Setting geoprocessing environments

Application environment settings

Application environment settings are the system wide default settings that are used by every tool.

1. From the ArcMap standard toolbar, click Geoprocessing > Environments.
The Environment Settings dialog box opens as illustrated below. Expand the environment categories containing the settings you want to change.



2. Click OK to apply the settings or Cancel to leave the settings unchanged.

Default application environment settings

You can create a set of default environment settings that will be used by ArcCatalog and all new ArcMap, ArcGlobe, and ArcScene documents. There are two ways to create and save a set of default environment settings.

Default settings in ArcCatalog

1. Open ArcCatalog.
2. Click Geoprocessing > Geoprocessing Environments.
3. Set the environments to the values you want to use as default.
4. Exit ArcCatalog. The environment settings you made are saved.

Any new ArcMap, ArcScene, or ArcGlobe document you create will use the settings you made in ArcCatalog.

Default settings in the ArcToolbox window

1. Open the ArcToolbox window by clicking Geoprocessing > ArcToolbox
2. Right click the ArcToolbox node and click Environments
3. Set the environments to the values you want to use as default and click OK.
4. Right click the ArcToolbox node and click Save Settings > To Default

Any new ArcMap, ArcScene, or ArcGlobe document you create will use the settings you saved.

Learn more about the ArcToolbox window

Tool environment settings

Tool environment settings inherit from application environment settings: when you open a tool's dialog box and click the Environments button, the application environment settings are used as the initial values for the tool's environment settings.

Note:

Tool environment settings only apply to the current run of the tool and do not update the application environment settings.

1. Open the tool's dialog box and click the Environments button.

   Note:

   The Environment Settings dialog box opens, as illustrated above. All environment categories and settings appear in the dialog box, including those environments that have no effect on the tool's execution. To determine what environments affect the tool, open the tool reference page, as follows:

   • On the Environment Settings dialog box, click Cancel.
   • On the tool dialog box, click Show Help.
   • In the side-panel help window, click Tool Help. This opens the tool reference page in the desktop help system.
   • Scroll to the bottom of the tool reference page where the environments that affect the tool are listed. Each environment is a link that you can click to read more about the environment and how it affects the tool.

2. Expand the environment categories containing the environment values you want to change. Note that the tool's environment values are initially the same as the application environment settings.
3. Type the new values for the environments.
4. Click OK to set the value or Cancel to leave the settings unchanged.

Model environment settings

If you execute a model using its tool dialog box, the tool environment settings are passed down to the model. If you execute the model using ModelBuilder, the application environment settings are passed down.

Model environment settings are saved with the model, and because of this, the dialog box for setting model environments is different than the dialog box for setting the application or tool environments. On the model environment dialog box, you check which environment settings you will permanently override in the model. Conversely, unchecked settings will use the value of the passed-down application or tool environment.

Learn more about setting model environments

Model process environment settings

Model environment settings are passed down to model processes (a model process is a tool plus its data). The dialog box for setting a model process environment is the same as that for setting a model's environments. When the model process executes, the model's environments are passed down to the process and any checked environment in the model process overrides the environment settings passed down from the model environment.

Learn more about setting model process environments

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