Numbering Polygons

[ElenaSava]

Hello,

I am working with a watershed map of Arizona, and I was wondering if there is a function or a way that I can get ArcMap to number the watersheds. For instance, if we have watershed X numbered as 0, I want the watersheds that surround/or share a boundary with watershed X to be numbered 1, and the watersheds that surround/ or share a boundary with the number 1 watersheds to be numbered 2 and so on. Is there a way this can be done?

Thanks,
E

[Anonymous User]

You should be able to do an iterative selection/field calculation in ModelBuilder. Use the Select By Location tool to select features sharing a boundary (You can choose to seed the analysis using either a selection or by calulating the first polygon's id to 0). Next, perform the field calculation on your feature layer/selection. Then just set your initial selection so that your selecting features step forward as you iterate. Also, remember to use the Get Count tool in order to stop your analysis when there are no more adjacent features for the selection step, etc. versus having a set number of iterations. If you are interested in this simply for map production/labeling you can also add the result to the map symbolized and with labeling set up...

If you would like assistance setting this up just send me an email and I can help you out pretty quickly. JasonAaronGriffin@gmail.com

Should be fun, good luck!
- Jason.