For geoprocessing, batch means to execute a single tool multiple times with different inputs without your intervention. In this segment you will see how to run the Clip tool once for several of the input datasets located in your GP_Tutorial folder and place them inside your Habitat_Analysis file geodatabase.

In the ArcToolbox window, double-click the Analysis Tools, double-click the Extract toolset, then right-click the Clip tool and click Batch. The batch window will open, where you can set up multiple runs for the tool. When you open the batch window for a tool, one row is automatically added, ready to accept input.

A required parameter must contain a value for the tool to execute successfully. Required parameters are represented as green cells in the batch grid. In the batch grid, color and icons give you the status of the parameters.

It may be useful to resize the window to show as many columns as possible in the batch grid. Most tools have more parameters than the number of columns visible in the window.

You can maximize the window using the controls in the upper right of the window. You can also change the width of individual columns by clicking and dragging the column separators.

In the batch grid, each process (a tool plus its data) is represented by a row. Within each row, each cell represents one of the tool’s parameters.

Double-click the row header (the column containing the numbers) to open the tool dialog containing all parameters. Click Browse and navigate to your Habitat_Analysis geodatabase. Double-click the Habitat_Analysis geodatabase and select Climate_shp, then click Add. You will notice that the Output feature Class parameter is automatically filled, the same as when you run the tool dialog in single mode.

Click Browse and click the vegtype_clip feature class for the Clip Features parameter, then click Add. Click OK to close the Clip tool dialog box. The first row of the batch grid shows the values you just selected.

To add a second process (row) to the batch grid, click the Add button. A new row (process) appears.

Right-click the Input Features cell and click Browse. Navigate to the Habitat_Analysis geodatabase, double-click the Habitat_Analysis geodatabase and select majorrds_shp. Click Add. Click OK to close the dialog box. You will notice that the Output feature Class parameter is automatically filled, the same as when you run the tool dialog in single mode. The Clip Features parameter remains empty and is green to remind you to enter a value before you execute the tool. Leave it blank.

To add a third process, click Add. Navigate to the Habitat_Analysis geodatabase in ArcCatalog. Double-click the Habitat_Analysis geodatabase and select vegtype. Drag and drop the dataset on the Input Features cell of the third process. Again, you will notice that the Output feature Class parameter is automatically filled, the same as when you run the tool dialog in single mode. The Clip Features parameter remains empty and is green to remind you to enter a value before you execute the tool. Leave it blank.

Since each input dataset will be clipped with the same clip features, you can use one of the batch grid features to automatically fill in the Clip Features column. In instances where there are many rows, Fill is the preferred method. Select the second and third rows. Right-click the Clip Features cell in the first row (the one that contains a value) and click Fill. The value of the clicked cell will fill the empty cell in each selected row.

When you have filled the batch grid with all your processes you can execute the Clip tool. All the cells should appear white (colorless) and there should be no warning or error icons. Click Ok.

The tool will execute once for each row, starting with the first row. The tool’s progress dialog box will show the messages for each execution.