topic Re: Points to Line Tool not ordering correctly in Geoprocessing Questions

Points to Line Tool not ordering correctly

RichardBaker — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 20:13:24 GMT

Points to Line Tool in Data Management / Features is not sorting properly nor orienting vertices correctly. I have a points layer that I am using to create a line layer by sorting. I use the GPS_Time column as my sort perameter. I have also tried GPS_Second. It seems to be ignoring those sort columns and sorting by some unknown. It even is missing points in the original file. I have attached a points layer and associated PointsToLine layer to show the comparison.
Thank you
Richard

Re: Points to Line Tool not ordering correctly

XanderBakker — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 08:31:21 GMT

Hi Richard,

That is an interesting case you have here. I�??ve tried to do it also and get the same result you have. Apart from the wrong order, and the missing points, ArcGIS seems to invent its own point locations! When you zoom to the lower left corner of the data, you�??ll see that the a vertex of the created line is between the points with FID 31 and 32. This happens at several locations.

I tried a workaround the sort order by adding X and Y columns and exporting the table to DBF. In Excel I sorted the data on the GPS_second field and saved the file. After adding it to ArcMap, I created XY Events and exported the layer to a featureclass (in a FGDB). Using this point featureclass in the Points to Line tool resulted in the proper order of the points, but still there are points missing and new locations created.

I seems to be related with the coordinate system. If you project the points to a projected coordinate system (like NAD_1983_UTM_Zone_15N) and then use the Points to Line tool, it will honor the sort field and the locations.

In 10.0 the results is correct (locations and sort order). The underlying script has been rewritten in 10.1 beta to implement the new da (data access) module. Apparently, there are some situations where it is not working correctly. Esri should look into this!

Cheers!

Re: Points to Line Tool not ordering correctly

DanPatterson_Retired — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 13:48:18 GMT

By any chance is this thread related to this thread, re the sorting issue?
http://forums.arcgis.com/threads/36757-No-sort-option-in-the-DA-module-cursors

Re: Points to Line Tool not ordering correctly

DavidWynne — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:38:31 GMT

By any chance is this thread related to this thread, re the sorting issue?
http://forums.arcgis.com/threads/36757-No-sort-option-in-the-DA-module-cursors

Yes it is
-Dave

Re: Points to Line Tool not ordering correctly

DanLee — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:00:30 GMT

Points to Line Tool in Data Management / Features is not sorting properly nor orienting vertices correctly. I have a points layer that I am using to create a line layer by sorting. I use the GPS_Time column as my sort perameter. I have also tried GPS_Second. It seems to be ignoring those sort columns and sorting by some unknown. It even is missing points in the original file. I have attached a points layer and associated PointsToLine layer to show the comparison.
Thank you
Richard

Thank you for reporting the problem and providing the repro data. We have resolved this problem in Points To Line for the upcoming Beta 2. Please use the attached pointtoline.py file to replace the one in your install folder ..\ArcGIS\Desktop10.1\ArcToolbox\Scripts. I have tested it with your data and received the correct result - a line following the GPS_Time order.

Thanks for testing!

Re: Points to Line Tool not ordering correctly

XanderBakker — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 05:09:06 GMT

Great fix, works like a charm!

Re: Points to Line Tool not ordering correctly

DanLee — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 15:28:34 GMT

Thanks for your confirmation on the fix.