Introducing Geographic Information Systems with ArcGIS: A Workbook Approach to Learning GIS, 3rd Edition

Specifications of your Input Text File for the “Create Features from Text File” Tool

The symbolic format of a text file for the lines of the feature class is as follows.

<polyline>

<line_id> <part_number>

<vertex_id> <x> <y> <z> <m>

<vertex_id> <x> <y> <z> <m>

<vertex_id> <x> <y> <z> <m>

<line_id> <part_number>

<vertex_id> <x> <y> <z> <m>

<vertex_id> <x> <y> <z> <m>

<vertex_id> <x> <y> <z> <m>

(and so on)

END

The symbols < and > are used to enclose characters (letter and numbers) that will appear in the text file. The text file you create will contain only letters and numbers; the text file will not contain the symbols < and >.

The first text line should contain the word “polyline” to indicate the geometry type. The second text line contains the number that identifies the first geometric line. On this text line is also a part number; if there is only one part to the line a zero here indicates that. (Subsequent parts would be numbered 1, 2, and so on.) The third text line consists of five numbers, which specify the first vertex:

the vertex ID (which starts at 0 and increases by 1 for each line)

the x-coordinate of the vertex

the y-coordinate of the vertex

the z-coordinate (in our case it will be zero)

the m-coordinate (in our case it will be zero)

Subsequent text lines are of this format until the line is completely specified. Then a second geometric line is begun with.

<line_id> <part_number>

and the vertices of that line are specified. Study the symbolic format above ...