Latest Contributions by ChrisDonohue__GISP

The Merge tool does not combine overlapping lines into one.  From the Help: This tool will not split or alter the geometries from the input datasets. All features from the input datasets will remain intact in the output dataset, even if the features overlap. ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2)  You can still use Merge, but will then have to follow it up with some more processing.  Three follow-ups come to mind (choose one): 1.  Build a Topology on the Merged linework, with Rules set in the Topology (example:  Must Not Overlap rule).  Then run through all the issues that the Topology uncovers and fix them as appropriate.  Caveat - you will need to load the shapefiles as Feature Classes in a Feature Dataset into a Geodatabase (File, Personal, or SDE).  Also, Rules are not available if one only has a Basic license. Topology - ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2)  2.  Run Dissolve (Data Management).  This is a quick way to do it all at once compared to Topology; however, the data will lose individual segments (which may be undesirable) and one won't benefit from the advantage looking at individual issues to spot exceptions like Topology provides. Dissolve - ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2)  3.   Finally, one additional combination method comes to mind if you have an Advanced License - Symmetrical Difference (Analysis).  However, I have not ever used this one with lines, so can't verify it will definitely work. Symdiff - ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2)  EDIT - scratch the idea of using Symdiff.  I just tried it on some overlapping line layers and it didn't pan out. Note - if you find the linework from the merged shapefiles is spatially slightly off, one way to get it to be coincident before doing either of the above is to run the Integrate (Data Management) tool first.  One important caveat, though - back up your data first, as the Integrate tool modifies the source data (unlike most tools which create a new output). Integrate - ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2)  Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

George Thompson  If I can tag onto this, what would be the best/safest way to stop the process if it seems the Reconcile is running endlessly/will never finish?  My concern is if there would be any locks SDE may keep in place, plus potential data corruption (hopefully unfounded concerns).  Is there a recommended way to terminate the Reconcile process? Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

One option I would suggest is to create either a strip map index or a grid index (see links in previous post), then manually edit/rotate/adjust the created grid pieces to better match the desired orientation in the places where you would prefer it be different than the standard output.  This will entail some editing, plus after the spatial part is finalized you will likely have to renumber some of the grids so they are in the correct sequence (assuming you added or deleted someg grid "blocks").  Then use this index as the input for Data Drive Pages.  This has worked out very well for me on several projects.  Note that  if you have not done this before to be sure to set aside some time to work through a few attempts until you get a feel for it and the settings (i.e. don't expect the first cut to be perfect - it will likely take a few tries before it all comes together well). Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

Questions to help clarify how you have things currently set up: What version of the software are you using with Data Driven Pages (DDP)? Is the optional Map Rotation field being currently used? Are you using Strip Map Index Features or Grid Index Features? Creating strip map index features—Help | ArcGIS for Desktop  Grid Index Features—Help | ArcGIS for Desktop  Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

In most cases PDFs cannot easily be transformed directly into shapefiles as the process to create most PDFs rasterizes the data.  So the big question then is, for your pdf, has it been rasterized?  One way to check is to open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat and then use the pointer tool to click on something that in theory is linework.  If the whole pdf gets selected ,or you get rectangular or square "blocks" of selection instead of the linework, it probably has all been rasterized. Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

If you don't have a road network built and just have the bus route layer, a quick partial solution to produce just the overlapping segments that overlap would be this: 1.  If your bus routes are in separate feature classes, Merge them into one feature class.  Be sure the output has a unique identifier field for each bus route so they can be differentiated. Merge—Help | ArcGIS for Desktop  2.  Run an Intersect on just the combined bus route feature class (i.e. there is only one input - the combined bus route feature class).  The resulting feature class will just be the segments that have an overlap.  All the segments that were "dropped out" do not overlap (and therefore only have one bus route on them).  Of the segments that did show up in the result, if there are only a few, one could individually select each on the map and then check the attribute table to count how many route records are selected in the attribute table. Intersect - ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2)   License note:  With ArcGIS for Desktop Basic and Standard licenses, the number of input feature classes or layers is limited to two.  So one may have to do several Intersects if one does not have an Advanced license. Caveat - this assumes the bus route linework is coincident where it overlaps.  This is crucial.  If the linework is offset by even a small amount in overlap areas, this process will not work correctly.  One potential solution if this is an issue is to run the Integrate tool.  However, before you do this be sure to back up your data first, as the Integrate tool will alter your source data (it does not create a new output dataset like many other tools do). Integrate—Help | ArcGIS for Desktop  Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

Another idea - did the output raster assignment assignment get missed?  Or is it there but did not get copied over into your example? Using the Con tool in Map Algebra ArcGIS Help 10.1  Format: OutRas = Con (in_conditional_raster, in_true_raster_or_constant, {in_false_raster_or_constant}, {where_clause}) Example: OutRas = Con(SlopeRas, 10, 1, "VALUE < 15") Chris Donohue, GISP EDIT - looks like Darren and Jayanta likely have found the root cause while I was typing this. ... View more

At first glance, I suspect the issue is the use of parenthesis.  Just an educated guess - wouldn't there be parenthesis at the end of the parameters for each CON statement instead of a pile of them at the end? Con("LULCyear2005_2006_500m_Raster" == 1 & "soilRaster_reclass" == 1 & "slope_reclass" == 1, 0.5) Con—Help | ArcGIS for Desktop  Building complex statements—ArcGIS Help | ArcGIS for Desktop  Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

Theory: In general, parameters are used when running a tool to allow the tool user to pick data sets to be used and to specify where to put the output.  It is not a requirement that you have parameters; but they add flexibility.  If one doesn't want to use parameters, one would have to manually code the script to access the data for the run, to specify where to put the output, specify the workspace, etc.  This is often referred to as "hard coding" the path.  So if the input data was at C:\Data\Modelrun\shadows\20160908, you would have to code that all in the script.  Then repeat for all the other inputs and outputs.  Only then would one convert the script into a tool. Instead, if one were to set up parameters, when the tool the user would be prompted to browse for the input file, where to export it, etc.  This saves having to recode all the paths every time the file names or file locations change, and then having to rebuild the tool. Practical use: Adding parameters will entail learning a little bit about Python.  It's not a big jump, though. I'm not great at Python, so let me tag some folks who are.  EDIT - I see Dan Patterson  added a reply while I was typing this. Darren Wiens  Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

In regards to your question as to whether the script you have can be made into a Tool in ArcToolbox, check out this article: What is a script tool?—Help | ArcGIS for Desktop  Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

As a general comment, I'll second what Adrian Welsh stated in regards to the many advances ESRI has made in recent versions in regards to CAD - GIS conversion; many strides have been made and it is much easier now.  It used to be real "hit or miss" as to whether things could come across and one would often have to employ several methods to transfer all the information, then add it together and clean it all up. As to your specific issue, I don't know if this is the cause, but I will mention it as it can be a common issue (it is something I run into alot).  What may be going on is the 3D format is causing the issue.  The CAD file likely contains Z values, but the GIS format you are trying to export it to doesn't handle them.  What one can do to solve this is to use the Environments settings to disable to Z values when importing the CAD data.  The following help article, though it is for a slightly different issue, covers the process: How To: Remove Z- and/or M-values from a feature class  If by chance the issue is on the CAD side, here's a post with a similar issue on the Autodesk Forums that may provide some insight: MAPEXPORT Xref - Autodesk Community  Note that XREFS are often a major culprit when transferring AutoCAD data to GIS.  If you have access to AutoCAD, it can be helpful to embed the XREFS before trying to do the transfer to GIS. Also, I'll throw out a software package that I've used in the past and found to be very helpful with CAD to GIS conversion.  You can download a Trial Version and see if it helps. DWG to SHP| DXF to SHP|The Easiest, Fastest SHP Converter - Free trial Download - CAD2Shape 7.0 - guthrie CAD::GIS  Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

In general, it depends on how many people will be accessing it, both to look at and edit.  If more than one person will be in the data at a time, then an enterprise geodatabase (SDE) is where you want to be.  While you can technically have more than one person in a File Geodatabase at a time, there will be lock issues and chances of data corruption.  And one cannot have two or more people in a File Geodatabase to edit at one time (though sounds like editing is not performed based on what you said). As an alternative, I guess one could replicate the File Geodatabases to allow more access.  But I'd stay away from having more than one person in a File Geodatabase. Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

Joe - did you get paid by the address match?  Hmmmm, maybe I should go back to working in the Private Sector......  Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

No address ranges?  Awesome data for geocoding. "WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' ADDRESS RANGES!"  (Sorry, couldn't help but channel Cheech and Chong there.....) Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more

Just to provide a broad overview, Geocoding processes assume the address data will be fed to it in a certain way.  Depending upon what type of address locator one employs (single field or multiple field), the data input to it will need to be in a certain format.  So the cleanup process usually involves arranging the data into the needed format.  This often involves creating new fields in the input table and then calculating over parts of the original data to come up with the combination(s) the address locator needs so one gets a relevant geocoded result.  Or one may have to parse out pieces of data from fields to populate new fields.  For example, parsing out "123 Main Street" into a StreetNumber field ("123"), a StreetName field ("Main"), and a StreetType ("Street") field. Note - if you don't have an address locator available, you can build one.  This will take some learning. In terms of accuracy, that can be a major issue.  As Joe Borgione  mentioned, a typo where "Maine" is entered instead of "Main" will will probably not produce a match when geocoding.  So you may need to do some checking to look for typos, missing data components, data in the wrong sequence (example "Main Street 123" instead of the expected "123 Main Street", etc. In general, I would say a one-shot perfect geocoding run is not possible outside of a classroom.  You can get many of them to work by geocoding in the first try, but there will always be some addresses that will elude the process.  Then one has investigate them and maybe correct the data, and do several followup geocoding runs with different settings to finally get them to work.  Expect the ones that don't work the first time to take a bit of effort to resolve.  Geocode Addresses—Help | ArcGIS for Desktop  Chris Donohue, GISP ... View more