Delete Identical (Data Management)

License Level:BasicStandardAdvanced

Summary

Deletes records in a feature class or table which have identical values in a list of fields. If the field Shape is selected, feature geometries are compared.

The Find Identical tool can be used to report which records are considered identical without deleting the identical records.

Usage

Syntax

DeleteIdentical_management (in_dataset, fields, {xy_tolerance}, {z_tolerance})
ParameterExplanationData Type
in_dataset

The table or feature class that will have its identical records deleted.

Table View
fields
[fields,...]

The field or fields whose values will be compared to find identical records.

Field
xy_tolerance
(Optional)

The xy tolerance that will be applied to each vertex when evaluating if there is an identical vertex in another feature.

Linear unit
z_tolerance
(Optional)

The z tolerance that will be applied to each vertex when evaluating if there is an identical vertex in another feature.

Double

Code Sample

DeleteIdentical example 1 (Python window)

The following Python window script demonstrates how to use the DeleteIdentical function in a Python window.

import arcpy

arcpy.DeleteIdentical_management("C:/data/fireincidents.shp", ["ZONE", "INTENSITY"])
DeleteIdentical example 2 (stand-alone script)

The following stand-alone script demonstrates how to use the DeleteIdentical function to identify duplicate records of a table or feature class.

# Name: DeleteIdentical_Example2.py
# Description: Delete identical features in a dataset based on Shape (geometry) and a TEXT field.


# Import system modules
import arcpy
from arcpy import env

env.overwriteOutput = True

# Set workspace environment
env.workspace = "C:/data/sbfire.gdb"

# Set input feature class
in_dataset = "fireincidents"

# Set the field upon which the identicals are found
fields = ["Shape", "INTENSITY"]

# Set the XY tolerance within which to identical records to be deleted
xy_tol = "0.02 Miles"

# Set the Z tolerance to default
z_tol = ""

# Execute Delete Identical 
arcpy.DeleteIdentical_management(in_dataset, fields, xy_tol, z_tol)

Environments

Related Topics

Licensing Information

ArcGIS for Desktop Basic: No
ArcGIS for Desktop Standard: No
ArcGIS for Desktop Advanced: Yes
11/18/2013