Color Coded Layer (Business Analyst)

Available with Business Analyst license.

Summary

Creates a multigeography-level, scale-dependent choropleth layer from a variable describing a business, demographic, consumer, or landscape characteristic.

Illustration

Color Coded Layer tool illustration

Usage

  • Map appearance will vary based on the classification method used. Detailed explanations of each are contained in the parameter syntax documentation.

  • The default number of classification fields is 5. This can be changed in the Number of Classes parameter. Typically, the number of breaks ranges from 3 to 7.

  • The geography level displayed will automatically adjust to the optimal geography level as the map scale changes.

  • You can specify three classes for a field that has values ranging from 0 to 300; the application will create three classes with ranges of 0–100, 101–200, and 201–300.

  • The Geometric Interval method uses an algorithm that creates class breaks by minimizing the sum of squares of the number of elements in each class. This ensures that each class range has approximately the same number of values in each class and that the change between intervals is consistent.

  • Natural breaks are divided into classes with boundaries that are set where there are relatively big differences in the data values.

  • The Quantile classification method assigns the same number of data values to each class. There are no empty classes or classes with too few or too many values.

  • Business Analyst Data, used in summarizations and reports, is specified through the geoprocessing Data Source environment setting.

Parameters

LabelExplanationData Type
Classification Variable

A variable that will display as a color-coded map.

String
Output Layer Name

The name of the color-coded layer that will be added to the map.

String
Classification Method

Specifies the method that will be used to calculate the class breaks.

  • Natural Breaks (Jenks)Natural breaks classes are based on natural groupings inherent in the data. Class breaks that best group similar values and that maximize the differences between classes will be identified. This is the default.
  • QuantileEach class will contain an equal number of features. A quantile classification is well suited to linearly distributed data.
  • Equal IntervalThe range of attribute values will be divided into equal-sized subranges. This allows you to specify the number of intervals, and ArcGIS Pro will automatically determine the class breaks based on the value range.
  • Geometric IntervalClass breaks will be created based on class intervals that have a geometric series. The geometric coefficient in this classifier can change once (to its inverse) to optimize the class ranges.
String
Number of Classes

The number of data classification breaks that will appear on the map. The default value is 5.

String

Derived Output

LabelExplanationData Type
Output Layer

A container for the output layer.

Group Layer

arcpy.ba.ColorCodedLayer(classification_variable, out_layer_name, classification_method, number_of_classes)
NameExplanationData Type
classification_variable

A variable that will display as a color-coded map.

String
out_layer_name

The name of the color-coded layer that will be added to the map.

String
classification_method

Specifies the method that will be used to calculate the class breaks.

  • NATURAL_BREAKSNatural breaks classes are based on natural groupings inherent in the data. Class breaks that best group similar values and that maximize the differences between classes will be identified. This is the default.
  • QUANTILEEach class will contain an equal number of features. A quantile classification is well suited to linearly distributed data.
  • EQUAL_INTERVALThe range of attribute values will be divided into equal-sized subranges. This allows you to specify the number of intervals, and ArcGIS Pro will automatically determine the class breaks based on the value range.
  • GEOMETRIC_INTERVALClass breaks will be created based on class intervals that have a geometric series. The geometric coefficient in this classifier can change once (to its inverse) to optimize the class ranges.
String
number_of_classes

The number of data classification breaks that will appear on the map. The default value is 5.

String

Derived Output

NameExplanationData Type
out_layer

A container for the output layer.

Group Layer

Code sample

ColorCodedLayer example (Python window)

The following Python window script demonstrates how to use the ColorCodedLayer function.

import arcpy
arcpy.env.baDataSource = "ONLINE;US;"
arcpy.ba.ColorCodedLayer("networth.mednw_cy", "CCL_NetWorth", "NATURAL_BREAKS", 5)
ColorCodedLayer with Statistical Data Collection variable example (Python window)

The following Python window script demonstrates how to use the ColorCodedLayer function with Statistical Data Collection variables.

import arcpy
arcpy.env.baDataSource = "USA_ESRI_2018"
arcpy.ba.ColorCodedLayer(r"c:\users\<User ID>\documents\arcgis\projects\my_project\bayarea_proprietarydata.sdcx/sales_s01_sales", "sales_s01_sales Layer", "NATURAL_BREAKS", 5)

Licensing information

  • Basic: Requires Business Analyst
  • Standard: Requires Business Analyst
  • Advanced: Requires Business Analyst

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