Fill a hole in a polygon feature

In the Modify Features pane, Vertices or Continue Feature can be used to fill a hole in a polygon feature by removing the nested part that defines the hole. These tools preserve the attribute values of the existing feature.

Creating a new feature without the hole by tracing the existing feature applies the default attribute values defined by the source geodatabase, and any values stored with the feature template.

Alternatively, you can use a geoprocessing tool to conditionally eliminate parts of a multipart feature and generate a new feature. To learn more, see Eliminate Polygon Part.

Delete a part

When you delete a hole you can right-click any row in the pane for the nested part and use the context menu. This workflow preserves the attribute values of the original feature.

1. On the Edit tab in the Features group, click Modify .

   The Modify Features pane appears.

2. Expand Reshape and click one of the following:
   • Vertices
   • Continue Feature

   The tool opens in the pane.

3. In the pane, click Active Select , and select the feature you want to edit.

   The selection appears as a list in the pane, and the vertices toolbar appears at the bottom of the map.

   

4. If you select more than one feature, click an item in the list to flash it in the map, right-click the feature you want to edit, and click Only Select This on the context menu.
5. In the vertex table, click any row for the nested part that creates the hole.

   Notice the handle for the vertex changes to a solid fill in the map.

6. Right-click the row, click Part, and click Delete Part on the context menu.

   The deleted part fades in the map.

7. On the vertices toolbar, click Finish or press the F2 key.

Trace a new feature

Tracing a new feature applies the geodatabase default attributes values and those stored with the feature template.

1. On the Edit tab in the Features group, click Create .

   The Create Features pane appears.

2. Click the polygon feature template for the feature you want to create without the hole.

   The template expands to show the tool palette, and the construction toolbar appears in the map.

   

3. Next to the tool palette, click the Active template button .

   The tool palette and the feature attribute table for the template appear in the pane.

4. In the attribute table, type the values you want to apply to the new feature.
5. On the Edit tab, in the Snapping group, click the Snapping drop-down menu and enable your snapping preferences.

   To temporarily turn off snapping as you create the feature, press and hold the Spacebar.

6. On the tool palette, click Trace .
7. Right-click, click Trace Options, and ensure that Trace with an offset is not checked.
8. On the Edit tab in the Snapping group, click the Snapping drop-down arrow, turn snapping on, and enable the Vertex snap agent. You can combine other agents.
   • Press and hold the Spacebar to temporarily turn snapping off.
9. Snap the pointer to a vertex on the existing feature, and drag the pointer along its perimeter.

   A dashed line appears along the feature previewing the new feature.

10. When the dashed line completely traces the feature, click the map.

    Vertex handles appear along the unfinished feature.

11. On the construction toolbar, click Finish or press the F2 key.
12. On the Edit tab in the Selection group, click Clear , and click Select .
13. On the map, click the hole on the existing feature you are replacing.

    The feature containing the hole highlights.

14. On the Edit tab, in the Features group, click Delete .

    The feature with the hole is deleted from the map.