ID. What I would like to do is join that spreadsheet and have it populate the fields in the feature class based on the common ID attribute. I don’t want it to create or add new fields like join table or join field does, I just want it to pull the info from the spreadsheet and fill the fields in the feature class.

I have 30 fields so I don't want to have to use Field Calculator on each one....

clt_cabq · Answer

Good luck! models can be a chore sometimes and have always felt a bit 'twitchy' to me as in not as stable as you might want for the long term but its a good approach to developing a procedure and once its working you can port it out to a python script even if you end up modifying the script significantly afterwards.

IanLadd · Answer

@clt_cabq Thanks! This is a test I'm doing to apply this workflow to a larger feature class with thousands of features. The layer I have in ArcGIS pro just doesn't have enough detail in the pop-ups, but I have a spreadsheet with all of that. They both have project ID's so they can be joined that way.

I'm going to give the Model option a go for the time being.

clt_cabq · Answer

Is this an activity you are going to be performing regularly, as in weekly or monthly updates ? Your options are going to be a bit limited - you can pull this off using python and nested search/update cursors if you have that knowledge. You could also run a model that performs a join (presuming there is a 1:1 relationship between your feature class and your spreadsheet), populates your FC fields from the spreadsheet fields, then removes the join so you don't retain those extra fields in your feature class (join works differently from a spatial join in this regard). Or, if your spreadsheet also includes geographic locations you can create a new FC by either running a geocoding operation or converting to points based on a XY coordinate pair. I think more information about your use case and workflow is needed.