Summary
The Describe function returns the following properties for network datasets. Dataset Properties are also supported.
A network dataset returns a dataType of "NetworkDataset".
A network dataset is used to model transportation networks.
Properties
| Property | Explanation | Data Type |
| networkType (Read Only) | The type of workspace containing the network dataset. This property returns the following keywords:
| String |
| supportsTurns (Read Only) | Indicates if the network dataset supports turns. | Boolean |
| isBuildable (Read Only) | Indicates if the network dataset can be built. SDC-based network datasets cannot be built as they are read-only. | Boolean |
| catalogPath (Read Only) | The path of the network dataset. | String |
| attributes (Read Only) | Returns a Python list of Network Attribute objects. | Object |
| edgeSources (Read Only) | Returns a Python list of Edge Source objects. | Object |
| junctionSources (Read Only) | Returns a Python list of Junction Source objects. | Object |
| turnSources (Read Only) | Returns a Python list of Turn Source objects. | Object |
| systemJunctionSource (Read Only) | Returns a System Junction Source object defined for the network dataset. This property is not available with SDC-based network datasets as they do not support system junction sources. | Object |
| supportsDirections (Read Only) | Indicates if the network dataset supports generating directions. | Boolean |
| directions (Read Only) | Returns a Network Directions object defined for the network dataset. This object can be used to get directions information at the network dataset level. The directions property is available only if the supportsDirections property returns True. | Object |
| sources (Read Only) | Returns a Python list of Network Source objects. This property returns all the sources for the network dataset. If you want to get a list of particular source type—for example, only the edge sources—use the edgeSources property. | Object |
| elevationModel (Read Only) | The network elevation model used to refine the connectivity of the network dataset. This property returns the following keywords:
| String |
| timeZoneAttributeName (Read Only) | The name of the time zone attribute. If the network dataset does not support time zones, this property returns an empty string. | String |
| timeZoneTableName (Read Only) | The name of the time-zone table that stores the list of time zones used by the network dataset. | String |
| supportsHistoricalTrafficData (Read Only) | Indicates if the network dataset supports the use of historical traffic information. | Boolean |
| historicalTrafficData (Read Only) | Returns an Historical Traffic Data object defined for the network dataset. This object can be used to get historical traffic information such as the historical traffic tables used by the network dataset. This property is available only if the supportsHistoricalTrafficData property returns True. | Object |
| supportsLiveTrafficData (Read Only) | Indicates if the network dataset supports the use of live traffic information. | Boolean |
| liveTrafficData (Read Only) | Returns a Live Traffic Data object defined for the network dataset. This object can be used to get the information about live traffic properties such as traffic feed name used by the network dataset. This property is available only if the supportsLiveTrafficData property returns True. | Object |
| optimizations (Read Only) | Returns a list of strings indicating which optimizations, if any, the network dataset uses. If the network dataset has a service area index to increase the speed at which service area polygons are calculated, the value Service Area Index is returned in the list of optimizations. If no optimizations are present, this describe property returns an empty list. | String |
Code sample
Network Dataset Properties example
Display some network dataset properties.
# Name: NDSProperties_ex01.py
# Description: Print some of the network dataset properties.
import arcpy
# Set the workspace
arcpy.env.workspace = "C:/Data/Paris.gdb/Transportation"
# Create Describe object for the network dataset
desc = arcpy.Describe("ParisMultimodal_ND")
# Print general network dataset properties
print "Network type: " + desc.networkType
print "Supports turns? " + str(desc.supportsTurns)
print "Supports directions? " + str(desc.supportsDirections)
print "Is buildable? " + str(desc.isBuildable)
print "Elevation model: " + desc.elevationModel
print "Supports historical traffic data: " + str(desc.supportsHistoricalTrafficData)
print "Time zone attribute name: " + desc.timeZoneAttributeName
print "Time zone table name: " + desc.timeZoneTableName
print "Optimizations: " + ", ".join(desc.optimizations)