topic Re: Simply? getting Z values into attribute table in 3D Questions

Simply? getting Z values into attribute table

DataSteward — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 18:47:11 GMT

This should be really simple and I'm surprized that an hour of looking through the forums and other support hasn't turned up an answer for me yet. Am I just being blind?

I have a shapefile of 3D points, and I want to fill a field in the attribute table with the Z values. Calculate Geometry does not offer Z coordinate options. So I've tried using the Field Calculator with

[INDENT]Dim Output As Double
Dim pPoint As IPoint
Dim pZAware as IZAware
Set pPoint = [Shape]
Set pZAware = pPoint
pZAware.ZAware = true
Output = pPoint.Z
[/INDENT]

(and variants thereof)

But all I get for output is the value '1'

Re: Simply? getting Z values into attribute table

EricRice — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 20:17:29 GMT

Eric,

The Add XY Coordinates tool will add POINT_Z and POINT_M fields when the input feature is z- and m-enabled. It's located in Data Management Tools > Features. If you don't want the X, Y fields you can delete them and keep just the Z.

In ArcGIS 10, the Calculate Geometry has the option to get the Z for a point dataset.

I tested your code sample and it worked fine for me so there is nothing wrong with that. What does your dataset say in the Shape field? And how did the data get the Z values originally?

Regards,
Eric

Re: Simply? getting Z values into attribute table

DataSteward — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 22:08:12 GMT

"Add XY Coordinates" did the trick!

I'm at version 9.3.1 - looking forward to 10. My shape field reports "Point ZM". The file originated as a CSV with XYZ values, turned into a shape file with "ASCII 3D to Feature Class". My code may remain a mystery, but the overall problem is solved.

Thanks!

Re: Simply? getting Z values into attribute table

KONPETROV — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 17:13:41 GMT

well i have the same problem i tried but i am getting only x,y coordinates, i am using 10.2.2.

Re: Simply? getting Z values into attribute table

XanderBakker — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 17:21:19 GMT

You could use the python syntax and write:

!Shape!.firstPoint.Z

More examples here: ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2)

Re: Simply? getting Z values into attribute table

KONPETROV — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 18:55:35 GMT

very usefull! any suggestion if i want to create a line with a start and end point which is not drawn at the terrain but as a chord, to get after that the z values?

Re: Simply? getting Z values into attribute table

XanderBakker — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 19:17:41 GMT

Hi,

Is it possible to start a new thread and include some more details about what you're after? Maybe include some sample data or an image that explains the situation?

Kind regards, Xander

Re: Simply? getting Z values into attribute table

KONPETROV — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 22:02:37 GMT

create line-chord from higher point to lower,is the title, thanks a lot

Re: Simply? getting Z values into attribute table

AdrianWelsh — Tue, 16 May 2017 04:25:10 GMT

I'm late to the party but this tool in Pro works great!

Add Geometry Attributes—Data Management toolbox | ArcGIS Desktop

Re: Simply? getting Z values into attribute table

NigelBaker — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 09:21:10 GMT

I have the same type of problem and simply cannot believe that this is still an issue.

I have gps data which i have extracted from photo metadata and converted to .kmz using geosetter.

I import this data using the kmz to layer tool and then save the points to a shapefile.

if i select a point the coordinates of the point are shown in the pop-up window in full with x, y and z (altitude).

then i tried both the 'Add XY Coordinates' tool which returned a 0 for all the z values and the 'add geometry attributes' tool which returned a 'null' for all the z values. the XY coordinates were written correctly.

what is the deal? it is 2019, we live in a 3D world. why is this so difficult?

please!

Re: Simply? getting Z values into attribute table

AdrianWelsh — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 19:15:10 GMT

Nigel Baker

Maybe first try converting these features to 3D:

Feature To 3D By Attribute—Help | ArcGIS Desktop

Then try getting Z values.

Re: Simply? getting Z values into attribute table

NigelBaker — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 08:16:08 GMT

Hi,

Thanks for the tip.

However that tool requires that you have an attribute field for the Z component.

I do not have this… kinda the point of this whole thread!

When I try to generate Z coordinates using update coordinates or some other tool all I get are zeros or nulls.

So either I try this tool before generating the false Z values; and the tool doesn’t run… or I try it after generating the Z field full of zeros and the 3D features are tied to the ground…

Or was there some other way to get the necessary Z values so that this tool can work?

Re: Simply? getting Z values into attribute table

AdrianWelsh — Tue, 22 Oct 2019 20:34:39 GMT

I am not sure without trying it myself. I personally would extract the exif data from the photos in order to grab all of the attributes that I would (like x,y, and z), then put those back into the attributes of the point feature.

Re: Simply? getting Z values into attribute table

NigelBaker — Wed, 23 Oct 2019 07:25:06 GMT

Hi Adrian.

Perhaps i was not clear in my original post.

This was what I did.

1. Extract Exif data from the images using Geosetter.

2. Export the data as .kmz

3. Import then .kmz into ArcGISpro using the ‘kml to layer’ tool.

4. Save the feature as a shapefile.

5. Try to write the Z value to the attribute table by either ‘Add XY coordinates’ or ‘Add geometry attributes’. These tools return either a 1 or a 0 to the attribute. (I also tried this on the feature before saving to shapefile but same result)

When I have the feature imported I can query the points and in the pop-up under PopupInfo I can see the XY AND Z coordinates, as well as, taken and GPS date and time. So the data is there associated with the feature but for some reason ArcGISpro cannot read it. It manages the XY part just fine so whats the possible problem?

As I said in my original post, this is 2019… we still live in a 3D world… why is GIS so bad at the 3rd dimension?

Anyway, sorry for the rant, but I feel like I have had to repeat myself all the time with this issue.

Nigel

Re: Simply? getting Z values into attribute table

AdrianWelsh — Wed, 23 Oct 2019 14:32:10 GMT

Hi Nigel,

Thanks for the double clarification. I understand your issue. I was suggesting another way of solving the problem versus going the geosetter route.

It looks to me that all of this info is stored in the typical "popupinfo" box that Google files get thrown into. This info is not the easiest to extract and is usually comprised in one long html text string.

Take a look a this thread of someone else having this issue:

Converting a KML to a Layer, how to convert popupinfo data to fields?

The answer is not what you're looking for as it links to another thread which may have some help you can utilize. It is not easy or straight forward.

Maybe instead of geosetter you could use the GeoTagged Photos To Points tool in ArcGIS Pro. For me personally, building off of what I mentioned earlier, I need more control and don't trust google/KMZ files so I extract the exif data into a CSV and work my way around the photos that way - very manually (though I have built a process that automates this).

Re: Simply? getting Z values into attribute table

NigelBaker — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 07:30:05 GMT

Hi Adrian,

So after spending an hour or 2 yesterday figuring out EXIFtool so I could generate a .csv for all image locations which I could then import into Arc.. which worked great. It turns out Arc had the right tool all along!!!

The ‘Geotagged photo to points’ tool works perfectly. Of course you have to run the ‘add XY coordinates’ tool to end up with a fully populated attribute table but hey, it is still easier than what I had figured out.

It really seems to be an issue with Arc that it can be difficult to find the right tool. Without you mentioning this as an aside, after this week long thread chat I think proves that point.

Well, problem solved. Thankyou.

Nigel