I’m sure many ArcInfo users have been stuck on an ArcView license and tried to perform an erase. I know I have and usually forget that you need ArcInfo so you have to exit out and change the license. Well today I saw an ArcScript that allows ArcView users to perform an erase. ArcGIS – ArcView Erase Tool:
“This geoprocessing has been built for an ArcGIS – ArcView license, where users do not have access to the full ArcGIS – ArcInfo erase tool. Because it makes use of a featurelayer, the tool is executed from with in the ArcMap environment. The methodology involves creating a union between the erase or mask featureclass and the main featureclass which needs to have the features removed from behind erased featureclass. An erased featureclass is created based on the non-erased featureclass structure and features are appended to this featureclass based using the temporary unioned featureclass. This tool produces the same output as the standard ArcInfo desktop Erase tool. This tool is supported for both personal geodatabase featureclasses and shapefiles.”
Not a bad download for those not able to afford an ArcInfo license and want to perform an erase. Sue even went to the trouble of creating a toolbox so you don’t have to know a thing about Python.
