Layering Polygons

JenniferPerry

I'm frankly shocked I've never encountered this problem before and despite its seeming simplicity I cannot find a good solution. My problem is that I have a polygon shapefile displaying vegetation types. In some areas vegetation type A overlaps type B, while in other B overlaps A. Of course it's more complex than this as there are about 12 vegetation types and they are all overlapping each other. I need to find a way to order the polygons so that those being overlapped always show up on top. The shapefile needs to be delivered as just one shapefile with a layer file so separating out certain vegetation types is not an option. I need to keep them all in one shapefile/layer file and have them ordered correctly.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated! Thanks.

ArcGISUser

Instead of a shapefile, I would convert it into a feature class using subtypes. Each vegetation class will be a subtype.  For example, our agency has a condominium layer (feature class) and each floor is a subtype.  We have 14 floors so 14 subtypes.  Some polygons overlap (like floors 2 and up on top of floor 1) while others do not, like only having one floor.  Some floors have a deck or balcony, so the polygons aren't always exactly on top of each other, just like your data.  You set the subtypes so that floor 3 is always on top floor 2 not floor 3 over floor 7, etc. I think this might help solve your problem.  Subtypes are easy to edit as well.

Cheers!

Working with Subtypes:
http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisdesktop/10.0/help/index.html#/Working_with_subtypes/005r00000002000000/

Quick tour of subtypes:
http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisdesktop/10.0/help/index.html#/A_quick_tour_of_subtypes/005r00000001000000/

Creating Subtypes:
http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisdesktop/10.0/help/index.html#/Creating_subtypes/005r00000003000000/

MicrosoftTeams-image.png