Recurring error 000117 : Empty output generated using geoprocessing tools...

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09-14-2010 08:37 AM
FélixBrochu_Marier
New Contributor
Hey everyone.

I've been using arcMAP10 for 2 weeks now and i'm having a lot of problem with geoprocessing tools. Most of the operations i've tried (unions, intersect, clips) generate empty outputs. I've been reading on environment settings, and I have to admit I don't understand most of them since i'm not such an advanced user. I've never modified any of those but it seems my problems originate from them. Last week I found a workaround by putting the two standalone shapefiles I was trying to union in a geodatabase. I understand this might have solved the problem because the two shapes must have had two different extents. (?)

However, I'm still stuck with other problems of the like. Right now i'm trying to merge a couple shapefiles that are actually exports from one mother-shapefile. I still get an 000117 error, and when I try to import them in a geodatabase using the feature class to geodatabase (multiple) tool, they loose their content. They all have the same coordinate system. I must be missing something ?

Is there a way to set the environment settings so they won't hinder my work any longer? I don't recall having this kind of problems in previous versions!

i'm joining two of the shapes to merge, just in case.
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11 Replies
DanaNolan
Occasional Contributor III

Empty output error can be due to a definition query on something that changes due to the geoprocessing tool. In other words, if there are no longer any records that satisfy it.

I also turn off background geoprocessing, in every map, every time, unless it is needed. This usually causes a more generic 99999 error, though, not empty output. Really don't get why something so problematic as this is the default. Pretty much all tools that change an existing file will fail due to locking issues. I concur with turning off the indexing service too, because it eats up too much processing.

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DavidSalas
New Contributor

I run into this all the time and I don't know why this keeps happening. However, my solution is simple. Go into your environments and set the processing extent to "union of all inputs". That should take care of your problem.