Check Geometry

Available with ArcGIS Pro Standard and Data Reviewer licenses.

Summary

The Check Geometry check finds features that contain invalid geometry. This includes features that contain null or empty geometries, empty envelopes, and may optionally include geometries that are not simple.

Supported workflows

ArcGIS Data Reviewer checks support multiple methods for implementing automated review of data. The following table identifies the supported implementation methods for this check:

ValidationConstraint

Reviewer batch job

Attribute (validation) rule

No

Yes

Yes

(ArcGIS Pro 3.0 and ArcGIS Enterprise 11.0 or later)

Note:

Map-based Reviewer rules are deprecated and are no longer available for use. It is recommended that you migrate automated review workflows to Data Reviewer capabilities available in attribute rules. Opening or saving a map document (.aprx) at ArcGIS Pro 3.0 or later removes all the existing map rules from the document.

Overview

The creation of an invalid geometry is caused by a variety of processes, including loading and clipping data, especially when using shapefiles generated by third-party applications. Geometry that is considered invalid meets one of the following conditions:

  • Empty—This condition occurs when the geometry of a feature has zero points and does not contain geometric information, represented by SHAPE_LEN and SHAPE_AREA fields, beyond its original initialization state. Empty geometries can be introduced when data is created or edited programmatically and when bad data is imported into your geographic information system.
    Note:
    • A point or multipoint geometry type contains a point or multiple points as its geometry information, respectively.
    • A line or polyline geometry type contains a line segment or multiple line segments as its geometry information and is represented by points.
    • A polygon geometry type contains rings, formed by line segments, as its geometry information and is represented by points.
  • Has an empty envelope—This condition occurs when a feature's envelope, or bounding rectangle, does not have any geometric information. This condition is similar to the empty geometry scenario.
  • Nothing—This condition occurs when a feature has a NULL value in the SHAPE field. This type of error is returned when the check is unable to retrieve geometry information for a feature.
  • Not Simple—This condition occurs when any of the following conditions are true:
    • Ring orientation is incorrect (applicable only to polygon features)—A polygon that does not self-intersect, but its rings are not oriented correctly—outer rings, clockwise or inner rings, counterclockwise.
    • Segment orientation is incorrect—Individual segments are not consistently oriented. The to point of segment i should be coincident on the from point of segment i+1.
    • Contains short segments—Some segments are shorter than allowed by the system units of the spatial reference associated with the geometry.
    • Contains self-intersecting rings (applicable only to polygon features)—A polygon must not intersect itself.
    • Contains self-intersecting paths (applicable only to polyline features)—A polyline must not intersect itself.
    • Contains unclosed rings (applicable only to polygon features)—The last vertex in a ring must be coincident with the first vertex in the ring.
    • Contains mismatched attributes—The z- or m-coordinate of a line segment's endpoint does not match the z- or m-coordinate of the coincident endpoint on the next segment.
    • Contains discontinuous parts—One of the geometry's parts is composed of disconnected or discontinuous parts.
    • Empty z-values (applicable to z-enabled features)—The geometry has one or more vertices with an empty z-value (NaN, for example).

Syntax

ParameterRequiredDescriptionWorkflows

Subtype

No

The subtype to which the rule is applied.

Validation

Attribute

No

A query that identifies the features to which the rule is applied.

Validation

Name

Yes

A unique name for the rule.

This information is used to support data quality requirement traceability, automated reporting, and corrective workflows.

Validation

Description

No

A description of the error you define when a noncompliant feature is found.

This information is used to provide guidance to facilitate corrective workflows.

Validation

Severity

No

The severity of the error assigned when a noncompliant feature is found.

This value indicates the importance of the error relative to other errors. Values range from 1 to 5, with 1 being the highest priority and 5 being the lowest.

Validation

Tags

No

The tag property of the rule.

This information is used in rule authoring and management workflows to support traceability and reporting of data quality requirements.

Validation

Notes

Keep the following in mind when using the check:

  • Error results created for features that contain an invalid geometry may not be usable in a map due to the nature of the geometry error.

    Learn more about repairing geometry and replacing feature geometry.

  • Any features that contain empty geometries or no geometries are automatically detected as errors, regardless of whether they are selected or in the active map extent.
  • The Attribute filter parameter does not support the following field types: Big Integer, Date Only, Time Only, and Timestamp Offset. If selected, the row header will turn red and will not allow the rule to save.

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