How Polyline to Raster works

The following information specifies how the cells in raster datasets are assigned values under various conditions when using the Polyline to Raster tool.

There are two ways to control how the cell will be assigned a value when more than one feature falls withing a cell. The methods are identified below.

MAXIMUM_LENGTH method

• If there is only one line in the cell, select that line.
• If there is more than one line in the cell, and:
  • There are no priorities set or the priorities are the same, then select the one with the lowest FID.
  • The priorities are different, then select the one with the highest priority.
• If the feature lies on a cell boundary, then the boundary rules apply.

MAXIMUM_COMBINED_LENGTH method

For this description, the combined feature is considered to be a single feature with the FID equal to the lowest of the combined features and the priority equal to the highest of the combined features.

• If there is only one line in the cell, select that line.
• If there is more than one line in the cell, and:
  • There are no priorities set or the priorities are the same, then select the one with the lowest FID.
  • The priorities are different, then select the one with the highest priority.
• If the feature lies on a cell boundary, then the boundary rules apply.

Illustration of boundary rules for line feature to raster conversion