Accessing Different ArcGIS Dataset Types

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1. Overview

ArcGIS provides support for a number of different ways of storing and accesssing data. This includes:

• Individual files
• Geodatabases
• On a server
• As catalogs
• As layers (only available within ArcGIS Python Window)

Each of these can be accessed through Python scripts but there are some differences in how to access them.

2.Individual Files

This is the easiest method to access data as you simply provide the path to the file you want to work on. You may also access datasets stored in muliple files such as Shapefiles and GRIDs. Shapefiles are access by providing the path to the "shp" file, ArcGIS will find the other files associated with the "shp" file. To access a GRID, you'll want to provide a path to the folder that contains the raster data for a particular GRID.

Geodatabases, Personal and File

- Geodatabase: set the workspace to the geodatabase

- If moving bettween Geodatabases, use a full path to the geodatabase and the name of the dataset in the call

3. Workspaces

As a "short cut", you can set ArcGIS to use a "workspace". This is really providing a path to a folder that contains all the data you'll be working on. Then you just need to provide the name of the specific dataset within the workspace.

- example