Community

Dynamic elevation profile graphs

716
1
06-30-2011 06:58 PM
Status: Needs Clarification
Labels (1)
SusanBrandner
by
New Contributor III
In addition to the idea "Elevation Profile Improvement", that lists a lot of suggestions for improving profile graphs, I would like to add the following idea:

I would like to see the profile graph update dynamically when the line used to generate the profile is moved.
 
To my knowledge, currently a line is drawn over an elevation surface such as a DEM and the profile is generated. If this line is then moved, the graph does not update to reflect the changed surface underlying the line. This causes the profile graph to be incorrect. This is a very easy error to introduce into your data because there is no way of knowing that the line has been moved and subsequently the graph is inaccurate.

This problem could be partially fixed by making the profile line unmoveable once drawn (except for being able to delete it), however I believe the dynamic graph is a much more efficient and user-friendly solution.
1 Comment
NathanShephard
by Esri Contributor
‎01-31-2022 04:52 PM
Status changed to: Needs Clarification

Hi Susan (et al),

Thanks for submitting and voting for this idea. I realize it's an old one, so I am adding some information about how the interactive profile graph works in ArcGIS Pro, to see if this meets your needs.

The interactive profile graph creates an in-scene graphic line - either from a newly digitized line, or by copying the geometry from an existing line feature. Editing that (graphic) line will update the profile graph... but... it does NOT maintain a reference to the feature it was initially pulled from.

(view in My Videos)

We don't maintain the link because there are many possible edits that could be done to the original source line (eg: add vertices, delete vertices, split feature, delete feature, etc), so rather than tracking all the possible changes that can happen, the recommended workflow is to keep the feature-you-want-the-profile-graph-built-from as SELECTED, and then click the 'Apply' button (as-needed) to update it, per the 19-sec mark of the above video.

Can this workflow work for your needs? It's an extra click (to reload the elevation profile again), but it gives you full control as to WHEN the graph updates.

Thanks, Nathan.