Geoprocessing tool reference > Linear Referencing toolbox
An overview of the Linear Referencing toolbox |
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Release 9.3
Last modified October 23, 2008 |
Print all topics in : "Linear Referencing toolbox" |
Many organizations collect data about linear features, such as highways, city streets, railroads, rivers, and pipelines, as well as water and sewer networks. In most geographic information systems (GIS), these features are modeled in two dimensions using x,y coordinates. Although this works well for maintaining features with static characteristics, organizations have realized that some linear features have characteristics that are more dynamic in nature. To handle this, these organizations have developed one-dimensional linear referencing systems to model their data. These systems simplify the recording of data by using a relative position along an already existing linear feature. That is, location is given in terms of a known linear feature and a position, or measure, along it. For example, route I-10, mile 23.2, uniquely identifies a position in geographic space without having to express it in x,y terms.
When data is linearly referenced, multiple sets of attributes can be associated with any portion of an existing linear feature, independent of its beginning and end. These attributes can be displayed, queried, edited, and analyzed without affecting the underlying linear feature's geometry.
The Linear Referencing toolbox contains a series of tools for creating, calibrating, and displaying the data used for linear referencing. The following table lists the tools available in the Linear Referencing toolbox and provides a brief description of each.
NOTE: Tool availability is determined by ArcGIS license. Licensing requirements for each tool are listed below.
| Tool | Description |
| Calibrate Routes | Adjusts route measures by reading measure information stored as an attribute in a point feature class. Available with any ArcGIS license. |
| Create Routes | Creates routes from existing lines. Available with any ArcGIS license. |
| Dissolve Route Events | Removes redundant information from event tables or breaks up event tables having more than one descriptive attribute into separate tables. Available with any ArcGIS license. |
| Locate Features Along Routes | Locates the features along routes, computes the route and measure information at the intersections, and writes them to an event table. Available with any ArcGIS license. |
| Make Route Event Layer | Creates a route event layer from an event table. Available with any ArcGIS license. |
| Overlay Route Events | Combines two input event tables to create a single output event table, using either a Union or Intersection operation. Available with any ArcGIS license. |
| Transform Route Events | Transforms route event locations from one route reference system to another. Available with any ArcGIS license. |