Dataset properties

Summary

The Describe function returns the following properties for datasets.

Dataset properties are available in many types of Describe objects.

Properties

Property	Explanation	Data Type
canVersion (Read Only)	Indicates whether the dataset can be versioned.	Boolean
changeTracked (Read Only)	Indicates whether the dataset is change tracked.	Boolean
datasetType (Read Only)	Returns the type of dataset being described. Any CadastralFabric CadDrawing Container DiagramDataset FeatureClass FeatureDataset Geo GeometricNetwork LasDataset Locator MosaicDataset NetworkDataset ParcelDataset PlanarGraph RasterBand RasterCatalog RasterDataset RelationshipClass RepresentationClass SchematicDataset Table Text TIN Tool Toolbox Topology Terrain UtilityNetwork	String
DSID (Read Only)	The ID of the dataset.	Integer
extent (Read Only)	The Extent object. Note: extent is available for spatial datasets only.	Extent
isArchived (Read Only)	Indicates whether the dataset has been archived. isArchived is only supported for an enterprise geodatabase.	Boolean
isVersioned (Read Only)	Indicates whether the dataset is versioned.	Boolean
MExtent (Read Only)	A space-delimited string (MMin, MMax). Note: MExtent is available for spatial datasets only.	String
spatialReference (Read Only)	Returns the SpatialReference object for the dataset. Note: spatialReference is available for spatial datasets only.	SpatialReference
ZExtent (Read Only)	A space-delimited string (ZMin, ZMax). Note: ZExtent is available for spatial datasets only.	String

Code sample

Dataset properties example

The following stand-alone script displays dataset properties for a shapefile:

import arcpy

# Create a Describe object from the shapefile
#
desc = arcpy.Describe("C:/temp/xy.shp")

# Print dataset properties
#
print(("Dataset Type: {0}".format(desc.datasetType)))
print(("Extent:\n  XMin: {0}, XMax: {1}, YMin: {2}, YMax: {3}".format(
    desc.extent.XMin, desc.extent.XMax, desc.extent.YMin, desc.extent.YMax)))
print(("MExtent: {0}".format(desc.MExtent)))
print(("ZExtent: {0}".format(desc.ZExtent)))

print(("Spatial reference name: {0}:".format(desc.spatialReference.name)))