Nearest Neighbor tool

[katieclarke]

Hey All,

I am trying (!) to use the nearest neighbor tool on ArcGIS 10. I have x, y, and z co-ordinates in an excel spreadsheet, and have tried to import into the first line of the n.n tool 'input point feature' both in .txt and .csv format and it doesn't seem to want to work. Could anybody help me here?!

Many thanks,
Katie

[michaelcollins1]

I believe you have to create a point feature class from the table first. I'm assuming that you're referring to the Average Nearest neighbor tool in Spatial Statistics.

[michaelcollins1]

you might have to create an event layer or feature class from the table first.

[katieclarke]

you might have to create an event layer or feature class from the table first.

OK so in that case, i'm having trouble actually importing the data into a feature class. Before, I had tried to create a point file, and add my points in the attribute table, but I got stuck there. I'm very sorry, i'm new to ArcGIS and not very computer savy anyway, do you think you could talk me through how to add a spreadsheet into a feature class?

Thanks for your time, I really appreciate it.

Katie

[michaelcollins1]

make sure that the field names in the spread sheet are simple and alphanumeric only
In ArcCatalog, locate the spread sheet, and expand the menu to the correct worksheet within the spread sheet
Right click on the table and select Create Feature Class\From X Y Table and follow the menu. Don't forget to assign the proper coordinate system that your data is in.

[katieclarke]

Well it seems to have worked. For the nearest neighbor would you suggest making 2 feature classes? one for x, y and another for z co ordinates?

[michaelcollins1]

No need, z is your elevation