Feature To Polygon (Data Management)

Available with Advanced license.

Summary

Creates a feature class containing polygons generated from areas enclosed by input line or polygon features.

Illustration

Feature To Polygon

Usage

• Where one or more input features form a closed area, a new polygon feature will be constructed and written to the output feature class. The output attributes will vary depending on the Preserve attributes option on the dialog box (the attributes parameter in scripting) and the Label Features option on the dialog box (the label_features parameter in scripting).

• When multiple feature classes or layers are specified in the list of input features, the order of the entries in the list does not affect the output feature type, but the spatial reference of the top entry on the tool dialog box (the first entry in scripting) in the list will be used during processing and set to the output.

• Parametric (true) curves in the input features will remain true curves in the output polygons, even if they are split. This does not apply to shapefile data.

• Note:

  The Preserve attributes parameter (the attributes parameter in scripting) does not work and should not be used. It will not be removed for backward compatibility of scripts or models. The output attribute schema and field values for certain input combinations may be produced as described below; most of them are unintended.

  If the Preserve attributes option on the dialog box is checked (the attributes parameter is set to ATTRIBUTES in scripting), the output attributes schema and field values will depend on whether the label features (points) are provided in the following ways:

  • If no Label Features are provided, the attribute schema (field names and properties, not field values) from each input entry will be maintained in the output in the order they appear in the input list. A new field, FID_xxx, where xxx is the source feature class name of a particular input entry, will be added to the output for each input entry and set to the value of -1. All other fields will have zero or null values.
  • If Label Features are provided, none of the input attribute schemas will be maintained in the output feature class; only the attributes of the label features will be included in the output feature class. If an output polygon contains a label feature, it will have field values from that label feature; If an output polygon contains more than one label feature, it will have field values from one of them; otherwise, it will have zero or null field values.

• If the Preserve attributes option on the dialog box is unchecked (the attributes parameter is set to NO_ATTRIBUTES in scripting), the input attribute schemas will be written to the output, but the attribute values will be empty. If you do not want any attributes on the output polygon feature class, supply a point feature class that has no attributes for the Label Features parameter.

• Where input polygon features are broken into smaller output polygon features, the Identity tool can be used to transfer attributes from the input polygon features to the resulting polygon features.

• This tool will use a tiling process to handle very large datasets for better performance and scalability. For more details, see Geoprocessing with large datasets.

Syntax

arcpy.management.FeatureToPolygon(in_features, out_feature_class, {cluster_tolerance}, {attributes}, {label_features})

Parameter	Explanation	Data Type
in_features [in_features,...]	The input features that can be line or polygon, or both.	Feature Layer
out_feature_class	The output polygon feature class.	Feature Class
cluster_tolerance (Optional)	The minimum distance separating all feature coordinates, and the distance a coordinate can move in X, Y, or both during spatial computation. The default XY tolerance is set to 0.001 meter or its equivalent in feature units. Caution: Changing this parameter's value may cause failure or unexpected results. It is recommended that this parameter not be modified. It has been removed from view in the tool dialog. By default, the input feature class's spatial reference x,y tolerance property is used.	Linear Unit
attributes (Optional)	Legacy: This is parameter is no longer supported.	Boolean
label_features (Optional)	The optional input point features that hold the attributes to be transferred to the output polygon features.	Feature Layer

Code sample

FeatureToPolygon example 1 (Python window)

The following Python window script demonstrates how to use the FeatureToPolygon function in immediate mode.

import arcpy
arcpy.env.workspace = "C:/data"
arcpy.FeatureToPolygon_management(["mainroads.shp","streets.shp"],
                                  "c:/output/output.gdb/streetblocks",
                                  "", "NO_ATTRIBUTES")

FeatureToPolygon example 2 (stand-alone script)

The following stand-alone script is a simple example of how to apply the FeatureToPolygon function in a scripting environment.

# Name: FeatureToPolygon_Example2.py
# Description: Use FeatureToPolygon function to construct habitat areas
#              from park boundaries and rivers.

# import system modules 
import arcpy

# Set environment settings
arcpy.env.workspace = "C:/data/parks_analysis.gdb"

# Set local parameters
inFeatures = ["park_boundaries", "rivers"]
outFeatureClass = "c:/output/output.gdb/habitat_areas"
clusTol = "0.05 Meters"

# Use the FeatureToPolygon function to form new areas
arcpy.FeatureToPolygon_management(inFeatures, outFeatureClass, clusTol,
                                  "NO_ATTRIBUTES")

Environments

Current Workspace, Scratch Workspace, Default Output Z Value, M Resolution, M Tolerance, Output M Domain, Output Z Domain, Output Coordinate System, Extent, Output has M values, Output has Z values, XY Resolution, XY Tolerance, Z Resolution, Z Tolerance

Licensing information

• Basic: No
• Standard: Yes
• Advanced: Yes