Add reference field to buffer tools

[TomGeo]

When creating buffers, you have several options to dissolve the buffers, but what I am missing in Buffer, as well as in Multiple Ring Buffer, is the possibility to specify at least one attribute of the input features to be transferred onto the resulting buffers.

Of course you can argue that I can do a spatial join, or intersect or something else to make the connection, but on one hand that means an extra geoprocessing tool run, and on the other hand, that only works as long as the object used to create the buffer is intersecting, or touching the buffer, or you search within a specific distance.

Especially when creating multi ring buffers the intersecting and/or touching falls possibly short in case of all the ring buffers.

The buffersize I use to create the multiple ring buffers depend on a feature value in the attribute table, which goes into a formula and the resulting distance for the buffers is calculated on the fly. Thereby, fishing for buffers in the vicinity is not much fun.

Hence, I propose that the buffer tools functionality is extended by the possibility to transfer one, or multiple feature attributes from the initiating feature over to the resulting buffer(s).

[DanPatterson]

Partial solution is to use...

Pairwise Buffer (Analysis)—ArcGIS Pro | Documentation

The output feature class will include a ORIG_FID field that contains the feature ID of the input feature for which the buffer was created. If a field named ORIG_FID exists in the input, its values will be overwritten in the output. If a Dissolve Type value of All or List is used, the output will not include this field.

[TomGeo]

Agreed @DanPatterson, it offers the possibility to link back, and join fields needed.

Of course it does not work with the multi ring buffer tool, and it requires the join as an extra step in the users procedure, while adding fields and values while creating the buffers, seems much more straight forward, since the data are at that point at hand.