ListFeatureClasses

Summary

The ListFeatureClasses function returns a list of the feature classes in the current workspace, limited by name, feature type, and optionally, feature dataset.

Discussion

The workspace environment must be set before using several of the list functions, including ListDatasets, ListFeatureClasses, ListFiles, ListRasters, ListTables, and ListWorkspaces.

Syntax

ListFeatureClasses({wild_card}, {feature_type}, {feature_dataset})

Parameter	Explanation	Data Type
wild_card	Limits the results returned. If a value is not specified, all values are returned. The wildcard is not case sensitive. Use an asterisk (*) to represent zero or more characters. For example, Te* finds Tennessee and Texas.	String
feature_type	The feature type that will limit the results. Valid feature types are listed in the following table: Annotation—Annotation feature classes Arc—Arc (or polyline) feature classes Dimension—Dimension feature classes Edge—Edge feature classes Junction—Junction feature classes Label—Label feature classes Line—Polyline (or arc) feature classes Multipatch—Multipatch feature classes Multipoint—Multipoint feature class Node—Node feature classes Point—Point feature classes Polygon—Polygon feature classes Polyline—Polyline (or arc) feature classes Region—Region feature classes Route—Route feature classes Tic—Tic feature classes All—All feature classes in the workspace. This is the default.	String
feature_dataset	Limits the feature classes returned to the feature dataset, if specified. If blank, only stand-alone feature classes will be returned in the workspace.	String

Return value

Data Type	Explanation
String	The list containing feature class names is returned from the function, limited by the optional wild_card, feature_type, and feature_dataset arguments.

Code sample

ListFeatureClasses example 1

Copy shapefiles to a geodatabase.

import os
import arcpy

# Set the workspace for ListFeatureClasses
arcpy.env.workspace = "c:/base"

# Use the ListFeatureClasses function to return a list of
#  shapefiles.
featureclasses = arcpy.ListFeatureClasses()

# Copy shapefiles to a file geodatabase
for fc in featureclasses:
    arcpy.management.CopyFeatures(
        fc, os.path.join("c:/base/output.gdb",
                         os.path.splitext(fc)[0]))

ListFeatureClasses example 2

List all feature classes in a geodatabase, including any in feature datasets.

import arcpy
import os

arcpy.env.workspace = "c:/base/gdb.gdb"

datasets = arcpy.ListDatasets(feature_type='feature')
datasets = [''] + datasets if datasets is not None else []

for ds in datasets:
    for fc in arcpy.ListFeatureClasses(feature_dataset=ds):
        path = os.path.join(arcpy.env.workspace, ds, fc)
        print(path)

Related topics

• Create lists of data
• Walk