FeatureClass properties

Summary

The Describe function returns the following properties for Feature Classes. Table Properties and Dataset Properties are also supported.

A Feature Class returns a dataType of "FeatureClass".

Properties

Property	Explanation	Data Type
featureType (Read Only)	The feature type of the feature class. Simple —Polygons, polylines, and points representing objects or places that have area such as water bodies; linear objects such as rivers; and localized positions, such as houses or sample sites. SimpleJunction —Simple junction feature in a geometric network representing point objects, such as a fuse, service point, or telephone pole. SimpleEdge —Simple edge feature in a geometric network representing polyline objects, such as primary or secondary overheads. ComplexEdge —Complex edge feature in a geometric network representing polyline objects, such as primary overheads, which have midspan connectivity. Network resources flow through complex edge without interruption by midspan connectivity. Annotation —Place or object names or identifiers, such as street names, hydrant ID numbers, land values, or elevation. CoverageAnnotation —Place or object names or identifiers, such as street names, hydrant ID numbers, land values, or elevation. Not supported in geodatabases; only supported in coverage datasets. Dimension —Measurements, such as distances, lengths, widths, and depths. RasterCatalogItem —A raster dataset in a raster catalog that has information, such as footprints, names, metadata, and any other user-defined attributes.	String
hasM (Read Only)	Indicates if the geometry is m-value enabled.	Boolean
hasZ (Read Only)	Indicates if the geometry is z-value enabled.	Boolean
hasSpatialIndex (Read Only)	Indicates if the feature class has a spatial index.	Boolean
shapeFieldName (Read Only)	The name of the Shape field.	String
shapeType (Read Only)	The geometry shape type. Polygon Polyline Point MultiPoint MultiPatch	String

Code Sample

FeatureClass properties example (stand-alone script)

The following stand-alone script displays some feature class properties.

import arcpy

# Create a Describe object from the feature class
#
desc = arcpy.Describe("C:/data/arch.dgn/Point")

# Print some feature class properties
#
print "Feature Type:  " + desc.featureType
print "Shape Type :   " + desc.shapeType
print "Spatial Index: " + str(desc.hasSpatialIndex)