How to create a shp with specific attributes from txt file

[KONPETROV]

Hi, i have the following code:

import arcgisscripting
gp = arcgisscripting.create()
input = "c:/Borders/home.txt"
inSep = "."
output = "c:/Borders/outtext.txt"
gp.CreateFeaturesFromTextFile(input, inSep, output, "#")

And my point txt is in that form:

Point

0 8674596.8 9856351.9 100.967430980

End

But the point i am getting doesn't have the third column. Why is that happening?

[OwenEarley]

Have you tried putting in a zero for the m value?

The documentation states that if the z and m values are not provided then they will be assigned a null value but the tool may be expecting none or both to be specified.

Would be a simple test:

Point

0 8674596.8 9856351.9 100.967430980 0.0

End

[DanPatterson_Retired]

the 3rd column is the z value if the first is an id.  You have to creat pointZ file if you want the  z values within the point.  I would suggest that you create the point with X and Y and assign the z as a field.

Also, separating by space would be smarter than a period

also see other suggestions here arcgis desktop - Creating shp from txt files using ArcPy? - Geographic Information Systems Stack Exc...  in case someone is just starting to research a solution

[KONPETROV]

the last column is just a value for the specific point not a z or an m value. Can't that be?

[OwenEarley]

With the old gp.CreateFeaturesFromTextFile tool you are limited to just creating points with id, x, y, z and m values. I wouldn't bother using this old tool - getting the sample you found to work is a much better option.

[KONPETROV]

unfortunately nothing changes

[KONPETROV]

this is an iteresting code i 've found from (http://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/149240/creating-shp-from-txt-files-using-arcpy?noredirect=1#c... ) but for some reason is not working for my data. I am posting it here:

import arcpy, os

# Read txt file
tmp = [line.split() for line in open(r'C:\temp\txtfile.txt')]

"""
Clean txt file and prepare for Insert Cursor
Needs to be in the following format for this example:
[('60.9090909091', ('347172.2', '4269952.7')),
('85.7334909091', ('337172.8', '4278952.4')),
('123.909673091', ('344572.3', '4547952.2')),
('456.467809091', ('347532.8', '8777952.8'))]
"""
row_values = []
for t in tmp:
  row_values.append((float(t[3]), (float(t[1]), float(t[2]))))

# Define the shapefile
shp = r'C:\temp\points.shp'

# Define spatial reference and create shapefile. Factory code for NAD83 UTM 15N is used here
sr = arcpy.SpatialReference(26915)
arcpy.CreateFeatureclass_management (out_path = os.path.dirname(shp), out_name = os.path.basename(shp), geometry_type = "POINT", spatial_reference = sr)
arcpy.AddField_management(shp, "Field1", "DOUBLE")

# Use InsertCursor to update rows
cursor = arcpy.da.InsertCursor(shp, ['Field1','SHAPE@XY'])

for row in row_values:
  cursor.insertRow(row)

# Clean up
del cursor

[OwenEarley · Accepted solution]

This example assumes the text file is comma separated (X, Y, Value). You will also need to change the spatial reference id and output field name to suit your needs:

import arcpy, os

# read data from file (x, y, custom value)
row_values = []
with open(r'G:\Temp\GeoNet\Script\test.txt') as f:
    for line in f:
        tmp = line.split(',')
        row_values.append((float(tmp[0]),float(tmp[1]),float(tmp[2])))

# Define the shapefile
shp = r'G:\Temp\GeoNet\Script\pts.shp'

# Define spatial reference and create shapefile.
sr = arcpy.SpatialReference(28355)
arcpy.CreateFeatureclass_management (out_path = os.path.dirname(shp), out_name = os.path.basename(shp), geometry_type = "POINT", spatial_reference = sr)
arcpy.AddField_management(shp, "DataField", "DOUBLE")

# Use InsertCursor to update rows
cursor = arcpy.da.InsertCursor(shp, ['SHAPE@X','SHAPE@Y','DataField'])
for row in row_values:
    cursor.insertRow(row)

# Clean up
del cursor

[KONPETROV]

works excellent thank you Mr. Earley

[SepheFox]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but can't this just be done by using the Create XY Event Layer (ArcGIS Help 10.1)? You would need to export to a shapefile after, of course.