Fill the space between polygon features?

[DylanLinet]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]17641[/ATTACH]

Edit: I am working in model builder and am looking for an automated or scripted solution!
Thank you!

[markdenil]

Interactively?
Use the Auto Complete Polygon Tool
It will create polygons in the spaces as you draw a line to close off the opening(s)

If you have a 'hole' in a polygon (no opening to the universe), just draw the line straight across the open space
This will give you two new polygons nested in the space
For the open 'bays' and gaps between polys, set the snapping environment and overshoot a tail into the existing polygon, too.
If you have to close off more than one opening, you can wander the line through an existing poly to get from one opening to another.

Afterwards, you can Merge the resulting polygons, should you so desire.

[DylanLinet]

Interactively?
Use the Auto Complete Polygon Tool
It will create polygons in the spaces as you draw a line to close off the opening(s)

If you have a 'hole' in a polygon (no opening to the universe), just draw the line straight across the open space
This will give you two new polygons nested in the space
For the open 'bays' and gaps between polys, set the snapping environment and overshoot a tail into the existing polygon, too.
If you have to close off more than one opening, you can wander the line through an existing poly to get from one opening to another.

Afterwards, you can Merge the resulting polygons, should you so desire.

I'm sorry I should have provided a bit more detail, I am working in model builder and need an automated tool, or bit of python script to perform this function!

[DuncanHornby]

There is a geo-processing tool that does this (but only if you have ArcInfo license) its called Aggregate Polygons (Cartography toolbox).

Duncan

[markdenil]

Yes, but even AggregatePolygons_cartography
does not do everything dinet1020 wants
quote:
There will be no self-aggregation, meaning no aggregation within an input polygon feature itself along its boundary
unquote

so the jogs and bays don't get closed.

There IS, however, the old Arc/Info era way of doing it:

Take the group of polygons you want to aggregate, and buffer them outwards more than half the distance you want to close.
Take the buffered polygons, and buffer them negative twice that distance  ((distance * 2) * -1)
Now buffer the second set of buffered polygons outward the original distance.
Generalization: Quick and Dirty!

This will also smooth out any long spidery extensions the original polygons may have had, so make sure it accomplishes what you want, and not something you don't.
Be careful also of collisions and aggregations with other nearby features you would rather keep separate.

[DylanLinet]

Yes, but even AggregatePolygons_cartography
does not do everything dinet1020 wants
quote:
There will be no self-aggregation, meaning no aggregation within an input polygon feature itself along its boundary
unquote

so the jogs and bays don't get closed.

There IS, however, the old Arc/Info era way of doing it:

Take the group of polygons you want to aggregate, and buffer them outwards more than half the distance you want to close.
Take the buffered polygons, and buffer them negative twice that distance  ((distance * 2) * -1)
Now buffer the second set of buffered polygons outward the original distance.
Generalization: Quick and Dirty!

This will also smooth out any long spidery extensions the original polygons may have had, so make sure it accomplishes what you want, and not something you don't.
Be careful also of collisions and aggregations with other nearby features you would rather keep separate.

Ah this is an excellent idea!
I will give this a shot and see if it works.

[DylanLinet]

Yes, but even AggregatePolygons_cartography
does not do everything dinet1020 wants
quote:
There will be no self-aggregation, meaning no aggregation within an input polygon feature itself along its boundary
unquote

so the jogs and bays don't get closed.

There IS, however, the old Arc/Info era way of doing it:

Take the group of polygons you want to aggregate, and buffer them outwards more than half the distance you want to close.
Take the buffered polygons, and buffer them negative twice that distance  ((distance * 2) * -1)
Now buffer the second set of buffered polygons outward the original distance.
Generalization: Quick and Dirty!

This will also smooth out any long spidery extensions the original polygons may have had, so make sure it accomplishes what you want, and not something you don't.
Be careful also of collisions and aggregations with other nearby features you would rather keep separate.

I tried it and that solution worked very well. The only problem was I lost some general sharpness around feature corners. I ended up using "Aggregate Polygons" in the ET GeoWizards tool set which solved the problem perfectly when combined with the buffer tactic. Thanks again for the help!

[curtvprice]

You can run these three tools in succession to fill any (void) holes in a polygon:'

• FeatureToLine_management(in, tmp1, "", "NO_ATTRIBUTES")
• FeatureToPolygon_management(tmp1, tmp2)
• Dissolve_management(tmp2, out)