FeatureSet

Summary

FeatureSet objects are a lightweight representation of a feature class. They are a special data element that contains not only schema, but also the data. The FeatureSet object is also how feature data is sent and received from the server.

Discussion

Note:

If loading a feature class into a new FeatureSet and modifying the FeatureSet with a geoprocessing tool that modifies the input like Calculate Field or an arcpy function like UpdateCursor, the original feature class will also be modified.

Syntax

 FeatureSet  ({table})

Parameter	Explanation	Data Type
table	Feature data to be loaded into the FeatureSet object.	String

Properties

Property	Explanation	Data Type
JSON (Read Only)	Returns an Esri JSON representation of the geometry as a string. Tip: The returned string can be converted to a dictionary using the Python json.loads function.	String

Method Overview

Method	Explanation
load (table_path)	Import from a table.
save (table_path)	Export to a table.

Methods

load (table_path)

Parameter	Explanation	Data Type
table_path	The table to be imported.	String

save (table_path)

Parameter	Explanation	Data Type
table_path	The output table to be created.	String

Code sample

FeatureSet example

Load data into a FeatureSet and insert into feature class.

import arcpy

arcpy.env.overwriteOutput = True

arcpy.ImportToolbox("http://flame7/arcgis/services;BufferByVal",
                    "servertools")

# List of coordinates
coordinates = [[-117.196717216, 34.046944853],
               [-117.186226483, 34.046498438],
               [-117.179530271, 34.038016569],
               [-117.187454122, 34.039132605],
               [-117.177744614, 34.056765964],
               [-117.156205131, 34.064466609],
               [-117.145491191, 34.068261129],
               [-117.170825195, 34.073618099],
               [-117.186784501, 34.068149525],
               [-117.158325598, 34.03489167]]

# Create an in_memory feature class to initially contain the coordinate pairs
feature_class = arcpy.CreateFeatureclass_management(
    "in_memory", "tempfc", "POINT")[0]

# Open an insert cursor
with arcpy.da.InsertCursor(feature_class, ["SHAPE@XY"]) as cursor:
    # Iterate through list of coordinates and add to cursor
    for (x, y) in coordinates:
        cursor.insertRow([(x, y)])

# Create a FeatureSet object and load in_memory feature class
feature_set = arcpy.FeatureSet()
feature_set.load(feature_class)

results = arcpy.BufferPoints_servertools(feature_set)