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Can ArcGIS Pro import coverages (.adf files)?

JoshuaFlickinger1

I haven't been able to find any information related to how coverage files are treated in ArcGIS Pro - other than they don't seem to show up properly in the Project pane when I connect to my data directory. Is there an import tool I've overlooked or should I take this to mean coverages aren't supported in Pro? If they are not, is there a plan to support coverages in the future?

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GerryGabrisch

I had to revive a project from 20 years ago and the data were coverage files. QGIS can still convert coverages to file formats that ArcGIS Pro can read. Just add the correct file when adding vector data. You might find more help here. https://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/211315/open-arcinfo-files-in-qgis

JosephKerski

Update - I can't claim credit - it was Steve Lynch who helped me figure this out - Thank you Steve! ... my sorrow has turned into joy - what you need to do is actually type IN the geometry of your data - so in my case, for example, for coastlines stored as an ArcInfo coverage:

C:\temp\josephK\coast_line\coastl\arc

And remember to do what I mentioned above - use copy to text - for your whole pathname. It is very important to be at the correct position in your path - you need to be AT the level where you are seeing the ADF coverage files ... see below:

--Joseph Kerski

JosephKerski

I tried as shp as well - empty.

JosephKerski

Sorry... I spoke too soon. I thought it had worked but it turned out that my results are all EMPTY feature classes. Argh! I was soooo close and so excited about this.

JosephKerski

True.

But this is all very helpful indeed.

I talked with Steve L above and it truly does work! The only semi-funky thing is that you have to go to Windows explorer, copy the whole desired path to TEXT, then in ArcGIS Pro, paste that whole string in to the copy features box before selecting the geometry type. But that's a minor thing - I'm very thankful to everyone that it works!

But yes, as Curtis says, my students/faculty/ in my workshops still encounter e00s so a Script would be FANTASTIC. For years for example I ran Bruce Ralston's SDTS (yes, SDTS) to shapefile program but you had to run it outside of ArcGIS, and so it would be much better to have a e00 to feature class or coverage script... someday... please. Thanks so much,

--Joseph Kerski

curtvprice

My script requires that you have workstation installed. Probably don't want to go there. 🙂

curtvprice

Robert, that's fantastic, so then, Pro can't view coverages in the interface -- but the geoprocessing environment can still see them. Joseph Kerski is specifically looking at .e00 files posted on websites, this means a Python script supported by Pro could run import71.exe and then do the import. The .e00 files are clear text so it should be straightforward for a python script to scan the first line for the e00 content and use that information to tell the script what to do next.

Wish I wasn't swamped right now, but seems to me it would great if the GP team could post a sample for us to use. It doesn't sound like that difficult of a script.

Robert LeClair

Insider "Pro" tip from Steve Lynch (Esri). Use the Copy Features GP tool in Pro and put in the complete coverage path including the geometry to import into a geodatabase and/or shapefile. Works like a charm! See the graphic below.

Convert Coverage to GDB FC

DanPatterson_Retired

give it a try... Pro imports toolboxes, scripts will run if they are python 3.x compliant and even if they aren't you can run py2to3 on them.

The big change for most users is print is now a function ie

print("this") instead of ... print "this"

nothing to lose since coverages don't appear to be covered anymore

JosephKerski

Can I run your script in Pro?

JosephKerski

Curtis - my students have Pro, not ArcMap. What should they do?

JosephKerski

My end users don't have ArcMap - they only have Pro... what should I do?

curtvprice

They were pretty clear at the ArcGIS Pro holistic testing two years ago November that there are no plans to support coverages in Pro. However my Python function that runs Workstation still works from Python 3.4 arcpy so all is not lost.

RebeccaStrauch__GISP

and if you have access to Desktop, besides arcpy, you can also just use the toolbox to convert it into a geodatabase featureclass. If you use multiple featuretype within the coverage, e.g. the arcs, points, polygons and regions (which was common back in the workstation days), you may need to covert more than one type. Just an fyi

DanPatterson_Retired

there are no coverage tools Tools that are not available in ArcGIS Pro—Appendices | ArcGIS for Desktop

so do your conversion in arcmap prior to bringing into pro.

also Supported data types and items—ArcGIS Pro | ArcGIS for Desktop

arcpy stuff Coverage FeatureClass properties—ArcPy Functions | ArcGIS for Desktop

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