Fiber connectivity

[Anonymous User]

Hello,

What is the best way to test whether the end points of a line feature class are connected to another feature or not?  I have tried using the various methods of getting dangle points, but what I have tested so far isn't quite what I'm looking for because all of the methods don't allow me to test whether the end points are connected to ANY other type of feature.  Specifically, the end points typically should be plugged into a point feature in our data, and I want to be able to run a tool to grab and/or show the end points that are not.  I believe most of the other dangle options I have found require that the end point be connected to another line or a polygon, but we need to allow the check to account for points as well. 

Methods I have tried:

Feature Vertices To Points

Topology

Find Dangles Check (Data Reviewer extension)

Thanks!

[ChrisDonohue__GISP · Accepted solution]

One approach would be to create end points from each line, then use Select By Location to find where they do contact another Feature.  Then reverse the selection to find the ones that do not connect.

Feature Vertices to Points geoprocesssing tool, with End option specified

Feature Vertices To Points—Data Management toolbox | ArcGIS for Desktop (Note - this is the Help for Pro, but it works the same in ArcGIS).

Selection, Select By Location, with "Select Features From;" set to your Points and the feature layer you want to check against.  There are many options one can try.  For example, depending upon your data and conditions, these two may work if you are comparing against polygons or lines:  "Crossed by the outline of", "share a line segment". If you are comparing against other points, try "Are Identical to".  I'd test the various options versus your expectations, as it is not always obvious which option to use.

Using Select By Location—Help | ArcGIS for Desktop 

Chris Donohue, GISP

[Anonymous User]

Chris,

Thank you for your suggestions.  I hadn't thought outside the box enough to think of that workaround.  I'll give that a try and see what sort of method may work best. 

[ChrisDonohue__GISP]

Give it a try and see if it works for your data.  The more one does GIS the more one realizes there are several ways to do any task.  So if this doesn't work out, post what the issues were and what the conditions are that need to be met, and I'm sure folks here on GeoNet can come up with other ideas.  For example, I suspect several folks on here could come up with a Python Script to do what you need.

Chris Donohue, GISP

[Anonymous User]

I just tested it out running the vertices tool choosing the "BOTH_ENDS" parameter.  I ran a selection on those points that intersect and then simply switched the selection in the attribute table.  I needed to use BOTH_ENDS because some of my line segments differ in type and are connected via a point feature, so I need to check both ends.  This works perfectly for what I need.  There should be enough dialogue in the tool resource pages for me to put together a script of my own.  Thank you again!

[RebeccaStrauch__GISP]

Don't forget to mark Chris' response as correct. 

As for the documentation, there is usually a feedback link to send email about the page and offer corrections and/or suggestions.  I can't guarantee that they will add the suggested workflow, but I know they are usually pretty good about making corrections thru this route.  just an fyi if you didn't already know.