ArcMap

Build Raster Attribute Table

Summary

Create or update a table with information about the classes in your raster datasets. This is used primarily with discrete data.

Usage

  • To delete an existing table and create a new one, check Overwrite (overwrite = "OVERWRITE" in Python). A new raster attribute table will be created, and the old one will be deleted.

  • If you have an existing table and you do not check Overwrite, the table will be updated. No fields will be deleted, but the values in the table will be up to date.

  • You cannot build a raster attribute table for a raster dataset that is a pixel type of 32-bit floating point.

Syntax

arcpy.management.BuildRasterAttributeTable(in_raster, {overwrite})
ParameterExplanationData Type
in_raster

The single band raster dataset to which a table will be added. This tool will not run if the pixel type is floating point or double precision.

Raster Layer
overwrite
(Optional)

Specifies whether you want to overwrite the existing table.

  • NONE —The existing raster attribute table will not be overwritten, and any edits will be appended to the current table. This is the default.
  • Overwrite —The existing raster attribute table will be overwritten and a new raster attribute table will be created.
Boolean

Derived Output

NameExplanationData Type
out_raster

The output raster dataset.

Raster Layer

Code sample

BuildRasterAttributeTable example (Python window)

This is a Python sample for the BuildRasterAttributeTable tool.

import arcpy
arcpy.BuildRasterAttributeTable_management("c:/data/image.tif", "Overwrite")
BuildRasterAttributeTable example 2 (stand-alone script)

This is a Python script sample for the BuildRasterAttributeTable tool.

##====================================
##Build Raster Attribute Table
##Usage: BuildRasterAttributeTable_management in_raster {NONE | Overwrite}
    
import arcpy
arcpy.env.workspace = "C:/Workspace"

##Build attribute table for single band raster dataset
##Overwrite the existing attribute table file
arcpy.BuildRasterAttributeTable_management("image.tif", "Overwrite")

Environments

This tool does not use any geoprocessing environments.

Licensing information

  • Basic: Yes
  • Standard: Yes
  • Advanced: Yes

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