Using the interactive feature and record input controls

With the interactive feature input control, you can add input features by clicking your mouse on the map display in ArcMap, ArcGlobe, or ArcScene. With the interactive record input control, you can interactively create records in a table.

These interactive input controls are typically found in model and script tools that are authored by you or others in your organization (system tools do not use interactive inputs). The types of features that can be entered (points, lines, or polygons), as well as the attributes of the features or records, are defined and documented by the tool author.

The interactive feature input control

The interactive feature input control gives you two methods for inputting features to a tool—either by clicking on a map display or by providing an existing dataset.

Note:

You can only choose one method—Add features interactively or Use features from. If you choose Use features from, only the features from the feature class or layer you specify will be used. If the layer has selected features, only the selected features are used.

Interactively entering features

To enter features interactively, check Add features interactively.

• Point features—Click the Add feature button , then click in the display to add the first point. A feature (Feature 1) is added to the list on the tool's dialog box. Click the Add feature button again to add the second point. A second feature is added to the list. Continue doing this until you have added all the points you want to use as input.
• Line features—Click the Add feature button , then click in the display to add the starting point for the line. Click to enter each vertex along the line. Double-click when you get to the last vertex. Each line feature is added to the feature list on the tool's dialog box.
• Polygon features—Click the Add feature button , then click in the display to start drawing the polygon in the display. Click to enter each vertex of the polygon boundary. Double-click when you get to the last vertex. Each polygon feature is added to the feature list on the tool's dialog box.

Add features interactively is disabled when

• You have opened the tool from ArcCatalog and there is no map display where you can click to create a feature.
• The tool author has intentionally disabled interactive feature entry. You can only add features by browsing to an existing dataset.

Entering attributes

To modify attributes of features you have added, click the cell and enter the value, as illustrated below.

When you click a cell in the list, the corresponding feature will become selected in the display. You can also click the feature in the display, and the corresponding feature in the list is selected.

The symbology of features may change once you enter an attribute. For example, the symbol for a road feature may change based on the value entered for the road class attribute. The symbology of the added features is decided by the tool author when the tool is created.

Using features from an existing dataset

To use features in an existing feature class, check Use features from. You can either choose an existing layer or browse to an existing feature class by clicking the Browse button, as illustrated below.

Note:

If you choose to use features from an existing dataset, features that you entered interactively are ignored.

Missing fields warning

When using features from an existing dataset, you may get a warning, as illustrated below.

In the above illustration, features are expected to have two attributes, Type and SCode. When the feature class does not have fields with these attribute names, the warning appears. You need to consult the tool documentation or the author of the tool to determine what to do about the warning. It could be that the tool will create default values for Type and SCode and will execute correctly. Or it could be that the tool will fail because the attributes have to exist.

Using the tools on the Draw toolbar

When adding line or polygon features, you can use the graphic drawing tools. Graphics are automatically converted to features.

After clicking the Add feature button, click the tool you want to use from the Draw toolbar, then click in the display to start drawing the feature. For lines, you can use the Line tool, the Freehand Line tool, or the Curve tool. For polygons, you can use the Rectangle tool, the Polygon tool, the Circle tool, or the Ellipse tool.

Entering coordinates for features interactively

After clicking the Add feature button, press SHIFT+F6 to enter the coordinate for a point or for a vertex along a line or a polygon boundary. SHIFT+F6 can be used with rectangles, circles, ellipses, lines, and points. Press E to enter the last coordinate for a line or a polygon.

Setting the radius or area for a circle interactively

After clicking the Add feature button, click New Circle from the Draw toolbar and start to draw a circle in the display. Press A to type a specific area for the circle, or press R to type a specific radius.

Panning and zooming in the display while adding features

If you need to zoom in and out or pan the display while adding features, click and hold

• Z to use the Zoom in tool
• X to use the Zoom out tool
• C to use the Pan tool

You can also use the mouse wheel to navigate while adding features. Roll to zoom in and out, drag to pan, and single-click to recenter the map.

Reordering the features in the list

Some tools may need the features to be in a certain order (consult the tool's documentation). For example, a tool that finds a shortest path through a road network may need an ordered list of input points. Features can be reordered by clicking a feature in the list to select it, then clicking either Move selected feature up or Move selected feature down .

Adding input features to the display after running a tool

The input features added are saved to an in-memory feature class, which can be accessed via the Results window.

You can right-click the input parameter and either

• Click Add to Display to add your interactive features to the map display.
• Click Copy location to copy the dataset name where the features are stored. This can be pasted into any control that accepts text, such as the Copy Features tool.

Learn more about working with results

The interactive record input control

You can interactively create records for an input table using the interactive record input control. Check Add records interactively, then click the Add record button to create a new record. Enter the attributes for the record as illustrated below.

Note:

You can only choose one method—either Add records interactively or Use records from. If you choose Use records from, only the records from the feature class, layer, table, or table view you specify will be used. If the layer or table view has selected records, only the selected records are used.

If Add records interactively is disabled, you can only add records by browsing to an existing table.

Using records from an existing table

To use records from an existing table, click Use records from. You can either choose an existing layer or table view or browse to an existing table by clicking the Browse button, as illustrated below.

Note:

If you choose to use records from an existing dataset, records that you entered interactively are ignored.

Missing fields warning

When using rows from an existing table, you may get a warning, as illustrated below.

In the above illustration, rows are expected to have two attributes, Type and SCode. When the table does not have fields with these attribute names, the warning appears. You need to consult the tool documentation or the author of the tool to determine what to do about the warning. It could be that the tool will create default values for Type and SCode and will execute correctly. Or it could be that the tool will fail because the attributes have to exist.

Adding a table containing input records to the table of contents

The input records added are saved in an in-memory table. The input can be accessed via the Results window and added to the table of contents of the application.

You can right-click the input parameter and either

• Click Add to Display to add your interactive records to the ArcMap table of contents, as shown below.
• Click Copy location to copy the dataset name where the in-memory records are stored. This can be pasted into any control that accepts text, such as the Copy Rows tool, which will create a new permanent feature class on disk.