Convert Coordinate Notation (Data Management)

Summary

Converts coordinate notations representing locations from one format to another.

Learn more about supported notation formats

Usage

• The input table can be a text file or any table supported by ArcGIS.

• The output is a point feature class where each input location with a valid notation is represented as a point. The records with invalid notations will not have any geometry and newly added output fields will be empty.

• The IDs of the records with invalid notations that fail to convert are listed in a text file named ConvertCoordinateNotation<x>.log (<x> is an arbitrary number). The file is stored in the user's Temp folder. For example, in Windows 7, the directory is Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Temp. In UNIX systems, the file is located in the user's home directory, under $TMP.

• The following formats are supported:

  • Decimal degrees (DD)
  • Degrees decimal minutes (DDM)
  • Degrees-minutes-seconds (DMS)
  • Global Area Reference System (GARS)
  • GEOREF (World Geographic Reference System)
  • Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)
  • United States National Grid (USNG)
  • Military Grid Reference System (MGRS)
  .

• Any format can be used as the input or output format. For example, DMS can be used as both input and output format to convert values and obtain a point feature class for the locations.

• DD_1, DDM_1, and DMS_1 require two values to represent a location: one for latitude and the other for longitude. The two values are concatenated into a single string and stored in a single field.

  For DD_2, DDM_2, and DMS_2 the latitude and longitude values are represented by two separate fields.

  GARS, GEOREF, UTM, USNG, and MGRS are single-string coordinate formats, meaning only one field contains the coordinate.

  See the Input Coordinate Format parameter explanation below for more information.

• All non-system fields from the input table, including the input format fields, are transferred to the output point feature class.

  Output field names are matched to the name of the output coordinate notation. For example, if the output format is MGRS, then the new output field name will be MGRS.

  If a field with the same name as the input field already exists in the output, the name of the copied field is appended with a unique number.

• The Add XY Coordinates tool can be used to add two fields—POINT_X and POINT_Y—to the output point feature class. These fields contain the coordinates of a point in the unit of the coordinate system of the feature class.

Syntax

ConvertCoordinateNotation_management (in_table, out_featureclass, x_field, y_field, input_coordinate_format, output_coordinate_format, {id_field}, {spatial_reference})

Parameter	Explanation	Data Type
in_table	The table containing the fields with coordinate notations to convert.	Table View
out_featureclass	The output feature class of points. The attribute table will contain all fields of the input table along with the fields containing converted values in the output format.	Feature Class
x_field	A field from the input table containing the longitude value. For DD_2, DDM_2, and DMS_2, this is the longitude field. For DD_1, DDM_1, DMS_1, GARS, GEOREF, UTM, USNG, and MGRS, this is the field containing both latitude and longitude.	Field
y_field	A field from the input table containing the latitude value. For DD_2, DDM_2, and DMS_2, this is the latitude field. This parameter is ignored for DD_1, DDM_1, DMS_1, GARS, GEOREF, UTM, USNG, and MGRS.	Field
input_coordinate_format	Coordinate format of the input fields. The default is DD_2. DD_1 —Both longitude and latitude values are in a single field. Two values are separated by a space, a comma, or a slash. DD_2 —Longitude and latitude values are in two separate fields. DDM_1 —Both longitude and latitude values are in a single field. Two values are separated by a space, a comma, or a slash. DDM_2 — Longitude and latitude values are in two separate fields. DMS_1 —Both longitude and latitude values are in a single field. Two values are separated by a space, a comma, or a slash. DMS_2 —Longitude and latitude values are in two separate fields. GARS —Global Area Reference System. Based on latitude and longitude, it divides and subdivides the world into cells. GEOREF —World Geographic Reference System. A grid-based system that divides the world into 15-degree quadrangles and then subdivides into smaller quadrangles. UTM —Based on the Universal Transverse Mercator projection. It divides the world into 6-degree slices of longitude, which are divided into 20 latitude bands. These grids are further described using eastings and northings to locate any point within the grid. USNG —United States National Grid. Almost exactly the same as MGRS but uses North American Datum 1983 (NAD83) as its datum. MGRS —Military Grid Reference System. Follows the UTM coordinates and divides the world into 6-degree longitude and 20 latitude bands, but MGRS then further subdivides the grid zones into smaller 100,000-meter grids. These 100,000-meter grids are then divided into 10,000-meter, 1,000-meter, 100-meter, 10-meter, and 1-meter grids. SHAPE —Only available when a point feature layer is selected as input. The coordinates of each point are used to define the output format. DD, DDM, and DMS are also valid keywords; they can be used just by typing in (on dialog) or passing the value in scripting. However, keywords with underscore and a number tell whether the values are coming from one field or two fields.	String
output_coordinate_format	Coordinate format to which the input notations will be converted. The default is DD_2. DD_1 —Both longitude and latitude values are in a single field. Two values are separated by a space, a comma, or a slash. DD_2 —Longitude and latitude values are in two separate fields. DDM_1 —Both longitude and latitude values are in a single field. Two values are separated by a space, a comma, or a slash. DDM_2 — Longitude and latitude values are in two separate fields. DMS_1 —Both longitude and latitude values are in a single field. Two values are separated by a space, a comma, or a slash. DMS_2 —Longitude and latitude values are in two separate fields. GARS —Global Area Reference System. Based on latitude and longitude, it divides and subdivides the world into cells. GEOREF —World Geographic Reference System. A grid-based system that divides the world into 15-degree quadrangles and then subdivides into smaller quadrangles. UTM —Based on the Universal Transverse Mercator projection. It divides the world into 6-degree slices of longitude, which are divided into 20 latitude bands. These grids are further described using eastings and northings to locate any point within the grid. USNG —United States National Grid. Almost exactly the same as MGRS but uses North American Datum 1983 (NAD83) as its datum. MGRS —Military Grid Reference System. Follows the UTM coordinates and divides the world into 6-degree longitude and 20 latitude bands, but MGRS then further subdivides the grid zones into smaller 100,000-meter grids. These 100,000-meter grids are then divided into 10,000-meter, 1,000-meter, 100-meter, 10-meter, and 1-meter grids. DD, DDM, and DMS are also valid keywords; they can be used just by typing in (on dialog) or passing the value in scripting. However, keywords with underscore and a number tell whether the values are coming from one field or two fields.	String
id_field (Optional)	Any field from the input table. The selected field will be copied to the output table. If the values of this field are unique, this may be used to join the output records back to the input table.	Field
spatial_reference (Optional)	Spatial reference of the output point feature class. The default is GCS_WGS_1984. If the output has a different coordinate system than the input, then the tool projects the data. If the input and output are in different datum, then a default transformation is calculated based on the coordinate systems of the input and the output, and the extent of the data.	Spatial Reference

Code Sample

ConvertCoordinateNotation example 1 (stand-alone script)

ConvertCoordinateNotation usage with one input format field.

#Imports
import arcpy

#Locals
in_tab = r"c:\workspace\inmed.gdb\loc_mgrs"
out_pts = r"c:\workspace\inmed.gdb\loc_final"

#Convert Coordinate Notation with MGRS as input field.
arcpy.ConvertCoordinateNotation_management(in_tab,out_pts,"m10d","#","MGRS","DD_1")

ConvertCoordinateNotation example 2 (stand-alone script)

ConvertCoordinateNotation usage with two input format fields.

# imports
import arcpy

arcpy.env.workspace = r"c:\data\mtf.gdb"

# set parameter values
input_table = 'rit_up_DD'
output_points = 'ritLOC'
x_field = 'LON'
y_field = 'LAT'
input_format = 'DD_2'
output_format = 'GARS'
id_field = 'CITY_NAME'
spatial_ref = arcpy.SpatialReference('WGS 1984')

try:
    arcpy.ConvertCoordinateNotation_management(input_table, output_points, x_field, y_field, 
                                               input_format, output_format, id_field, spatial_ref)
    print(arcpy.GetMessages(0))

except arcpy.ExecuteError:
    print(arcpy.GetMessages(2))
    
except Exception as ex:
    print(ex.args[0])

Environments

Scratch Workspace, Current Workspace

Licensing Information

ArcGIS for Desktop Basic: Yes

ArcGIS for Desktop Standard: Yes

ArcGIS for Desktop Advanced: Yes