ArcPy consists of a number of submodules. Each submodule represents an organized grouping of related functionality.
Toolbox modules
The majority of ArcPy modules represent an ArcGIS AllSource toolbox. The following modules (toolboxes) are documented in the ArcGIS AllSource geoprocessing tool reference:
- 3D Analyst (arcpy.ddd)
The 3D Analyst toolbox provides a collection of geoprocessing tools that enable a wide variety of analytical, data management, and data conversion operations on surface models and three-dimensional vector data.
- AllSource (arcpy.intelligence)
The AllSource toolbox contains tools that convert and analyze intelligence data sources. Use these tools as part of intelligence workflows to import data from many sources at once, analyze point track data to determine patterns, and assess physical environment data for suitable mobility or landing zones.
- Analysis (arcpy.analysis)
The Analysis toolbox contains a powerful set of tools that perform the most fundamental GIS operations. With the tools in this toolbox, you can perform overlays, create buffers, calculate statistics, perform proximity analysis, and much more.
- Aviation (arcpy.aviation)
The ArcGIS AllSource Aviation toolbox contains a set of tools that allow you to create, analyze, and manage aviation content.
- Bathymetry (arcpy.bathymetry)
The Bathymetry toolbox contains tools that manage bathymetric data.
- Business Analyst (arcpy.ba)
The Business Analyst toolbox contains sets of tools that perform GIS operations fundamental to market analysis. With the tools in this toolbox, you can perform demographic reporting, review customer and competitor distributions, identify key trade areas, and visualize data variables.
- Cartography (arcpy.cartography)
The tools in the Cartography toolbox are designed to produce and refine data to support the production of maps. This includes the creation of masks, the simplification and aggregation of features and reduction of their density, as well as tools for annotation and the creation of map series.
- Conversion (arcpy.conversion)
The Conversion toolbox contains tools that convert data between various formats.
- Crime Analysis and Safety (arcpy.ca)
The Crime Analysis and Safety toolbox contains tools that support analytical functions to manage data, select crime incidents, conduct tactical and strategic analysis, and investigate crime patterns.
- Data Interoperability (arcpy.di)
The Data Interoperability toolbox contains a set of tools that convert a wide range of data formats using Safe Software's FME technology. The FME Suite is an extract, transform, and load (ETL) tool for spatial data.
- Data Management (arcpy.management)
The Data Management toolbox contains tools that are used to develop, manage, and maintain feature classes, datasets, layers, and raster data structures.
- Data Reviewer (arcpy.reviewer)
The ArcGIS Data Reviewer extension adds a data quality control framework to ArcGIS. Data Reviewer validates data using different checks, contained in batch jobs, that test spatial relationships and integrity. It also provides tools to correct errors found during validation.
- Defense (arcpy.defense)
The Defense toolbox provides a collection of geoprocessing tools that enable the automation of analytical processes and workflows for determining location, distance, range, and visibility.
- Editing (arcpy.edit)
The Editing tools allow you to apply bulk editing to all (or selected) features in a feature class.
- GeoAI (arcpy.geoai)
The GeoAI toolbox contains tools for using and training AI models that work with geospatial and tabular data. These tools use modern machine learning and deep learning techniques and integrate them with GIS.
- GeoAnalytics Desktop (arcpy.geoanalytics)
GeoAnalytics Desktop tools provide a parallel processing framework for analysis on a desktop machine using Apache Spark. Through aggregation, regression, detection, and clustering, you can visualize, understand, and interact with big data. These tools work with big datasets and allow you to gain insight into your data through patterns, trends, and anomalies. The tools are integrated and run in ArcGIS AllSource in the same way as other desktop geoprocessing tools.
- GeoAnalytics Server (arcpy.gapro)
The GeoAnalytics Server toolbox contains a set of powerful tools for performing spatial analysis on big data. GeoAnalytics Tools are powered by your ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server. ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server distributes the analysis between multiple server nodes. By using distributed processing, you can process large datasets in less time.
- Geocoding (arcpy.geocoding)
Geocoding is the process of assigning a location, usually in the form of coordinate values, to an address by comparing the descriptive location elements in the address to those present in the reference material. Addresses come in many forms, ranging from the common address format of house number followed by the street name and succeeding information to other location descriptions such as postal zone or census tract. In essence, an address includes any type of information that distinguishes a place.
- Geostatistical Analyst (arcpy.ga)
With Geostatistical Analyst, you can easily create a continuous surface or map from measurements stored in a point feature layer or raster layer or by using polygon centroids. The sample points may be measurements such as elevation, depth to the water table, or levels of pollution. Geostatistical Analyst provides a comprehensive set of tools for creating surfaces that can be used to visualize, analyze, and understand spatial phenomena.
- Image Analyst (arcpy.ia)
The ArcGIS Image Analyst extension provides tools with which to analyze imagery data.
- Indoor Positioning (arcpy.indoorpositioning)
The Indoor Positioning toolbox contains tools to create an ArcGIS IPS Information Model, which enables indoor surveys with the ArcGIS IPS Setup app, processing of survey data, and indoor positioning. The toolbox also includes the Quality Assessment toolset that contains tools to evaluate the performance of an ArcGIS IPS deployment.
- Indoors (arcpy.indoors)
The ArcGIS Indoors toolbox contains tools for adding datasets, feature classes, tables, and configurations to host ArcGIS Indoors data in a geodatabase.
- Linear Referencing (arcpy.lr)
Organizations that collect data about linear features, such as highways, city streets, railroads, rivers, pipelines, and water and sewer networks often use linear referencing systems to store data. A linear reference system stores data using a relative position along existing line features. That is, location is given in terms of a known linear feature and a position, or measure, along it. For example, route I-10, mile 23.2, uniquely identifies a position in geographic space, and can be used instead of an x,y coordinate.
- Location Referencing (arcpy.locref)
- Maritime (arcpy.maritime)
The Maritime toolbox contains tools that manage S-57, S-100, VPF, paper charting, and bathymetric data.
- Multidimension (arcpy.md)
The Multidimension toolbox contains tools that are used to create and manage netCDF, GRIB, HDF, OPeNDAP, Esri's CRF, multidimensional mosaic datasets, and multidimensional image services. You can use these tools to generate multidimensional metadata; create a multidimensional raster or feature layer (from netCDF files only), or table view (from netCDF files only); select a specific slice from a multidimensional dataset; or create a subset of a multidimensional raster dataset.
- Network Analyst (arcpy.nax and arcpy.na)
The Network Analyst toolbox contains tools that perform network analysis and network dataset maintenance. With the tools in this toolbox, you can maintain network datasets that model transportation networks and perform route, closest facility, service area, origin-destination cost matrix, vehicle routing problem, and location-allocation network analyses on transportation networks. Use the tools in this toolbox whenever you want to perform an analysis on a transportation network.
- Network Diagram (arcpy.nd)
The Network Diagram toolbox provides various tools to manage diagrams and configure diagram templates.
- Oriented Imagery (arcpy.oi)
The Oriented Imagery toolbox contains tools to create, manage, and maintain oriented imagery datasets and layers.
- Parcels (arcpy.parcels)
The Parcel toolbox contains tools to create, administer, and load data into parcel fabrics.
- Public Transit (arcpy.transit)
The Public Transit toolbox contains tools for converting, displaying, editing, and analyzing public transit data. Several tools convert between General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) datasets and feature classes and tables. Other tools perform analysis using public transit schedule data.
- Raster Analysis (arcpy.ra)
The Raster Analysis toolbox contains a set of tools for performing raster analysis on data in your portal. By distributing the processing between multiple server nodes, you can process large datasets in less time than processing using your desktop machine. Raster Analysis tools are powered by your ArcGIS Image Server.
- Ready To Use (arcpy.agolservices)
Ready To Use tools are ArcGIS Online geoprocessing services that use the hosted data and analysis capabilities of ArcGIS Online. All you need to provide are input features; all the other data necessary for the analysis and the computation is hosted in ArcGIS Online.
- Reality Mapping (arcpy.rm)
The Reality Mapping toolbox contains tools that manage and generate true orthos, digital surface models (DSM), 2.5D and 3D meshes, and point cloud products from adjusted imagery collected by drone and digital aerial sensors.
- Server (arcpy.server)
The Server toolbox contains tools to manage web layers and web maps. It also contains tools that simplify data extraction through the server.
- Space Time Pattern Mining (arcpy.stpm)
The Space Time Pattern Mining toolbox contains statistical tools for analyzing data distributions and patterns in the context of both space and time. The toolbox contains toolsets for clustering analysis, forecasting, and tools that are helpful for visualizing the data stored in the space-time netCDF cube in both 2D and 3D. It also includes options for estimating and filling missing values in the data prior to cube creation.
- Spatial Analyst (arcpy.sa)
The Spatial Analyst toolbox provides a set of spatial analysis and modeling tools for raster (cell-based) and feature (vector) data.
- Spatial Statistics (arcpy.stats)
The Spatial Statistics toolbox contains statistical tools for analyzing spatial distributions, patterns, processes, and relationships. While there may be similarities between spatial and nonspatial (traditional) statistics in terms of concepts and objectives, spatial statistics are unique in that they were developed specifically for use with geographic data. Unlike traditional nonspatial statistical methods, they incorporate space (proximity, area, connectivity, and/or other spatial relationships) directly into their mathematics.
- Standard Feature Analysis (arcpy.sfa)
The Standard Feature Analysis toolbox contains tools for performing spatial analysis on feature data in your portal.
- Territory Design (arcpy.td)
The Territory Design toolbox provides a set of tools to build, edit, balance, and maintain territories for point and polygon datasets.
- Topographic Production (arcpy.topographic)
Topographic Production toolbox contains tools that are used in topographic production.
- Trace Network (arcpy.tn)
The Trace Network toolbox contains tools to create, configure, and work with trace networks.
- Utility Network (arcpy.un)
The Utility Network toolbox contains tools to create, configure, and work with utility networks.
- Workflow Manager (arcpy.wmx)
The Workflow Manager toolbox provides tools for working with distributed Workflow Manager (Classic) repositories as well as tools that retrieve job-specific information useful for other data processing tasks. With the tools in this toolbox, you can retrieve job version, job's data workspace, replicate/synchronize Workflow Manager (Classic) repositories, and get a job's area of interest.
Additional modules
In addition, some modules are entirely, or partially, composed of nontool functionality. The tool components of the following modules are documented in the ArcGIS AllSource toolbox reference, and the nontool functionality is documented in the ArcGIS AllSource Python reference:
- Charts (arcpy.charts)
The arcpy.charts module allows you to visualize and explore your data to help uncover patterns, relationships, and structure that might not be apparent when looking at a table or map. These classes correspond to the charts available in ArcGIS AllSource.
- Data Access (arcpy.da)
The Data Access module, arcpy.da, is a Python module for working with data. It allows control of the edit session, edit operation, improved cursor support (including faster performance), functions for converting tables and feature classes to and from NumPy arrays, and support for versioning, replicas, domains, and subtypes workflows.
- Geocoding (arcpy.geocoding)
The Geocoding module, arcpy.geocoding, allows you to explore and set locator properties and automate geocoding workflows. Geocoding is the process of transforming a description of a location—such as a pair of coordinates, an address, or a name of a place—to a location on the earth's surface. A locator is the tool used to perform geocoding operations. With this module, you can view and modify properties on the locator to tune it to your specific geocoding needs by customizing it for performance or quality. You can also use this module to perform various geocoding operations, including finding the location of a place or address, finding the closest place or address to a given location, or generating a set of autocomplete suggestions for partial input.
- Image Analysis (arcpy.ia)
The Image Analysis module, arcpy.ia, is a Python module for managing and processing imagery and raster data. The module also includes functionality provided by the ArcGIS Image Analyst extension, such as all of the geoprocessing functions, as well as advanced functions and classes that allow you to automate your raster processing workflows.
- Mapping (arcpy.mp)
Arcpy.mp is a Python submodule that is part of the ArcPy site package. It is installed with ArcGIS AllSource and is available to all licenses. It was designed primarily to manipulate the contents of existing projects (.aprx) and layer files (.lyrx). You can automate the contents of projects without even having to open the application. In some cases it provides capabilities that are not available to ArcGIS AllSource, for example, arcpy.mp is required to build complete map books because it includes functions to export to, create, and manage PDF documents.
- Metadata (arcpy.metadata)
The Metadata module, arcpy.metadata, is a Python module for accessing and managing an item's metadata. You can explore information describing your maps and data and automate your workflows, particularly for managing standards-compliant geospatial metadata.
- Network Analyst (arcpy.nax and arcpy.na)
The Network Analyst module, arcpy.nax, is a modern, easy-to-use Python module for working with network analysis functionality provided with the ArcGIS Network Analyst extension. It provides access to the following:
The Network Analyst module arcpy.na is a Python module for working with network analysis functionality provided with the ArcGIS Network Analyst extension. It provides access to all the geoprocessing tools available in the Network Analyst toolbox as well as other helper functions and classes that allow you to automate the Network Analyst workflow through Python.
- Sharing (arcpy.sharing)
The Sharing module, arcpy.sharing, is a Python module that allows you to automate sharing workflows. Use it to create a sharing draft, which is a configurable set of properties for a web layer, web tool, map service, or geoprocessing service. Creating a sharing draft is the first step in automating the sharing of a GIS resource to ArcGIS Enterprise, ArcGIS Online, or ArcGIS Server.
- Spatial Analyst (arcpy.sa)
The Spatial Analyst module, arcpy.sa, is a Python module for analyzing raster and vector data with the functionality provided by the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst extension. It provides access to all the geoprocessing tools available in the Spatial Analyst toolbox as well as other functions and classes that allow you to automate your raster processing workflows.
- Utility Network (arcpy.un)
The Utility Network module, arcpy.un, contains an class with methods that allow you to manage subnetwork controller assignment and associations between network features. With this module, you can create or delete connectivity, containment, and structural attachment associations between specified features or enable or disable the subnetwork controller assignment from specified features.
- Workflow Manager (arcpy.wmx)
The Workflow Manager (Classic) module is a Python module for working with Workflow Manager (Classic) functionality. It provides access to helper functions, classes, and properties to execute and work with jobs and Workflow Manager (Classic) configuration as well as the geoprocessing tools available in the Workflow Manager toolbox. This provides a way for you to automate your business workflow through Python.