Latest Contributions by ChristopherThompson

I used the <Make Feature Layer> tool to get my feature class to a layer file for input into the <Add Join> tool.  An extra step which seem ridiculous.  If anyone knows a better workflow I would love to hear.  The <Make Feature Layer> did work for me. This is a good point - there are many tools that require a feature layer rather than a feature class on disk in order to work.  If you read the help for the Joins tools these specifically mention using a layer as opposed to a feature class.  Its less clear to me about a stand alone table; if both your input datasets are feature classes try making feature layers out of them and see if that works for you. ... View more

Well, what I ended up doing is creating a raster file of the information held in that attribute table and then, using the Zonal Statistics as Table tool, I was able to get an output table with this (field area in acres) information. If anyone knows a more direct way of listing field information from an attribute table using Model Builder, please let me know. Cheers. Is there a reason you cannot simply use the Add_Join or Join Field tools (in toolbox these are under the DataManagement\Joins toolset) to join the table containing Field_Acre to the table you want this associated with? Creating a raster and generating a table as you have seems like a lot of additional steps and potentially extra storage costs depending on how big the dataset is. ... View more

Thanks, upgrading seems to have fixed the issue... though I think i'm generally seeing brutally slow exports when clipping. ... View more

Well, booger.. and we aren't quite ready to upgrade as of yet.. but perhaps this will be a driver as this sort of functionality is so useful.  Thanks! ... View more

I'm not precisely clear about your objective - do you want to use the 'cells' of your custom grid as the the index layer for a map book?  If you open up the dataframe properties you can save that grid as a graphic.. the issue is that it saves it on the layout side of the world, not the data side.  You can select the graphic, copy it to the clip board, then flip back to the data side of things, paste that into your dataframe and then convert it to a feature class (that tool is under the drawing toolbar menu).  It will convert as a grid of polylines that you'll then need to rescale, make sure is georeferenced correctly, and then convert to polygons, and then name each of your cells with what ever page number/name that you want to use in your map book. That said, possibly it is easier to create a fishnet (in the Feature Class tools "Create Fishnet") - you'll need to tinker a bit to make sure the cell boundaries are where you want them but you can create a polygon feature class pretty easily this way. ... View more

Sorry, not enough information provided initially:  the blue area is simply the color of the dataframe background.  I've attached two images that should help illustrate what is happening.  In my map i have the following feature classes: zones with a definition query (the purple outline) the zones without a definition query (this one is selected as the feature class to exclude from clipping) subdivisions of the zones (red outlined polygons) the ESRI Streets basemap in the final map looks like this screen shot - works as intended: [ATTACH=CONFIG]22085[/ATTACH] But on export (to any format i've tried - jpg, png, pdf), what i get is this: [ATTACH=CONFIG]22086[/ATTACH] As you can see, the background map is showing at the bottom where it shouldn't be.. ... View more

Thanks for the suggestion, but unfortunately I cannot merge the features in the database. I use this feature class in multiple layers and I need the features to be separate in order to symbolize the other layers properly. I don't think the suggestion was to get rid of these features, just to create a new feature class that has all the polys of a given type merged so you can achieve the effect you want.  Is this impossible to do if you consider the result of the merge a 'throwaway' product that exists solely for the purposes of this map?  That way you preserve the actual data but achieve the cartographic need.  Analytical and cartographic needs are often at odds with one another in this way. ... View more

if you want to convert your polygons into polylines you don't need the tool, or resort to the trace tool which can be tedious.  Create a new empty polyline featureclass (or shapefile), add it to your map and start editing it. Select the polygons you want to change into polylines, and click the 'copy' button on the main toolbar. Then click the 'paste' button on the main toolbar - you should get a prompt as to which feature class to paste into, make sure you select the empty polyline feature class you created in the first step.  Stop editing. This process brings the polyline geometry from the polygons over to the polyline featureclass.  Once you have this then you can edit the new polylines as you need to get rid of the boundary (alternatively attribute these lines as being either "county boundary" or "county division" that way you will have a single shapefile that you can use for multiple cartographic purposes.  Unfortunately you cannot go the other directions to get polygons from polylines. ... View more

There is a support 'community' for python in ArcGIS here: http://resources.arcgis.com/en/communities/python/ and then these two topics are helpful: python and geoprocessing in general: http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.1/index.html#//000v00000001000000#GUID-4EC90E5F-F497-4FC0-99FB-7703ED4C8F77 about using python with arcMap: http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.1/index.html#/Introduction_to_arcpy_mapping/00s300000032000000/ If you are new to programming or python there is a link from the main python support page to various tutorials, code snippets, and the like which are pretty useful for seeing how folks approach GIS problems with python. ... View more

Question #1: Why 2) did not work for the .xls file? Please explain this for me. In the regular Make XY Layer case, the .xls input file is OK. Generally, reading and writing to excel files is a pain in the butt and my general practice is to avoid that - copy the data you need into a csv or other data format and work with that.  The problem with excel files is partly that they can contain so much crap that ArcGIS doesn't deal with - formatting, forumulas, multiple worksheets, named ranges.. the list goes on.  There are modules that you can import and use to make those more readable, but in most cases I don't think its worth the trouble. Question #2: In the future, I need the Z_coordinate to be input in my real projects The reason it fails currently is because the Z values in your table are all NULL - there simply isn't data there.. or worse there are spaces that you can't see evidence of.  Populate that column with zeros (0) or a numeric value, and it works fine (i've tested this with your script) and it should work fine. ... View more

If you have an ArcInfo license the Point Distance tool will give you this.  Its in the tool box under Analysis => Proximity. ... View more

Hi, I have two shapefiles, one is a polyline (Oil Pipeline) and the other is a polygon (land parcels). What I want to is too have a field display the distance (in km) from the start of pipeline when it crosses into a polygon and another when it leaves the polygon. To make things a litte harder in some instances the pipeline crosses then leaves, then re-crosses the same polygon again, I'm only interested in when it first enters the polygon and when it finally leaves. Any help at all would be really appreciated. Thanks Would an intersection or union between your polygon and polyline shapefiles give you what you need? Those tools would segment the polyline where it crosses the polygon, and you would then have to calculate the length of the line segments.  If you only wanted one value per polygon then you could 'dissolve' the polylines by the polygon ID and create a multipart shape. ... View more