XY Tolerance (Environment setting)

Tools that honor this environment will override the default x,y tolerance on geodatasets created inside a geodatabase.

The x,y tolerance refers to the minimum distance between coordinates before they are considered equal. For a description of the default x,y tolerance, see Spatial reference and geoprocessing.

Usage notes

• This environment setting will be ignored if the output is within a geodatabase feature dataset.
• For tools like Create Feature Class, Create Feature Dataset, and Create Raster Catalog, the default x,y tolerance for the output geodataset is 0.001 meters (1 millimeter) or its equivalent in map units. This environment can be set to a different value if the default is not acceptable.
• If the environment has different measurement units than the output coordinate system, the distance will be converted to an equivalent distance in the center of the output coordinate system. This is not recommended when the environment is set to a linear unit (feet or meters) while the output coordinate system is unprojected (geographic) or in the inverse situation (decimal degree environment with projected output coordinate system).
• If the tolerance units are not set or set to Unknown, the units are assumed to be the same as the output coordinate system's units.
• If the x,y tolerance is less than twice the output geodataset's x,y resolution value, an x,y tolerance of two times the x,y resolution will be used.
• X,y tolerances are not preserved in geodatabase versions older than 9.2.
• Tools that have an XY Tolerance parameter, such as Cluster Tolerance in the Union and Intersect tools, will override the XY Tolerance environment setting.
• Note:

  The term XY Tolerance was introduced in ArcGIS 9.2. This term is synonymous with cluster tolerance.

Dialog syntax

XY Tolerance—The x,y tolerance to be set on the geodatasets created by geoprocessing tools. If the default x,y tolerance is inadequate, set this environment.

Scripting syntax

arcpy.env.XYTolerance = linear_unit

Parameter	Explanation
linear_unit	The x,y tolerance to be set on the geodatasets created by geoprocessing tools. If the default x,y tolerance is inadequate, set this environment.

XYTolerance syntax

Script example

import arcpy

# Set the XYTolerance to 0.02 Meters
arcpy.env.XYTolerance = "0.02 Meters"