Programming ArcGIS 10.1 with Python Cookbook

Creating feature layers and table views

Feature layers and table views serve as intermediate datasets held in memory for use specifically with tools such as Select by Location and Select Attributes. Although these temporary datasets can be saved, they are not needed in most cases.

Getting ready

Feature classes are physical representations of geographic data and are stored as files (shapefiles, personal geodatabases, and file geodatabases) or within a geodatabase. ESRI defines a feature class as "a collection of features that shares a common geometry (point, line, or polygon), attribute table, and spatial reference."

Feature classes can contain default and user-defined fields. Default fields include the SHAPE and OBJECTID fields. These fields are ...