Conversion toolbox history

The tables below catalog changes made to every tool in the Conversion toolbox. There is one table per tool and you can click the tool name to navigate to the tool reference page. For more information on interpreting the contents of these history tables, see the section at the end of this topic.

ASCII to Raster

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
9.0	New at this version

Add CAD Fields

Version	Description
10.3	Not ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.0	License changed from Advanced to Basic
9.0	New at this version

CAD to Geodatabase

Version	Description
10.3	Not ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.0	New at this version

Copy Runtime Geodatabase to File Geodatabase

Version	Description
10.3	Not ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0 New at this version

Create CAD XData

Version	Description
10.0	Deprecated
9.0	New at this version

DEM to Raster

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
9.0	New at this version

ESRI Metadata Translator

Version	Description
10.3	Not ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
9.2	New at this version

Excel To Table

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.2	New at this version

Export to CAD

Version	Description
10.3.1	Default value for parameter Output_Type changed from DWG_R2010 to DWG_R2013 Parameter Output_Type has 2 new options: DXF_R2013 DWG_R2013
10.3	Not ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.0	License changed from Advanced to Basic Parameter Output_Type has 2 new options: DXF_R2010 DWG_R2010
9.0	New at this version

Export Metadata

Version	Description
10.3	Not ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.0	New at this version

Export Metadata Multiple

Version	Description
10.3	Not ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.0	New at this version

Feature Class to Feature Class

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
9.2	7 new parameters added: field_mapping out_name out_feature_class where_clause config_keyword out_path in_features 10 parameters removed: First_Spatial_Grid Configuration_Keyword Ouput_will_contain_Measure__M__values Output_will_contain_Z_values Output_Location Input_Features Expression Output_Feature_Class Field_Info Output_Feature_Class_Name
9.0	New at this version

Feature Class to Geodatabase (multiple)

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
9.0	New at this version

Feature Class To Shapefile (multiple)

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
9.0	New at this version

Feature to Raster

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
9.0	New at this version

Feature Class To Coverage

Version	Description
10.3	Not ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
9.0	New at this version

Features To JSON

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.2	New at this version

Float to Raster

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
9.0	New at this version

GPX To Features

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.1	New at this version

Import from CAD

Version	Description
10.0	Deprecated
9.0	New at this version

Import CAD Annotation

Version	Description
10.3	Not ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
9.0	New at this version

Import Coverage Annotation

Version	Description
10.3	Not ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
9.0	New at this version

Import from E00

Version	Description
10.3	Not ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.0	New at this version

Import Metadata

Version	Description
10.3	Not ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.0	New at this version

JSON To Features

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.2	New at this version

KML To Layer

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.1	New parameter added: include_groundoverlay
10.0	New at this version

LAS Dataset to Raster

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.1	New at this version

Layer To KML

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.1.1	Default value for parameter layer_output_scale changed from 1 to 0
10.1	Required Extension changed from 3D Analyst to none New parameter added: ignore_zvalue Parameter layer_output_scale changed from Required to Optional
9.3	New at this version

Metadata Publisher

Version	Description
10.3	Not ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
9.3	New parameter added: output
9.2	New at this version

Map To KML

Version	Description
10.3	Not ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.1.1	Default value for parameter map_output_scale changed from 1 to 0
10.1	Required Extension changed from 3D Analyst to none New parameter added: ignore_zvalue Parameter map_output_scale changed from Required to Optional
9.3	New at this version

Metadata Importer

Version	Description
10.3	Not ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
9.3	New at this version

Multipatch To Collada

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.0	New at this version

Multipatch to Raster

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.2	New at this version

PDF To TIFF

Version	Description
10.3	Not ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0 New at this version

Point to Raster

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.0	New parameter added: out_rasterdataset Parameter removed: out_raster_dataset
9.2	New at this version

Polygon to Raster

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.0	New parameter added: out_rasterdataset Parameter removed: out_raster_dataset
9.2	New at this version

Polyline to Raster

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.0	New parameter added: out_rasterdataset Parameter removed: out_raster_dataset
9.2	New at this version

Raster to ASCII

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
9.0	New at this version

Raster to Float

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
9.0	New at this version

Raster To Geodatabase (multiple)

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
9.0	New at this version

Raster To Other Format (multiple)

Version	Description
10.4	Parameter Raster_Format has 2 new options: MRF CRF
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.0	Parameter Raster_Format has 4 new options: BSQ ENVI DAT BIP BIL
9.0	New at this version

Raster to Point

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
9.0	New at this version

Raster to Polygon

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
9.0	New at this version

Raster to Polyline

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
9.0	New at this version

Raster To Video

Version	Description
10.3	Not ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.0	New at this version

Set CAD Alias

Version	Description
10.0	Deprecated
9.0	New at this version

Synchronize Metadata

Version	Description
10.3	Not ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.2	Parameter synctype had new option added: SELECTIVE
10.1	3 new parameters added: synctype source output
10.0	New at this version

Table to dBASE (multiple)

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
9.0	New at this version

Table To Excel

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.2	New at this version

Table to Geodatabase (multiple)

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
9.0	New at this version

Table to Table

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
9.2	7 new parameters added: field_mapping out_table out_name where_clause config_keyword out_path in_rows 7 parameters removed: Configuration_Keyword Output_Location Output_Table_Name Expression Field_Info Input_Table Output_Table
9.0	New at this version

USGS MP Metadata Translator

Version	Description
10.3	Not ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
9.2	New at this version

Upgrade Metadata

Version	Description
10.3	Not ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.0	New at this version

Validate Metadata

Version	Description
10.3	Not ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.0	New at this version

Validate Metadata Multiple

Version	Description
10.3	Not ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.0	New at this version

WFS To Feature Class

Version	Description
10.3	Ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.0	License changed from Standard to Basic
9.3	New at this version

XML Schema Validation

Version	Description
10.3	Not ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.1	4 new parameters added: schemaurl source nsuri output
10.0	New at this version

XSLT Transformation

Version	Description
10.3	Not ported to ArcGIS Pro 1.0
10.1	New parameter added: xsltparam
9.2	New at this version

About the toolbox history tables

At every release, Esri makes changes to existing tools and introduces new tools. These changes provide solutions to problems that were difficult to solve in previous releases and make tools more powerful and easier to use.

As an example of how you might use these history tables, suppose you are helping a colleague who is using version 10.2 while you're using version 10.3. You might suggest to your colleague that they use the Add Geometry Attributes tool to find point centroids of polygon features. The Add Geometry Attributes tool is found in the Data Management toolbox, and checking the Data Management toolbox history topic, you find that Add Geometry Attributes was not introduced until the 10.2.1 release. You can then suggest a 10.2 workflow of using the Feature To Point tool to find polygon centroids.

When changes are made to existing tools, every effort is made to maintain backward compatibility, meaning that the use of a tool in the previous release continues to work in the new release. That is, suppose you have a model or script written in version 10.2 that uses the Buffer tool. At version 10.3, the Buffer tool has a new optional parameter, method, with the default value of PLANAR. Your 10.2 script or model will work in 10.3 because the new method parameter is optional and its default value causes Buffer to work exactly the same way it did in 10.2.

Esri strives to maintain backward compatibility. However, it's not always possible due to the new functionality being introduced. Here are the cases where backward compatibility may break:

• If a parameter was removed, old workflows that used the parameter will no longer work.
• If a parameter option was removed, old workflows that used the option may no longer work. In many cases, the option that was removed is replaced by another option and the tool knows what to do if the previous option was specified.
• If a parameter had a data type removed and your old workflow used inputs of that data type, the old workflow will not work in the new version.
• A license change may affect your workflow. Most license changes are downward (from Advanced to Standard, for example) which would not affect backward compatibility.
• An extension change may affect your workflow. Extension changes that affect existing workflows are rare.
• If a parameter's default value changed, it may affect your workflow. You'll need to examine your existing workflows to determine the effect of the default value change.
• If the order of parameters changed, scripts that use positional arguments may break.

Below is more information about changes cataloged in the history tables.

New at this version

The last row of each table always contains the release version at which the tool was introduced to the toolbox.

Ported / Not ported to ArcGIS Pro

If you're transitioning from ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro, you may need to know whether a tool in ArcMap is also available in ArcGIS Pro. The majority of tools found in version 10.3 were ported over to (that is, replicated and made available in) ArcGIS Pro version 1.0. Information about whether the tool was ported over from ArcMap to the ArcGIS Pro platform is usually contained in the first row of the table. Note that you can use the Analyze Tools For Pro tool to check whether your ArcMap models and scripts will run in ArcGIS Pro.

Note:

Information about tools ported from ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro is only available for ArcMap version 10.3 and 10.3.1. For example, if a tool was ported from ArcMap 10.4 to ArcGIS Pro, or was ported from ArcGIS Pro to ArcMap 10.4, that information is not recorded in the history tables.

Parameter options

A parameter option (also referred to as an enumerator) is a string that affects tool execution. For example, the join_attributes parameter of the Intersect tool has three options: ALL, NO_FID, and FID_ONLY. New options appear occasionally from release to release, and options may be removed. An option introduced in a later version (such as 10.4) cannot be used in an earlier version (such as 10.3).

Sometimes you'll see an option removed and replaced with a very similar option, such as Euclidean distance replaced with EUCLIDEAN_DISTANCE. In cases like this, the tool is programmed to accept either option and backward compatibility is not broken.

New and removed parameters

New parameters are almost always added as the last parameter so backward compatibility is maintained in scripts. However, sometimes the new parameter must be inserted between existing parameters and compatibility in scripts may be broken—you may have to edit your script to run in the later version. If a new parameter is inserted between existing parameters, it will be noted as a change in parameter order.

Removed parameters are rare. Scripts that use the removed parameter will have to be changed, but models should continue to run.

Parameter default value changes

Optional parameters have a default value—the value that will be used unless you change it. If there is a change to a parameter's default value, it may affect your existing models and scripts.

Parameter data type changes

A data type defines the permissible values for a parameter, such as the type of datasets (features, tables, networks, and so on). If a data type is removed at a version, it means that the parameter no longer accepts the dataset as input or output. You may have to change your models and scripts if they use the removed data type.

Parameter order

New parameters are almost always added as the last parameter and don't affect the order of existing parameters. In rare cases, the order of existing parameters may change, and scripts that use positional arguments may break. Instead of using positional arguments, you can use keyword arguments as shown below. Models will still execute as they are not dependent on parameter order.

# Positional arguments - skipping optional arguments using empty strings is dependent on 
#  the order of the optional parameters
#
arcpy.AddField_management("schools", "school_id", "LONG", "", "", "", "", "NON_NULLABLE")

# Keyword arguments - position doesn't matter
#
arcpy.AddField_management("schools", "school_id", "LONG", field_is_nullable="NON_NULLABLE")

Parameter name case

The name of a parameter may change case, for example, from In_Features to in_features. This change only affects scripts that use keyword arguments. In Python, keyword arguments are case sensitive.

Parameter type

A parameter type may change from required to optional or from optional to required. Changing from optional to required may affect existing workflows.

Tool licensing and extension

A licensing or extension change may affect existing workflows.

Deprecated tool

See the topic What is a deprecated tool? for more information.