SpatialDataFrame.from_layer Incorrectly Returns DataFrame for Table

JoshuaBixby — Sun, 12 Dec 2021 08:29:53 GMT

Looking at the SpatialDataFrame documentation:

staticfrom_layer(layer, **kwargs)
Returns a SpatialDataFrame from a FeatureLayer or Table object. Inputs:
param layer: FeatureLayer or Table
param gis: GIS object
Returns a SpatialDataFrame

param layer:	FeatureLayer or Table
param gis:	GIS object

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?

Re: SpatialDataFrame.from_layer Incorrectly Returns DataFrame for Table

AndrewChapkowski — Wed, 28 Mar 2018 17:47:33 GMT

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.

Re: SpatialDataFrame.from_layer Incorrectly Returns DataFrame for Table

JoshuaBixby — Wed, 28 Mar 2018 19:02:52 GMT

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.

topic SpatialDataFrame.from_layer Incorrectly Returns DataFrame for Table in ArcGIS API for Python Questions

SpatialDataFrame.from_layer Incorrectly Returns DataFrame for Table

Re: SpatialDataFrame.from_layer Incorrectly Returns DataFrame for Table

Re: SpatialDataFrame.from_layer Incorrectly Returns DataFrame for Table