FeatureSet—ArcGIS Pro | Documentation

Summary

FeatureSet objects are a lightweight representation of a feature class. They are a special data element that contains not only schema, but also the data. The FeatureSet object is also how feature data is sent and received from the server.

Discussion

Note:

If you're loading a feature class into a new FeatureSet and modifying the FeatureSet with a geoprocessing tool that modifies the input such as Calculate Field or a function such as UpdateCursor, the original feature class will also be modified.

Syntax

 FeatureSet  ({table})

Parameter	Explanation	Data Type
table	Feature data to be loaded into the FeatureSet object.	String

Properties

Property	Explanation	Data Type
JSON (Read Only)	Returns an Esri JSON representation of the geometry as a string. Tip: The returned string can be converted to a dictionary using the Python json.loads function.	String

Method Overview

Method	Explanation
load (table_path, {where_clause}, {time_filter}, {renderer}, {is_renderer})	Import from a table.
save (table_path)	Export to a table.

Methods

load (table_path, {where_clause}, {time_filter}, {renderer}, {is_renderer})

Parameter	Explanation	Data Type
table_path	The table to be imported. The input can be a catalog path to a feature class, a URL to a hosted feature layer, or a URL JSON with the syntax {"url":"<url>", "token":"<token", "referer":"<referer>"} to load data from external sources that require an access token.	String
where_clause	An SQL expression used to select a subset of records. For more information on SQL syntax, see SQL reference for query expressions used in ArcGIS. (The default value is None)	String
time_filter	The time instant or the time extent to query. The time filter can only be applied to hosted feature layers, and the layer must be time-enabled. A time instant should be formatted as a string, for example, "1199145600000" ((1 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT). A time extent should be a comma-delimited string, for example: "1199145600000, 1230768000000" (1 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT to 1 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT). A null value specified for the start time or the end time will represent infinity for the start or the end time, respectively, for example: "null, 1230768000000". (The default value is None)	String
renderer	The output FeatureSet symbology can be set using a string, or dictionary representation of either a JSON renderer or a JSON Definition object. Learn more about JSON renderers and JSON definition objects. (The default value is None)	String
is_renderer	Specifies the type of the value used with the renderer argument. Set to True if the value is a renderer object, and False if the value is a definition. (The default value is None)	Boolean

The optional parameters are positional only; they cannot be passed by keyword. For example, if the intent is to only specify symbology, the optional arguments where_clause and time_filter must be skipped using None.

save (table_path)

Parameter	Explanation	Data Type
table_path	The output table to be created.	String

Code sample

FeatureSet example 1

Load data into a FeatureSet and insert into a feature class.

import arcpy

arcpy.env.overwriteOutput = True

arcpy.ImportToolbox("http://flame7/arcgis/services;BufferByVal",
                    "servertools")

# List of coordinates
coordinates = [[-117.196717216, 34.046944853],
               [-117.186226483, 34.046498438],
               [-117.179530271, 34.038016569],
               [-117.187454122, 34.039132605],
               [-117.177744614, 34.056765964],
               [-117.156205131, 34.064466609],
               [-117.145491191, 34.068261129],
               [-117.170825195, 34.073618099],
               [-117.186784501, 34.068149525],
               [-117.158325598, 34.03489167]]

# Create an in_memory feature class to initially contain the coordinate pairs
feature_class = arcpy.CreateFeatureclass_management(
    "in_memory", "tempfc", "POINT")[0]

# Open an insert cursor
with arcpy.da.InsertCursor(feature_class, ["SHAPE@XY"]) as cursor:
    # Iterate through list of coordinates and add to cursor
    for (x, y) in coordinates:
        cursor.insertRow([(x, y)])

# Create a FeatureSet object and load in_memory feature class
feature_set = arcpy.FeatureSet()
feature_set.load(feature_class)

results = arcpy.BufferPoints_servertools(feature_set)

FeatureSet example 2

Load a subset of data from ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World into a FeatureSet and set the symbology.

import arcpy

# Set data
in_data = "https://services.arcgis.com/P3ePLMYs2RVChkJx/arcgis/rest/services/USA_States_Generalized/FeatureServer/0"
query = "STATE_NAME = 'California'"
renderer = '''{
    "renderer": {
        "type": "simple",
        "symbol": {
            "type": "esriSFS",
            "style": "esriSFSSolid",
            "color": [
                255,
                0,
                0,
                255
            ],
            "outline": {
                "type": "esriSLS",
                "style": "esriSLSSolid",
                "color": [
                    110,
                    110,
                    110,
                    255
                ],
                "width": 2
            }
        },
        "label": "",
        "description": "",
        "rotationType": "geographic",
        "rotationExpression": ""
    }
}'''

# Create empty FeatureSet
feature_set = arcpy.FeatureSet()

# Load data into FeatureSet with query
feature_set.load(in_data, query, None, renderer, True)