An overview of the Generalization toolset

Available with Production Mapping license.

This toolset provides tools to generalize data for different geometry types.

Tools in the Generalization toolset

Tool	Description
Aggregate Polygons	Combines polygons that are smaller than a defined size with other polygons that are within a specified distance of another feature.
Convert Polygons	Deletes polygon features that are below a minimum size.
Delete Dangles	Removes lines that are shorter than the specified length and do not connect to other features on both ends.
Delete Polygons And Extend Lines	Removes polygons that are smaller than the specified area and are connected to two or more lines. Once the polygon is deleted, the lines are extended to meet at the center point of the polygon.
Extend Polygon Sides	Extends the lengths and widths of polygon features until they meet a specified minimum value.
Generalize Shared Features	Performs the selected Simplify and Smooth operations on a line or polygon feature class. When used with spatially related features, this tool helps to maintain coincidence between shared edges.
Increase Line Length	Increases the lengths of lines from the center until they meet a specified length.
Increase Polygon Area	Increases the areas of polygons until they meet a minimum size or larger. You can optionally limit the features to be enlarged based on whether they intersect another feature class.
Modify Underlying Polygon	Determines which polygon features are directly below a line feature. If the type of feature is valid, which is determined by the subtype or feature class, the tool expands the feature to ensure that it meets minimum distance requirements. If it does not meet the minimum distance requirement, the part of the polygon feature under the line is removed and replaced with an appropriate type of feature.
Production Centerline	Creates centerlines from polygon features. This tool is useful for creating centerlines from hydrographic polygons for use at smaller scales.
Prune Hydro	Generates a simplified hydrographic line network for display at a smaller scale. The resulting hydrographic network maintains the main arteries while pruning less significant features based on importance, length, and spacing between features.
Split Narrow Polygons	Identifies areas in polygon features that are narrower than a defined width. An output is generated containing the narrow areas split from the (original) polygon features.
Thin Hydro Features	Generalizes input hydrographic stream data into two feature classes: one for hydro polyline features and one for hydro polygon features. The generalized versions are produced using a stream order algorithm. The algorithm removes less significant hydro features based on the number of tributaries.
Thin Spot Heights	Creates a band-specific elevation spot heights feature class from a spot heights feature class and elevation bands feature class. The resulting feature class is used by the Elevation Guide Bar surround element for display purposes.