How Polyline to Raster works

The following information specifies how the cells in raster datasets are assigned values under various conditions when using the Polyline to Raster tool.

There are two ways to control how the cell will be assigned a value when more than one feature falls within a cell. The methods are identified below.

The maximum length method

When the Cell assignment type parameter is set to MAXIMUM_LENGTH option:

• If there is only one line in the cell, select that line.
• If there is more than one line in the cell, and:
  • There are no priorities set or the priorities are the same, then select the one with the lowest FID.
  • The feature with the largest positive priority is always selected for conversion irrespective of the length.
• If the feature lies on a cell boundary, then the boundary rules apply.

The maximum combined length method

When the Cell assignment type parameter is set to MAXIMUM_COMBINED_LENGTH option:

• If there is only one line in the cell, select that line.
• If there is more than one line in the cell, and:
  • There are no priorities set or the priorities are the same, then select the one with the lowest FID.
  • The feature with the largest positive priority is always selected for conversion irrespective of the length.
• If the feature lies on a cell boundary, then the boundary rules apply.

Note:

For this description, the combined feature is considered to be a single feature with the FID equal to the lowest of the combined features and the priority equal to the highest of the combined features.

Examples using different options for the cell assignment method

Illustration using different options.