Append Data

[BrandonPowell1]

Hey All,

I'm trying to append data to a "whole layer." I created a trade area using standard geographies that includes 8 zip codes. The attribute table of that trade area has 8 rows of data, 1 for each zip.

When I use append data to add some demographic variables and then finish, it creates a new layer with 8 rows of data + the appended data as expected.

My question is this: Is there a way for that data to be aggregated together? I need the 8 zip codes, which all touch each other, to be treated more like a whole layer trade area, so that if I'm appending population, for instance, I'll get the population of that whole trade area instead of the population per 8 zip codes. thanks for any help!

[KyleWatson]

Hi Brandon - have you tried to Dissolve the 8 boundaries into one whole boundary first?  We do this for Business Analyst Reports within that workflow, but you can use the Dissolve GP tool before running Data Append.

Here's a Help link:

Dissolve—Help | ArcGIS for Desktop 

[BrandonPowell1]

Thanks for the tip Kyle! I've never used the dissolve gp tool, but will give it a go next time. I ended up creating a BA study area so that all the zips were one whole boundary and it worked for me.

[KyleWatson]

You bet.  Creating a Study Area will certainly work, and actually behind-the-scenes that tool uses Dissolve to merge multiple boundaries together as one.  However when using a Study Area you will limit your analysis to only that boundary when it is set to active.  Try out Dissolve - it's fun!