Overlay Analysis

Clip

Function name: clip

This tool will extract all the features, or parts of features, that overlap with the features of the clip vector file. The clipping operation is one of the most common vector overlay operations in GIS and effectively imposes the boundary of the clip layer on a set of input vector features, or target features. The operation is sometimes likened to a 'cookie-cutter'. The input vector file can be of any feature type (i.e. points, lines, polygons), however, the clip vector must consist of polygons.

See Also

erase

Python API

def clip(self, input: Vector, clip_layer: Vector) -> Vector:

Difference

Function name: difference

This tool will remove all the overlapping features, or parts of overlapping features, between input and overlay vector files, outputting only the features that occur in one of the two inputs but not both. The Symmetrical Difference is related to the Boolean exclusive-or (XOR) operation in set theory and is one of the common vector overlay operations in GIS. The user must specify the names of the input and overlay vector files as well as the output vector file name. The tool operates on vector points, lines, or polygon, but both the input and overlay files must contain the same VectorGeometryType.

The Symmetrical Difference can also be derived using a combination of other vector overlay operations, as either (A union B) difference (A intersect B), or (A difference B) union (B difference A).

The attributes of the two input vectors will be merged in the output attribute table. Fields that are duplicated between the inputs will share a single attribute in the output. Fields that only exist in one of the two inputs will be populated by null in the output table. Multipoint VectorGeometryTypes however will simply contain a single output feature identifier (FID) attribute. Also, note that depending on the VectorGeometryType (polylines and polygons), Measure and Z ShapeDimension data will not be transferred to the output geometries. If the input attribute table contains fields that measure the geometric properties of their associated features (e.g. length or area), these fields will not be updated to reflect changes in geometry shape and size resulting from the overlay operation.

See Also

intersect, difference, union, clip, erase

Python API

def difference(self, input: Vector, overlay: Vector) -> Vector:

Dissolve

Function name: dissolve

This tool can be used to remove the interior, or shared, boundaries within a vector polygon coverage. You can either dissolve all interior boundaries or dissolve those boundaries along polygons with the same value of a user-specified attribute within the vector's attribute table. It may be desirable to use the VectorCleaning tool to correct any topological errors resulting from the slight misalignment of nodes along shared boundaries in the vector coverage before performing the dissolve operation.

See Also

clip, erase, polygonize

Python API

def dissolve(self, input: Vector, dissolve_field: str = "", snap_tolerance: float = 2.220446049250313e-16) -> Vector:

Erase

Function name: erase

This tool will remove all the features, or parts of features, that overlap with the features of the erase vector file. The erasing operation is one of the most common vector overlay operations in GIS and effectively imposes the boundary of the erase layer on a set of input vector features, or target features.

See Also

clip

Python API

def erase(self, input: Vector, erase_layer: Vector) -> Vector:

Identity

Function name: identity

No help documentation available for this tool.

Intersect

Function name: intersect

The result of the intersect vector overlay operation includes all the feature parts that occur in both input layers, excluding all other parts. It is analogous to the OR logical operator and multiplication in arithmetic. This tool is one of the common vector overlay operations in GIS. The user must specify the names of the input and overlay vector files as well as the output vector file name. The tool operates on vector points, lines, or polygon, but both the input and overlay files must contain the same VectorGeometryType.

The intersect tool is similar to the clip tool. The difference is that the overlay vector layer in a clip operation must always be polygons, regardless of whether the input layer consists of points or polylines.

The attributes of the two input vectors will be merged in the output attribute table. Note, duplicate fields should not exist between the inputs layers, as they will share a single attribute in the output (assigned from the first layer). Multipoint VectorGeometryTypes will simply contain a single output feature identifier (FID) attribute. Also, note that depending on the VectorGeometryType (polylines and polygons), Measure and Z ShapeDimension data will not be transferred to the output geometries. If the input attribute table contains fields that measure the geometric properties of their associated features (e.g. length or area), these fields will not be updated to reflect changes in geometry shape and size resulting from the overlay operation.

See Also

difference, union, symmetrical_difference, clip, erase

Python API

def intersect(self, input: Vector, overlay: Vector, snap_tolerance: float = 2.220446049250313e-16) -> Vector:

Line Intersections

Function name: line_intersections

This tool identifies points where the features of two vector line/polygon layers intersect. The user must specify the names of two input vector line files and the output file. The output file will be a vector of POINT VectorGeometryType. If the input vectors intersect at a line segment, the beginning and end vertices of the segment will be present in the output file. A warning is issued if intersection line segments are identified during analysis. If no intersections are found between the input line files, the output file will not be saved and a warning will be issued.

Each intersection point will contain PARENT1 and PARENT2 attribute fields, identifying the instersecting features in the first and second input line files respectively. Additionally, the output attribute table will contain all of the attributes (excluding FIDs) of the two parent line features.

Python API

def line_intersections(self, input1: Vector, input2: Vector) -> Vector:

Line Polygon Clip

Function name: line_polygon_clip

Experimental

Clips line features to polygon interiors and outputs clipped line segments.

vector clip line

Parameters

NameDescriptionRequiredDefault inputInput line layer.Requiredlines.shp clipClip polygon layer.Requiredclip_polygons.shp outputOutput vector path.Required—

Examples

Returns clipped line segments inside clip polygons. wbe.line_polygon_clip(clip='clip_polygons.shp', input='lines.shp', output='line_polygon_clip.shp')

Near

Function name: near

Experimental

Find nearest neighbor features and optionally compute distance. Efficient for proximity analysis and distance calculations.

vector nearest distance

Parameters

NameDescriptionRequiredDefault inputInput vector layer.Requiredinput.shp nearNear-feature vector layer.Requirednear.shp max_distanceOptional maximum search distance.Optional— outputOutput vector path.Required—

Examples

Computes nearest feature IDs and distances. wbe.near(input='input.shp', near='near.shp', output='near_output.shp')

Select By Location

Function name: select_by_location

Experimental

Extracts target features that satisfy a spatial relationship to query features.

vector query spatial

Parameters

NameDescriptionRequiredDefault targetTarget feature layer to filter.Requiredtarget.shp queryQuery feature layer.Requiredquery.shp predicateSpatial predicate: intersects, within, contains, touches, crosses, overlaps, disjoint, within_distance.Requiredintersects distanceDistance threshold for within_distance predicate.Optional— outputOutput vector path.Required—

Examples

Selects target features that intersect query features. wbe.select_by_location(output='selected.shp', predicate='intersects', query='query.shp', target='target.shp')

Spatial Join

Function name: spatial_join

Experimental

Join attributes from one vector layer to another based on spatial relationship. Uses spatial indexing for efficient processing.

vector join spatial

Parameters

NameDescriptionRequiredDefault targetTarget layer receiving joined attributes.Requiredtarget.shp joinJoin layer providing attributes.Requiredjoin.shp predicateSpatial predicate: intersects, within, contains, touches, crosses, overlaps, within_distance.Requiredintersects distanceDistance threshold for within_distance predicate.Optional— strategyJoin strategy: first, last, count, sum, mean, min, max.Optionalfirst prefixPrefix for joined field names (default JOIN_).OptionalJOIN_ outputOutput vector path.Required—

Examples

Transfers join-layer attributes where geometries intersect. wbe.spatial_join(join='join.shp', output='spatial_join.shp', predicate='intersects', prefix='JOIN_', strategy='first', target='target.shp')

Symmetrical Difference

Function name: symmetrical_difference

This tool will remove all the overlapping features, or parts of overlapping features, between input and overlay vector files, outputting only the features that occur in one of the two inputs but not both. The Symmetrical Difference is related to the Boolean exclusive-or (XOR) operation in set theory and is one of the common vector overlay operations in GIS. The user must specify the names of the input and overlay vector files as well as the output vector file name. The tool operates on vector points, lines, or polygon, but both the input and overlay files must contain the same VectorGeometryType.

The Symmetrical Difference can also be derived using a combination of other vector overlay operations, as either (A union B) difference (A intersect B), or (A difference B) union (B difference A).

The attributes of the two input vectors will be merged in the output attribute table. Fields that are duplicated between the inputs will share a single attribute in the output. Fields that only exist in one of the two inputs will be populated by null in the output table. Multipoint VectorGeometryTypes however will simply contain a single output feature identifier (FID) attribute. Also, note that depending on the VectorGeometryType (polylines and polygons), Measure and Z ShapeDimension data will not be transferred to the output geometries. If the input attribute table contains fields that measure the geometric properties of their associated features (e.g. length or area), these fields will not be updated to reflect changes in geometry shape and size resulting from the overlay operation.

See Also

intersect, difference, union, clip, erase

Python API

def symmetrical_difference(self, input: Vector, overlay: Vector, snap_tolerance: float = 2.220446049250313e-16) -> Vector:

Union

Function name: union

This tool splits vector layers at their overlaps, creating a layer containing all the portions from both input and overlay layers. The Union is related to the Boolean OR operation in set theory and is one of the common vector overlay operations in GIS. The user must specify the names of the input and overlay vector files as well as the output vector file name. The tool operates on vector points, lines, or polygon, but both the input and overlay files must contain the same VectorGeometryType.

The attributes of the two input vectors will be merged in the output attribute table. Fields that are duplicated between the inputs will share a single attribute in the output. Fields that only exist in one of the two inputs will be populated by null in the output table. Multipoint VectorGeometryTypes however will simply contain a single output feature identifier (FID) attribute. Also, note that depending on the VectorGeometryType (polylines and polygons), Measure and Z ShapeDimension data will not be transferred to the output geometries. If the input attribute table contains fields that measure the geometric properties of their associated features (e.g. length or area), these fields will not be updated to reflect changes in geometry shape and size resulting from the overlay operation.

See Also

intersect, difference, symmetrical_difference, clip, erase

Python API

def union(self, input: Vector, overlay: Vector, snap_tolerance: float = 2.220446049250313e-16) -> Vector:

Update

Function name: update

No help documentation available for this tool.