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FieldInfo

Summary

Provides field info methods and properties for layer and table views.

Discussion

The FieldInfo object does not support the renaming of fields when the object is used as input to a geoprocessing tool.

Syntax

FieldInfo()

Properties

Name Explanation Data type

count

(Read only)

The field count.

Integer

Methods

addField(field_name, new_field_name, visible, split_rule)

Add a field info entry

Name Explanation Data type

field_name

The field name from the input feature class or table.

String

new_field_name

The field name for the new layer or table view.

String

visible

Specifies whether the field will be visible or hidden.

  • VISIBLE—The field will be visible.

  • HIDDEN—The field will be hidden.

String

split_rule

Specifies the behavior of an attribute's values when a feature is split.

  • NONE—The attributes of the two resulting features will take on a copy of the original value.

  • RATIO—The attributes of resulting features will be a ratio of the original feature's value. The ratio is based on the division of the original geometry. If the geometry is divided equally, each new feature's attribute will get one-half of the value of the original object's attribute.

String

exportToString()

Exports the object to its string representation.

Return value

Data type Explanation

String

The string representation of the object.

findFieldByName(field_name)

Finds the field index by field name.

Name Explanation Data type

field_name

The field name that will be used to find its index position.

String

Return value

Data type Explanation

Integer

The index position.

findFieldByNewName(field_name)

Finds the field index by the new field name.

Name Explanation Data type

field_name

The new field name that will be used to find its index position.

String

Return value

Data type Explanation

Integer

The index position.

getFieldName(index)

Gets the field name from the table by index position.

Name Explanation Data type

index

The index position.

Integer

Return value

Data type Explanation

String

The field name.

getNewName(index)

Returns the new field name from the table by index position.

Name Explanation Data type

index

The index position.

Integer

Return value

Data type Explanation

String

The new field name.

getSplitRule(index)

Gets the split rule from the table by index position.

Name Explanation Data type

index

The index position.

String

Return value

Data type Explanation

String

The split rule.

  • NONE—The attributes of the two resulting features will take on a copy of the original value.

  • RATIO—The attributes of resulting features will be a ratio of the original feature's value. The ratio is based on the division of the original geometry. If the geometry is divided equally, each new feature's attribute will get one-half of the value of the original object's attribute.

getVisible(index)

Returns the visible flag from the table by index position.

Name Explanation Data type

index

The index position.

String

Return value

Data type Explanation

String

The visible flag.

  • VISIBLE—The field will be visible.

  • HIDDEN—The field will be hidden.

loadFromString(string)

Defines a FieldInfo object from a formatted string.

Name Explanation Data type

string

The string representation of the object.

In addition to FieldInfo methods and properties, you can also construct a FieldInfo object from a formatted string.

Each field is defined by four space-delimited values. Fields are separated by a semicolon.

  • The name of the input field.

  • The name of the output field (not currently supported).

  • Sets whether the field is visible or hidden.

    • VISIBLE—The field is visible.

    • HIDDEN—The field is hidden.

  • Sets the behavior of an attribute's values when a feature is split.

    • NONE—The attributes of the two resulting features take on a copy of the original value.

    • RATIO—The attributes of resulting features are a ratio of the original feature's value. The ratio is based on the division of the original geometry. If the geometry is divided equally, each new feature's attribute gets one-half of the value of the original object's attribute.

import arcpy
field_info_str = "fieldA fieldA VISIBLE NONE;fieldB fieldB HIDDEN RATIO"
field_info = arcpy.FieldInfo()
field_info.loadFromString(field_info_str)

String

removeField(index)

Removes a FieldInfo entry from a table.

Name Explanation Data type

index

The index position of the FieldInfo object.

Integer

setFieldName(index, field_name)

Sets the field name in the table.

Name Explanation Data type

index

The index position.

Integer

field_name

The field name that will be set in the table.

String

setNewName(index, new_field_name)

Sets a new field name in the table.

Note:

While the setNewName method updates a field name in the object, the name change will not be applied when the FieldInfo object is used as input to a geoprocessing tool.

Name Explanation Data type

index

The index position.

None

new_field_name

The new field name that will be set in the table.

String

setSplitRule(index, rule)

Sets the split rule in the table.

Name Explanation Data type

index

The index position.

Integer

rule

Specifies the split rule that will be set in the table.

  • NONE—The attributes of the two resulting features will take on a copy of the original value.

  • RATIO—The attributes of resulting features will be a ratio of the original feature's value. The ratio is based on the division of the original geometry. If the geometry is divided equally, each new feature's attribute will get one-half of the value of the original object's attribute.

String

setVisible(index, visible)

Sets the visible policy of a field in the table.

Name Explanation Data type

index

The index position.

Integer

visible

Specifies the visible policy that will be set in the table.

  • VISIBLE—The field will be visible.

  • HIDDEN—The field will be hidden.

String

Code sample

FieldInfo example

Display FieldInfo object properties for a feature layer.

import arcpy

feature_class = "c:/Data/wells.shp"
layer = "temp_layer"
arcpy.management.MakeFeatureLayer(feature_class, layer)

# Create a describe object
desc = arcpy.Describe(layer)

# Access Describe's fieldInfo property
field_info = desc.fieldInfo

# Use the count property to iterate through all the fields
for index in range(0, field_info.count):
    # Print fieldinfo properties
    print(f"Field Name: {field_info.getFieldName(index)}")
    print(f"\tSplit Rule: {field_info.getSplitRule(index)}")
    print(f"\tVisible:    {field_info.getVisible(index)}")