SpatialDataFrame.from_layer Incorrectly Returns DataFrame for Table

Question

Looking at the SpatialDataFrame documentation: staticfrom_layer(layer, **kwargs) Returns a SpatialDataFrame from a FeatureLayer or Table object. Inputs: param layer:FeatureLayer or Tableparam gis:GIS object Returns a SpatialDataFrame However, I see something different when using a Table object: >>> tbl_url = # URL to AGOL table >>> >>> tbl = arcgis.features.Table(tbl_url) >>> type(tbl) <class 'arcgis.features.layer.Table'> >>> SDF = SpatialDataFrame.from_layer(tbl) >>> type(SDF) <class 'pandas.core.frame.DataFrame'> >>> ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ So, passing a table returns a DataFrame, even though the documentation says a SpatialDataFrame is returned. Even more interesting are the methods and properties of this "DataFrame": >>> SDF_attrs = ['copy', 'erase', 'from_featureclass', 'from_hdf', 'from_layer', 'geoextent', 'geometry', 'merge_datasets', 'plot', 'reproject', 'select_by_location', 'set_geometry', 'to_featureclass', 'to_featurelayer', 'to_featureset', 'to_hdf'] >>> >>> for attr in SDF_attrs: ... print(attr, hasattr(SDF, attr)) ... copy True erase False from_featureclass False from_hdf False from_layer False geoextent False geometry False merge_datasets False plot True reproject False select_by_location False set_geometry True to_featureclass False to_featurelayer False to_featureset False to_hdf True >>> ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ I can understand some of these because there is both a pandas DataFrame version and ArcGIS SpatialDataFrame version of the property/method, but why is set_geometry showing up?

bixb0012 · Answer

Andrew, I just sent an e-mail.  I am currently using ArcGIS API for Python 1.4, and a quick check showed the same results.  I temporarily made an AGOL table publicly viewable and sent you the URL.

AndrewChapkowski · Answer

Joshua,

Can you email me the URL you are using? achapkowski@esri.com

Additionally, can you tell me what version you are using? I cannot reproduce your issue.