topic Re: adding xy data in from csv file in Data Management Questions

adding xy data in from csv file

psiri — Fri, 11 Jul 2014 16:30:04 GMT

Hi,

I am having trouble added xy data for a species occurrences into arcmap. I've successfully done it for 83 species but for these 5, I've been having so much trouble. The x- / y- drop down menu doesn't allow me to click anything (where I should be indicating x-column and y-column). I've tried saving it as .csv, text delimited and tried on different gis documents but it still doesn't work.

The data looks something like this:

SPECIES	POINT_X	POINT_Y
u_malah	431235	112448
u_malah	429814.5	170755.6
u_malah	402839.5	290882.2
u_malah	164366	379005

I'm looking to plot it and then draw a minimum polygon. I'm just not sure if is just me, or if there is something wrong with the data?

Any help would be appreciated greatly!

Re: adding xy data in from csv file

DanPatterson_Retired — Fri, 11 Jul 2014 16:38:58 GMT

What program was used to produce the data? If it originated in an spreadsheet, ensure that the columns are formatted explicitly to numeric, and that there are now missing entries within the rows...save it as a *.csv file and examine it within a text editor. I have also seen cases where a blank row at the end of the file will make it unreadable by Arc*

Re: adding xy data in from csv file

psiri — Fri, 11 Jul 2014 16:55:07 GMT

I used excel, but I have checked that its numeric and there are no extra rows. It still comes up blank.

Re: adding xy data in from csv file

DanPatterson_Retired — Fri, 11 Jul 2014 17:02:23 GMT

Well I am looking at your data and indeed there are numbers there, but if what you have posted is correct, they are left justified, meaning the data are being represented as text...right-click on the appropriate field names, bring up the properties and specify numeric....if this isn't the case...never mind

Re: adding xy data in from csv file

psiri — Fri, 11 Jul 2014 17:25:53 GMT

yeah I tried that- still no luck. thanks anyway

Re: adding xy data in from csv file

MelitaKennedy — Fri, 11 Jul 2014 17:36:28 GMT

Also look for spaces. You might try exporting it as csv so you can more clearly see if there are any spaces.

Re: adding xy data in from csv file

ISP_graynic — Fri, 11 Jul 2014 21:23:34 GMT

Are you simply using "Add Data" in ArcMap or are you bringing it in through a tool?

You might want to try using the "Excel to table" tool in the ArcToolbox and see if that works. I know we have had issues with X/Y data and using the tool has worked. Just an idea.

Re: adding xy data in from csv file

psiri — Sat, 12 Jul 2014 10:42:45 GMT

It worked! Thanks for ending my frustration!