ArcMap

Table To Ellipse

Summary

Creates a new feature class containing geodetic ellipse features constructed based on the values in an x-coordinate field, y-coordinate field, major-axis field, minor-axis field, and azimuth field of a table.

Illustration

Table To Ellipse overview graphic
Ellipse construction parameters

Usage

  • If you use text files and .csv files as input, make sure they follow the file structure specified in Tabular data sources.

  • Each geodetic ellipse is constructed using a particular set of field values representing the x and y coordinates of a center point, major and minor axis lengths, and azimuth angle measured from North. These fields and values will be included in the output.

  • A geodetic ellipse is a curve on the surface of the earth. However, a geodetic ellipse feature is not stored as a parametric (true) curve in the output, but rather a densified polyline representing the path of the geodetic ellipse.

  • If you specify the same field for both Major Field and Minor Field, or if the values in both fields are equal, then the output features represent geodetic circles.

  • When the output is a feature class in a file geodatabase or a personal geodatabase, the values in the Shape_Length field are always in the units of the output coordinate system specified by the Spatial Reference parameter, and they are the planar lengths of the polylines. To measure a geodesic length or distance, use the ArcMap Measure tool and choose the Geodesic, Loxodrome, or Great Elliptic option accordingly before taking a measurement.

  • When needed, you can use the Feature To Polygon tool to convert the output polylines to polygons.

Syntax

arcpy.management.TableToEllipse(in_table, out_featureclass, x_field, y_field, major_field, minor_field, distance_units, {azimuth_field}, {azimuth_units}, {id_field}, {spatial_reference})
ParameterExplanationData Type
in_table

The input table. It can be a text file, CSV file, Excel file, dBASE table, or geodatabase table.

Table View
out_featureclass

The output feature class containing geodetic ellipses as densified polylines.

Feature Class
x_field

A numerical field in the input table containing the x coordinates (or longitudes) of the center points of ellipses to be positioned in the output coordinate system specified by the spatial_reference parameter.

Field
y_field

A numerical field in the input table containing the y coordinates (or latitudes) of the center points of ellipses to be positioned in the output coordinate system specified by the spatial_reference parameter.

Field
major_field

A numerical field in the input table containing major axis lengths of the ellipses.

Field
minor_field

A numerical field in the input table containing minor axis lengths of the ellipses.

Field
distance_units

The units for the values in Major Field and Minor Field.

  • METERS —The units will be meters.
  • KILOMETERS —The units will be kilometers.
  • MILES —The units will be miles.
  • NAUTICAL_MILES —The units will be nautical miles.
  • FEET —The units will be feet.
  • US_SURVEY_FEET —The units will be U.S. survey feet.
String
azimuth_field
(Optional)

A numerical field in the input table containing azimuth angle values for the major axis rotations of the output ellipses. The values are measured clockwise from North.

Field
azimuth_units
(Optional)

The units of the values in the Azimuth Field.

  • DEGREES — The units will be decimal degrees. This is the default.
  • MILS —The units will be mils.
  • RADS —The units will be radians.
  • GRADS —The units will be gradians.
String
id_field
(Optional)

A field in the input table. This field and the values are included in the output and can be used to join the output features with the records in the input table.

Field
spatial_reference
(Optional)

The spatial reference of the output feature class. A spatial reference can be specified as any of the following:

  • The path to a .prj file, such as C:/workspace/watershed.prj
  • The path to a feature class or feature dataset whose spatial reference you want to apply, such as C:/workspace/myproject.gdb/landuse/grassland
  • A SpatialReference object, such as arcpy.SpatialReference("C:/data/Africa/Carthage.prj")

Spatial Reference

Code sample

TableToEllipse example (stand-alone script)

Creates polyline ellipse features from a table.

# Import system modules
import arcpy
from arcpy import env

# Set local variables
input_table = r"c:\workspace\SGS\eltop.gdb\elret"
output_ellipse = r"c:\workspace\SGS\eltop.gdb\Eplyln_001"

#Table To Ellipse
arcpy.TableToEllipse_management(input_table, output_ellipse, "lond",
                                "latd", "mjerr", "mnerr", "KILOMETERS",
                                "orient", "DEGREES", "LinkID")

Environments

Licensing information

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

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