Feature Class properties

Summary

The Describe function returns the following properties for feature classes. The Table and Dataset property groups are also supported. The Editor Tracking property group is supported if editor tracking has been enabled for this feature class.

For a feature class, the Describe dataType property returns a value of "FeatureClass".

Properties

Property	Explanation	Data Type
featureType (Read Only)	The feature type of the feature class. Simple—Polygons, polylines, and points representing objects or places that have area, such as water bodies; linear objects, such as rivers; and localized positions, such as houses or sample sites. SimpleJunction—Simple junction feature in a geometric network representing point objects, such as a fuse, service point, or telephone pole. SimpleEdge—Simple edge feature in a geometric network representing polyline objects, such as primary or secondary overheads. ComplexEdge—Complex edge feature in a geometric network representing polyline objects, such as primary overheads, which have midspan connectivity. Network resources flow through complex edges without interruption by midspan connectivity. Annotation—Place or object names or identifiers, such as street names, hydrant ID numbers, land values, or elevation. CoverageAnnotation—Place or object names or identifiers, such as street names, hydrant ID numbers, land values, or elevation. This option is not supported in geodatabases; it is only supported in coverage datasets. Dimension—Measurements, such as distances, lengths, widths, and depths. RasterCatalogItem—A raster dataset in a raster catalog that has information, such as footprints, names, metadata, and any other user-defined attributes.	String
hasM (Read Only)	Indicates whether the geometry is m-value enabled.	Boolean
hasZ (Read Only)	Indicates whether the geometry is z-value enabled.	Boolean
hasSpatialIndex (Read Only)	Indicates whether the feature class has a spatial index. Note: Compressed datasets do not have a spatial index on the shape column and will return False.	Boolean
shapeFieldName (Read Only)	The name of the geometry field.	String
shapeType (Read Only)	The geometry shape type. Polygon Polyline Point Multipoint MultiPatch	String
splitModel (Read Only)	The split model that is set for the feature class. DeleteInsertInsert UpdateInsert	String

Code sample

Feature class properties example

The following stand-alone script displays feature class properties:

import arcpy

# Create a Describe object from the feature class
#
desc = arcpy.Describe("C:/data/arch.dgn/Point")

# Print some feature class properties
#
print("Feature Type:  " + desc.featureType)
print("Shape Type :   " + desc.shapeType)
print("Spatial Index: " + str(desc.hasSpatialIndex))