GEOG 485:
GIS Programming and Software Development

Lesson 3 checklist

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Lesson 3 explains how to read and manipulate both vector and raster data with Python. To complete Lesson 3, you are required to do the following:

  1. Work through the course lesson materials.
  2. Read Zandbergen chapter 8.1 - 8.3 and all of chapter 10 (ArcGIS Pro version of the book) or 1 – 7.3, all of chapter 9 (for the ArcMap version of the book). In the online lesson pages, I have inserted instructions about when it is most appropriate to read each of these chapters.
  3. Complete Project 3, and submit your zipped deliverables to the Project 3 drop box.
  4. Complete the Lesson 3 Quiz.
  5. Read the Final Project proposal assignment, and begin working on your proposal, which is due after the first week of Lesson 4.


Do items 1 - 2 (including any of the practice exercises you want to attempt) during the first week of the lesson. You will need the second week of the lesson to concentrate on the project, the quiz, and the proposal assignment.

Lesson objectives

By the end of this lesson, you should:

  • understand the use of different types of workspaces (e.g., geodatabases) in Python;
  • be able to use arcpy cursors to read and manipulate vector attribute data (search, update, and delete records);
  • know how to construct SQL query strings to realize selection by attribute with cursors or MakeFeatureLayer;
  • understand the concept of layers, how layers can be created, and how to realize selection by location with layers;
  • be able to write ArcGIS scripts that solve common tasks with vector data by combining selection by attribute, selection by location, and manipulation of attribute tables via cursors.