Add Feature Class To Terrain (3D Analyst Tools)

Summary

Adds one or more feature classes to a terrain dataset.

Usage

Input features must reside in the same feature dataset as the terrain dataset.
Terrain dataset must already have one or more pyramid levels defined.
Depending on the surface type associated with features added to a terrain, the terrain dataset may need to be rebuilt using Build Terrain. The terrain dataset's Properties dialog box in ArcCatalog and the terrain layer's Properties dialog box in ArcMap both provide an indication as to whether the dataset needs to be rebuilt.
Consider enabling the overview option for breakline and polygon surface feature types only if the features contain simplified geometry and are visually relevant for the anticipated display scale. For example, breaklines may not be visible enough to matter at an overview display, whereas a clip polygon would be useful. If the boundary feature is detailed, consider generalizing it and use the coarser representation for the overview. The detailed version should be used at display scales more suited for its resolution of detail.
For terrain datasets stored in an enterprise geodatabase:
- The target terrain cannot be registered as versioned.
- The input feature class cannot be registered as versioned.

Label	Explanation	Data type
Input Terrain	The terrain to which feature classes will be added. The terrain dataset must already have one or more pyramid levels created.	Terrain Layer
Input Feature Class	Identifies features being added to the terrain. Each feature must reside in the same feature dataset as the terrain and have its role defined through the following properties: Value table columns: Input Features—Name of the feature class being added to the terrain. Height Field—Field containing the feature's height information. Type—The way the input future contributes to the terrain surface. Mass Points—Points that are used for triangulation. Hard Line—Linear features that represent sharp discontinuities in elevation. Soft Line—Linear features that represent a gradual discontinuity in elevation. Hard Clip—Polygon feature that defines the interpolation zone with sharp discontinuities at the edges. Soft Clip—Polygon feature that defines the interpolation zone with gradual discontinuities at the edges. Hard Erase—Polygon feature that defines the area to be treated as having no data. The hard designation indicates the boundary of the polygon represents a sharp discontinuity. Soft Erase—Polygon feature that defines the area to be treated as having no data. The soft designation indicates the boundary of the polygon represents a gradual discontinuity. Hard Replace—Polygon feature that defines a constant z-value for all mass points within the boundary. The hard designation indicates the boundary of the polygon represents a sharp discontinuity. Soft Replace—Polygon feature that defines a constant z-value for all mass points within the boundary. The soft designation indicates the boundary of the polygon represents a gradual discontinuity. Hard Value Fill—Polygon feature that defines a constant z-value within its boundary. The hard designation indicates the boundary of the polygon represents a sharp discontinuity. Soft Value Fill—Polygon feature that defines a constant z-value within its boundary. The soft designation indicates the boundary of the polygon represents a gradual discontinuity. Group—Defines the group of each contributing feature. Min Resolution—The lowest resolution that the surface feature will be enforced. Max Resolution—The highest resolution that the surface feature will be enforced. Overview—Indicates whether the feature is enforced at the coarsest representation of the terrain dataset. Embed—Checking this option indicates the source features will be copied to a hidden feature class that will be referenced by and only available to the terrain. Embed Name—Name of the embedded feature class. Embed Fields—Specifies Blob field attributes to be retained in the embedded feature class. Anchor—Specifies whether the point feature class will be anchored through all terrain pyramid levels.	Value Table

Label

Explanation

Data type

Input Terrain

The terrain to which feature classes will be added. The terrain dataset must already have one or more pyramid levels created.

Terrain Layer

Input Feature Class

Identifies features being added to the terrain. Each feature must reside in the same feature dataset as the terrain and have its role defined through the following properties:

Value table columns:

Input Features—Name of the feature class being added to the terrain.
Height Field—Field containing the feature's height information.
Type—The way the input future contributes to the terrain surface.
- Mass Points—Points that are used for triangulation.
- Hard Line—Linear features that represent sharp discontinuities in elevation.
- Soft Line—Linear features that represent a gradual discontinuity in elevation.
- Hard Clip—Polygon feature that defines the interpolation zone with sharp discontinuities at the edges.
- Soft Clip—Polygon feature that defines the interpolation zone with gradual discontinuities at the edges.
- Hard Erase—Polygon feature that defines the area to be treated as having no data. The hard designation indicates the boundary of the polygon represents a sharp discontinuity.
- Soft Erase—Polygon feature that defines the area to be treated as having no data. The soft designation indicates the boundary of the polygon represents a gradual discontinuity.
- Hard Replace—Polygon feature that defines a constant z-value for all mass points within the boundary. The hard designation indicates the boundary of the polygon represents a sharp discontinuity.
- Soft Replace—Polygon feature that defines a constant z-value for all mass points within the boundary. The soft designation indicates the boundary of the polygon represents a gradual discontinuity.
- Hard Value Fill—Polygon feature that defines a constant z-value within its boundary. The hard designation indicates the boundary of the polygon represents a sharp discontinuity.
- Soft Value Fill—Polygon feature that defines a constant z-value within its boundary. The soft designation indicates the boundary of the polygon represents a gradual discontinuity.
Group—Defines the group of each contributing feature.
Min Resolution—The lowest resolution that the surface feature will be enforced.
Max Resolution—The highest resolution that the surface feature will be enforced.
Overview—Indicates whether the feature is enforced at the coarsest representation of the terrain dataset.
Embed—Checking this option indicates the source features will be copied to a hidden feature class that will be referenced by and only available to the terrain.
Embed Name—Name of the embedded feature class.
Embed Fields—Specifies Blob field attributes to be retained in the embedded feature class.
Anchor—Specifies whether the point feature class will be anchored through all terrain pyramid levels.

Value Table

Derived output

Label	Explanation	Data type
Updated Input Terrain	The updated terrain.	Terrain Layer

arcpy.3d.AddFeatureClassToTerrain(in_terrain, in_features)

Name Explanation Data type

Name	Explanation	Data type
in_terrain	The terrain to which feature classes will be added. The terrain dataset must already have one or more pyramid levels created.	Terrain Layer
in_features [[in_features, height_field, SF_type, group, min_resolution, max_resolution, overview, embed, embed_name, embed_fields, anchor],...]	Identifies features being added to the terrain. Each feature must reside in the same feature dataset as the terrain and have its role defined through the following properties: Value table columns: `Input Features`—Name of the feature class being added to the terrain. `Height Field`—Field containing the feature's height information. `Type`—The way the input future contributes to the terrain surface. `Mass_Points`—Points that are used for triangulation. `Hard_Line`—Linear features that represent sharp discontinuities in elevation. `Soft_Line`—Linear features that represent a gradual discontinuity in elevation. `Hard_Clip`—Polygon feature that defines the interpolation zone with sharp discontinuities at the edges. `Soft_Clip`—Polygon feature that defines the interpolation zone with gradual discontinuities at the edges. `Hard_Erase`—Polygon feature that defines the area to be treated as having no data. The hard designation indicates the boundary of the polygon represents a sharp discontinuity. `Soft_Erase`—Polygon feature that defines the area to be treated as having no data. The soft designation indicates the boundary of the polygon represents a gradual discontinuity. `Hard_Replace`—Polygon feature that defines a constant z-value for all mass points within the boundary. The hard designation indicates the boundary of the polygon represents a sharp discontinuity. `Soft_Replace`—Polygon feature that defines a constant z-value for all mass points within the boundary. The soft designation indicates the boundary of the polygon represents a gradual discontinuity. `Hardvalue_Fill`—Polygon feature that defines a constant z-value within its boundary. The hard designation indicates the boundary of the polygon represents a sharp discontinuity. `Softvalue_Fill`—Polygon feature that defines a constant z-value within its boundary. The soft designation indicates the boundary of the polygon represents a gradual discontinuity. `Group`—Defines the group of each contributing feature. `Min Resolution`—The lowest resolution that the surface feature will be enforced. `Max Resolution`—The highest resolution that the surface feature will be enforced. `Overview`—Indicates whether the feature is enforced at the coarsest representation of the terrain dataset. `Embed`—Checking this option indicates the source features will be copied to a hidden feature class that will be referenced by and only available to the terrain. `Embed Name`—Name of the embedded feature class. `Embed Fields`—Specifies Blob field attributes to be retained in the embedded feature class. `Anchor`—Specifies whether the point feature class will be anchored through all terrain pyramid levels.	Value Table

in_terrain

The terrain to which feature classes will be added. The terrain dataset must already have one or more pyramid levels created.

Terrain Layer

in_features [[in_features, height_field, SF_type, group, min_resolution, max_resolution, overview, embed, embed_name, embed_fields, anchor],...]

Identifies features being added to the terrain. Each feature must reside in the same feature dataset as the terrain and have its role defined through the following properties:

Value table columns:

Input Features—Name of the feature class being added to the terrain.
Height Field—Field containing the feature's height information.
Type—The way the input future contributes to the terrain surface.
- Mass_Points—Points that are used for triangulation.
- Hard_Line—Linear features that represent sharp discontinuities in elevation.
- Soft_Line—Linear features that represent a gradual discontinuity in elevation.
- Hard_Clip—Polygon feature that defines the interpolation zone with sharp discontinuities at the edges.
- Soft_Clip—Polygon feature that defines the interpolation zone with gradual discontinuities at the edges.
- Hard_Erase—Polygon feature that defines the area to be treated as having no data. The hard designation indicates the boundary of the polygon represents a sharp discontinuity.
- Soft_Erase—Polygon feature that defines the area to be treated as having no data. The soft designation indicates the boundary of the polygon represents a gradual discontinuity.
- Hard_Replace—Polygon feature that defines a constant z-value for all mass points within the boundary. The hard designation indicates the boundary of the polygon represents a sharp discontinuity.
- Soft_Replace—Polygon feature that defines a constant z-value for all mass points within the boundary. The soft designation indicates the boundary of the polygon represents a gradual discontinuity.
- Hardvalue_Fill—Polygon feature that defines a constant z-value within its boundary. The hard designation indicates the boundary of the polygon represents a sharp discontinuity.
- Softvalue_Fill—Polygon feature that defines a constant z-value within its boundary. The soft designation indicates the boundary of the polygon represents a gradual discontinuity.
Group—Defines the group of each contributing feature.
Min Resolution—The lowest resolution that the surface feature will be enforced.
Max Resolution—The highest resolution that the surface feature will be enforced.
Overview—Indicates whether the feature is enforced at the coarsest representation of the terrain dataset.
Embed—Checking this option indicates the source features will be copied to a hidden feature class that will be referenced by and only available to the terrain.
Embed Name—Name of the embedded feature class.
Embed Fields—Specifies Blob field attributes to be retained in the embedded feature class.
Anchor—Specifies whether the point feature class will be anchored through all terrain pyramid levels.

Value Table

Derived output

Name	Explanation	Data type
derived_out_terrain	The updated terrain.	Terrain Layer

Code sample

AddFeatureClassToTerrain example 1 (Python window)

The following sample demonstrates the use of this tool in the Python window:

arcpy.env.workspace = "C:/data"
terrain_data = ["terrain.gdb/terrainFDS/points2", "SHAPE", "masspoints", 2, 0,
                10, "true", "false", "points_embed", "<None>", "false"]
arcpy.ddd.AddFeatureClassToTerrain("test.gdb/featuredataset/terrain", terrain_data)

AddFeatureClassToTerrain example 2 (stand-alone script)

The following sample demonstrates the use of this tool in a stand-alone Python script:

"""****************************************************************************
Name: Create Terrain from TIN
Description: This script demonstrates how to create a terrain dataset using
             features extracted from a TIN. It is particularly useful in
             situations where the source data used in the TIN is not available,
             and the amount of data stored in the TIN proves to be too large
             for the TIN. The terrain's scalability will allow improved
             display performance and faster analysis. The script is designed
             to work as a script tool with 5 input arguments.
****************************************************************************"""
# Import system modules
import arcpy

# Set local variables
tin = arcpy.GetParameterAsText(0) # TIN used to create terrain
gdbLocation = arcpy.GetParameterAsText(1) # Folder that will store terran GDB
gdbName = arcpy.GetParameterAsText(2) # Name of terrain GDB
fdName = arcpy.GetParameterAsText(3) # Name of feature dataset
terrainName = arcpy.GetParameterAsText(4) # Name of terrain

try:
    # Create the file gdb that will store the feature dataset
    arcpy.management.CreateFileGDB(gdbLocation, gdbName)
    gdb = '{0}/{1}'.format(gdbLocation, gdbName)
    # Obtain spatial reference from TIN
    SR = arcpy.Describe(tin).spatialReference
    # Create the feature dataset that will store the terrain
    arcpy.management.CreateFeatureDataset(gdb, fdName, SR)
    fd = '{0}/{1}'.format(gdb, fdName)
    # Export TIN elements to feature classes for terrain
    arcpy.AddMessage("Exporting TIN footprint to define terrain boundary...")
    boundary = "{0}/boundary".format(fd)
    # Run TinDomain
    arcpy.ddd.TinDomain(tin, tinDomain, 'POLYGON')
    arcpy.AddMessage("Exporting TIN breaklines...")
    breaklines = "{0}/breaklines".format(fd)
    # Run TinLine
    arcpy.ddd.TinLine(tin, breaklines, "Code")
    arcpy.AddMessage("Exporting TIN nodes...")
    masspoints = "{0}/masspoints".format(fd)
    # Run TinNode
    arcpy.ddd.TinNode(sourceTIN, TIN_nodes)
    arcpy.AddMessage("Creating terrain dataset...")
    terrain = "terrain_from_tin"
    # Run CreateTerrain
    arcpy.ddd.CreateTerrain(fd, terrainName, 10, 50000, "",
                            "WINDOWSIZE", "ZMEAN", "NONE", 1)
    arcpy.AddMessage("Adding terrain pyramid levels...")
    terrain = "{0}/{1}".format(fd, terrainName)
    pyramids = ["20 5000", "25 10000", "35 25000", "50 50000"]
    # Run AddTerrainPyramidLevel
    arcpy.ddd.AddTerrainPyramidLevel(terrain, "", pyramids)
    arcpy.AddMessage("Adding features to terrain...")
    inFeatures = "{0} Shape softclip 1 0 10 true false boundary_embed <None> "\
             "false; {1} Shape masspoints 1 0 50 true false points_embed "\
             "<None> false; {2} Shape softline 1 0 25 false false lines_embed "\
             "<None> false".format(boundary, masspoints, breaklines)
    # Run AddFeatureClassToTerrain
    arcpy.ddd.AddFeatureClassToTerrain(terrain, inFeatures)
    arcpy.AddMessage("Building terrain...")
    # Run BuildTerrain
    arcpy.ddd.BuildTerrain(terrain, "NO_UPDATE_EXTENT")
    arcpy.GetMessages()

except arcpy.ExecuteError:
    print(arcpy.GetMessages())
except Exception as err:
    print(err)

Environments

Current Workspace, Auto Commit

Licensing information

Basic: Requires 3D Analyst
Standard: Requires 3D Analyst
Advanced: Requires 3D Analyst

Add Feature Class To Terrain (3D Analyst Tools)

Summary

Usage

Parameters

Derived output

Environments

Licensing information

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