Alter Field (Data Management)

This ArcGIS 2.8 documentation has been archived and is no longer updated. Content and links may be outdated. See the latest documentation.

Summary

Renames fields and field aliases, or alters field properties.

Usage

  • This tool provides the ability to rename fields or field aliases for any geodatabase table or feature class.

  • When using in memory feature classes or tables, renaming the ObjectID, Shape, or other required fields such as those found in network analysis layers can result in corrupted data or unexpected behavior.

Parameters

LabelExplanationData Type
Input Table

The input geodatabase table or feature class that contains the field to alter.

Table View; Raster Layer; Mosaic Layer
Field Name

The name of the field to alter. If the field is a required field (isRequired=true), only the field alias can be altered.

Field
New Field Name
(Optional)

The new name for the field.

String
New Field Alias
(Optional)

The new field alias for the field.

String
New Field Type
(Optional)

Specifies the new field type for the field. This property is only applicable if the input table is empty (does not contain records).

  • TextAny string of characters.
  • Float (single precision) Fractional numbers between -3.4E38 and 1.2E38.
  • Double (double precision) Fractional numbers between -2.2E308 and 1.8E308.
  • Short (small integer) Whole numbers between -32,768 and 32,767.
  • Long (large integer) Whole numbers between -2,147,483,648 and 2,147,483,647.
  • DateDate and/or time.
  • Blob (binary data)Long sequence of binary numbers. You need a custom loader or viewer or a third-party application to load items into a BLOB field or view the contents of a BLOB field.
  • Raster imageryRaster images. All ArcGIS software-supported raster dataset formats can be stored, but it is highly recommended that only small images be used.
  • GUID (globally unique identifier)Globally unique identifier.
String
New Field Length
(Optional)

The new length of the field. This sets the maximum number of allowable characters for each record of the field. This option is only applicable to fields of type Text or Blob (binary data). If the table is empty, the field length can be either increased or decreased. If the table is not empty, the length can only be increased from the current value.

Long
New Field IsNullable
(Optional)

Specifies whether the field can contain null values. Null values are only supported for fields in a geodatabase. This option is only applicable if the table is empty (does not contain records).

  • Checked—The field will allow null values. This is the default.
  • Unchecked—The field will not allow null values.
Boolean
Clear Alias
(Optional)

Specifies whether the alias for the input field will be cleared. The field alias parameter must be empty to clear the alias of the field.

  • Checked—The field alias will be cleared (set to null). The field alias parameter must be empty.
  • Unchecked—The field alias will not be cleared. This is the default.
Boolean

Derived Output

LabelExplanationData Type
Updated Input Table

The updated input table.

Table View; Raster Layer; Mosaic Layer

Environments

Licensing information

  • Basic: Yes
  • Standard: Yes
  • Advanced: Yes

Related topics