XY To Line (Data Management)

Summary

Creates a feature class containing geodetic or planar line features from the values in a start x-coordinate field, start y-coordinate field, end x-coordinate field, and end y-coordinate field of a table.

Usage

• Output lines are constructed from field values. The field values include the following:

  • The x- and y-coordinates of a starting point
  • The x- and y-coordinates of an ending point
  The fields and their values will be included in the output.

• For a geodetic line, the x- and y-coordinates are locations on the surface of the earth. For a planar line, the coordinates are locations on the projected plane.

• A geodetic line is a curve on the surface of the earth. However, a geodetic line feature is not stored as a parametric (true) curve in the output; rather, it is stored as a densified polyline representing the path of the geodetic line. If the length of a geodetic line is relatively short, it may be represented by a straight line in the output. As the length of the line increases, more vertices are used to represent the path.

• When the output is a feature class in a geodatabase, the values in the Shape_Length field are always in the units of the output coordinate system specified by the Spatial Reference parameter, and they are the planar lengths of the polylines. To measure a geodesic length or distance, use the ArcGIS AllSource Measure tool and choose the Geodesic, Loxodrome, or Great Elliptic option accordingly before taking a measurement.

Parameters

Dialog

Label	Explanation	Data Type
Input Table	The input table. It can be a text file, CSV file, Excel file, dBASE table, or geodatabase table.	Table View
Output Feature Class	The output feature class containing geodetic or planar lines.	Feature Class
Start X Field	A numerical field in the input table containing the x-coordinates (or longitudes) of the starting points of lines to be positioned in the output coordinate system specified by the Spatial Reference parameter.	Field
Start Y Field	A numerical field in the input table containing the y-coordinates (or latitudes) of the starting points of lines to be positioned in the output coordinate system specified by the Spatial Reference parameter.	Field
End X Field	A numerical field in the input table containing the x-coordinates (or longitudes) of the ending points of lines to be positioned in the output coordinate system specified by the Spatial Reference parameter.	Field
End Y Field	A numerical field in the input table containing the y-coordinates (or latitudes) of the ending points of lines to be positioned in the output coordinate system specified by the Spatial Reference parameter.	Field
Line Type (Optional)	Specifies the type of line that will be constructed. Geodesic— A type of geodetic line that most accurately represents the shortest distance between any two points on the surface of the earth will be constructed. This is the default. Great circle—A type of geodetic line that represents the path between any two points along the intersection of the surface of the earth and a plane that passes through the center of the earth will be constructed. If the Spatial Reference parameter value is a spheroid-based coordinate system, the line is a great elliptic. If the Spatial Reference parameter value is a sphere-based coordinate system, the line is uniquely called a great circle—a circle of the largest radius on the spherical surface. Rhumb line—A type of geodetic line, also known as a loxodrome line, that represents a path between any two points on the surface of a spheroid defined by a constant azimuth from a pole will be constructed. A rhumb line is shown as a straight line in the Mercator projection. Normal section—A type of geodetic line that represents a path between any two points on the surface of a spheroid defined by the intersection of the spheroid surface and a plane that passes through the two points and is normal (perpendicular) to the spheroid surface at the starting point of the two points will be constructed. The normal section line from point A to point B is different from the line from point B to point A. Planar line—A straight line in the projected plane will be used. A planar line usually does not accurately represent the shortest distance on the surface of the earth as a geodesic line does. This option is not available for geographic coordinate systems.	String
ID (Optional)	A field in the input table. This field and the values are included in the output and can be used to join the output features with the records in the input table.	Field
Spatial Reference (Optional)	The spatial reference of the output feature class. The default is GCS_WGS_1984 or the input coordinate system if it is not Unknown.	Spatial Reference
Preserve attributes (Optional)	Specifies whether the remaining input fields will be added to the output feature class. Unchecked—The remaining input fields will not be added to the output feature class. This is the default. Checked—The remaining input fields will be added to the output feature class. A new field, ORIG_FID, will also be added to the output feature class to store the input feature ID values.	Boolean

Python

arcpy.management.XYToLine(in_table, out_featureclass, startx_field, starty_field, endx_field, endy_field, {line_type}, {id_field}, {spatial_reference}, {attributes})

Name	Explanation	Data Type
in_table	The input table. It can be a text file, CSV file, Excel file, dBASE table, or geodatabase table.	Table View
out_featureclass	The output feature class containing geodetic or planar lines.	Feature Class
startx_field	A numerical field in the input table containing the x-coordinates (or longitudes) of the starting points of lines to be positioned in the output coordinate system specified by the spatial_reference parameter.	Field
starty_field	A numerical field in the input table containing the y-coordinates (or latitudes) of the starting points of lines to be positioned in the output coordinate system specified by the spatial_reference parameter.	Field
endx_field	A numerical field in the input table containing the x-coordinates (or longitudes) of the ending points of lines to be positioned in the output coordinate system specified by the spatial_reference parameter.	Field
endy_field	A numerical field in the input table containing the y-coordinates (or latitudes) of the ending points of lines to be positioned in the output coordinate system specified by the spatial_reference parameter.	Field
line_type (Optional)	Specifies the type of line that will be constructed. GEODESIC— A type of geodetic line that most accurately represents the shortest distance between any two points on the surface of the earth will be constructed. This is the default. GREAT_CIRCLE—A type of geodetic line that represents the path between any two points along the intersection of the surface of the earth and a plane that passes through the center of the earth will be constructed. If the Spatial Reference parameter value is a spheroid-based coordinate system, the line is a great elliptic. If the Spatial Reference parameter value is a sphere-based coordinate system, the line is uniquely called a great circle—a circle of the largest radius on the spherical surface. RHUMB_LINE—A type of geodetic line, also known as a loxodrome line, that represents a path between any two points on the surface of a spheroid defined by a constant azimuth from a pole will be constructed. A rhumb line is shown as a straight line in the Mercator projection. NORMAL_SECTION—A type of geodetic line that represents a path between any two points on the surface of a spheroid defined by the intersection of the spheroid surface and a plane that passes through the two points and is normal (perpendicular) to the spheroid surface at the starting point of the two points will be constructed. The normal section line from point A to point B is different from the line from point B to point A. PLANAR—A straight line in the projected plane will be used. A planar line usually does not accurately represent the shortest distance on the surface of the earth as a geodesic line does. This option is not available for geographic coordinate systems.	String
id_field (Optional)	A field in the input table. This field and the values are included in the output and can be used to join the output features with the records in the input table.	Field
spatial_reference (Optional)	The spatial reference of the output feature class. A spatial reference can be specified as any of the following: The path to a .prj file, such as C:/workspace/watershed.prj The path to a feature class or feature dataset whose spatial reference you want to apply, such as C:/workspace/myproject.gdb/landuse/grassland A SpatialReference object, such as arcpy.SpatialReference("C:/data/Africa/Carthage.prj")	Spatial Reference
attributes (Optional)	Specifies whether the remaining input fields will be added to the output feature class. NO_ATTRIBUTES—The remaining input fields will not be added to the output feature class. This is the default. ATTRIBUTES—The remaining input fields will be added to the output feature class. A new field, ORIG_FID, will also be added to the output feature class to store the input feature ID values.	Boolean

Code sample

XYToLine example (stand-alone script)

This sample converts a DBF table to two-point geodesic lines.

# Import system modules
import arcpy

# Set local variables
input_table = r"c:\workspace\city2city.dbf"
out_lines = r"c:\workspace\flt4421.gdb\routing001"

# XY To Line
arcpy.XYToLine_management(input_table, out_lines, "LOND1", "LATD1", "LOND2",
                          "LATD2", "GEODESIC", "idnum")

Environments

Current Workspace, Scratch Workspace