topic merge a split polyline that intersects itself and obtain the direction of the polyline at the end vertex in Data Management Questions

merge a split polyline that intersects itself and obtain the direction of the polyline at the end vertex

GinaCabas1 — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 15:35:06 GMT

Hi everyone,

This is my first time in this community, I would be so thankful If I could get support from you guys.

I'm using Arcmap desktop 10.6.1 and this is the issue: I have a polyline type layer that represent a route. In the symbology layer properties I set a cartographic symbol that indicates the direction of the route, so when I start a editing the layer, at the end of sketch, the last vertex of the polyline indicates the direction of the whole route with an arrow, as show in the image below:

when I split the polyline in any vertices I get 2 lines like this, both indicate the direction at the end of each polyline:

then, when I want to merge this two polylines again with the MERGE tool of the editor toolbar, I get the direction of the route in the intersection of the merged polyline instead of getting the arrow at the end as it was before splitting.

I don't know how to reset the direction in order to get the arrow at the end of the polyline, do you have any idea? any suggestions?

Thank you so much!!!! I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

Gina

Re: merge a split polyline that intersects itself and obtain the direction of the polyline at the end vertex

Tim_McGinnes — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 00:44:36 GMT

Unfortunately it's worse than you think. When ArcGIS merges features it creates vertices where any lines cross each other. Then it tries its best to merge the lines together, but then has no concept of how the original lines joined up. In your case what happens is that you end up with a single polyline with 3 separate parts - you can see this by using the Edit Vertices tool:

I know people have scripted solutions to this in the past, but I don't think there's any easy way inside ArcGIS to do this.

Merging lines (that might cross) at common endpoints without multi-part features in the result

Is there a particular reason you are splitting and merging the same feature? You may be able to edit differently to avoid this problem.

Re: merge a split polyline that intersects itself and obtain the direction of the polyline at the end vertex

GinaCabas1 — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 08:26:26 GMT

Hi Tim, thanks for your answer!!!

I'll check the link you sent. The reason I split the same line is because sometimes it is necessary to add pieces to the route, is there a different method to edit the polyline?

Gina