Tutorial: Import data

Learn how to import data into ArcGIS Online using ArcGIS API for Python.

With an ArcGIS Online account or ArcGIS Developer account, you can upload geographic data to ArcGIS in several formats, including CSV, XLS, GPX, GeoJSON, or Shapefiles. Once imported, you can publish your data as a feature layer, and then call the underlying ArcGIS REST Feature Service to edit and make spatial queries on that layer.

Initially your feature layer is private, but you can change the sharing level in the developer dashboard or ArcGIS Online.

With the ArcGIS API for Python you can automate the process of importing and then publishing data as a web layer. The import process is a fast and easy way to turn static data into live web services that can be displayed, filtered, and edited within your applications.

In this tutorial, you will import different file types as items stored in ArcGIS.

Prerequisites

The ArcGIS API for Python tutorials use Jupyter Notebooks to execute Python code. If you are new to this environment, please see the guide to install the API and use notebooks locally.

Be sure you have completed the Download data tutorial or have downloaded the LA_Hub_Datasets from ArcGIS Online.

Steps

Import modules and log in

Use the GIS class to log in to ArcGIS using your ArcGIS Online account or ArcGIS Developer account.
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 from arcgis.gis import GIS import getpass gis = GIS( url="https://www.arcgis.com", username="username", password=getpass.getpass("Enter password:") )
Best practices:
It is not good a security practice to leave account credentials in source code shared by others, but it is beyond the scope of this tutorial to go over security best practices. Read about the Python getpass module for a way to avoid the display of a password.

Guide topic:
To learn more about authentication methods, go to the Authentication.

Import the Trailheads CSV file

Create a dictionary object to store the metadata for the CSV file. Use the fields title, description, tags.

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gis = GIS(
  url="https://www.arcgis.com",
  username="username",
  password=getpass.getpass("Enter password:")
)

trailhead_properties = {
  "title": "Trailheads",
  "description": "Trailheads imported from CSV file",
  "tags": "LA Trailheads"
}

Import the file as a data file item by calling the add method. Pass in the local path of the file and the metadata object. This will return an Item object.

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trailhead_properties = {
  "title": "Trailheads",
  "description": "Trailheads imported from CSV file",
  "tags": "LA Trailheads"
}

csv_file = './data/LA_Hub_datasets/LA_Hub_datasets/Trailheads.csv'
csv_item = gis.content.add(trailhead_properties, csv_file)

Call the publish method on the returned csv_item to publish the as a feature layer, which returns another Item instance for the feature layer.

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trailhead_properties = {
  "title": "Trailheads",
  "description": "Trailheads imported from CSV file",
  "tags": "LA Trailheads"
}

csv_file = './data/LA_Hub_datasets/LA_Hub_datasets/Trailheads.csv'
csv_item = gis.content.add(trailhead_properties, csv_file)

trailhead_service = csv_item.publish()
trailhead_service

Note

If you receive an error, RuntimeError: Service name 'Trailheads' already exists, you already have a hosted feature layer item sourced from a feature service named Trailheads in your organization. Feature service names must be unique, so use the publish_parameters parameter of the publish() function to ensure a unique name and avoid duplicate service name errors.

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trailhead_service = csv_item.publish(publish_parameters={'name':'Trailheads_py'})

Import the Trails GeoJSON file

Create a dictionary object to store the metadata for the GeoJSON file with the fields title, description, tags, and type.

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trailhead_service = csv_item.publish()
trailhead_service

trails_properties = {
  "title": "Trails",
  "description": "Trails imported from GeoJSON file",
  "tags": "LA Trails",
  "type": "GeoJson"
}

Import the file as a data file item by calling the add method. Pass in the local path of the file and the metadata object. This will return an Item object.

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trails_properties = {
  "title": "Trails",
  "description": "Trails imported from GeoJSON file",
  "tags": "LA Trails",
  "type": "GeoJson"
}

geojson_file = './data/LA_Hub_datasets/LA_Hub_datasets/Trails.geojson'
geojson_item = gis.content.add(trails_properties, geojson_file)

Call the publish method on the returned csv_item to publish the as a feature layer, which returns another Item instance for the feature layer.

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trails_properties = {
  "title": "Trails",
  "description": "Trails imported from GeoJSON file",
  "tags": "LA Trails",
  "type": "GeoJson"
}

geojson_file = './data/LA_Hub_datasets/LA_Hub_datasets/Trails.geojson'
geojson_item = gis.content.add(trails_properties, geojson_file)

trails_service = geojson_item.publish()
trails_service

Note

If you receive an error, RuntimeError: Service name 'Trails' already exists, you already have a hosted feature layer item sourced from a feature service named Trails in your organization. Feature service names must be unique, use the publish_parameters parameter of the publish() function to ensure a unique name and avoid duplicate service name errors.

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trails_service = geojson_item.publish(publish_parameters={'name':'Trails_py'})

Import the Parks and Open Spaces Shapefile

Add a dict object to store the metadata for the Shapefile with the fields title, tags, and type.

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trails_service = geojson_item.publish()
trails_service

parks_properties = {
    'title': 'Parks and Open space test',
    'tags':'parks, open data, tutorials',
    'type': 'Shapefile'
}

Load the Shapefile zip as a data file item with a ContentManager by calling gis.content.add which returns an Item object.

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parks_properties = {
    'title': 'Parks and Open space test',
    'tags':'parks, open data, tutorials',
    'type': 'Shapefile'
}

data_file_location = './data/Parks_and_Open_Space.zip' # relative path to notebook
shp_item = gis.content.add(parks_properties, data=data_file_location)
shp_item

Call the publish method on the returned csv_item to publish the as a feature layer, which returns another Item instance for the feature layer.

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parks_properties = {
    'title': 'Parks and Open space test',
    'tags':'parks, open data, tutorials',
    'type': 'Shapefile'
}

data_file_location = './data/Parks_and_Open_Space.zip' # relative path to notebook
shp_item = gis.content.add(parks_properties, data=data_file_location)
shp_item

parks_feature_layer_item = shp_item.publish()
parks_feature_layer_item

Note

If you receive an error, RuntimeError: Service name 'Parks_and_Open_Space' already exists, you already have a hosted feature layer item sourced from a feature service named parks_and_open_space in your organization. Feature service names must be unique, so use the publish_parameters parameter of the publish() function to ensure a unique name and avoid duplicate service name errors.

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parks_feature_layer = parks_shp.publish(publish_parameters={'name':'parks_and_open_space_py'})

Identify the Item URLs

Use the url property of each of the feature layer objects to get the Service URL. Use this URL to gain access to your feature layer in other tutorials and projects.

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print(f"Trailheads feature layer url (Points): {trailhead_service.url}")

print(f"Trails feature layer url (Polylines): {trails_service.url}")

print(f"Parks feature layer url (Polygons): {parks_feature_layer_item.urll}")

What's next?

Learn how to use additional functionality in these tutorials:

Download data

Automate downloading data from the cloud using the ArcGIS API for Python.

Add a layer from a portal item

Learn how to use a portal item to access and display point features from a feature service.

Query a feature layer (SQL)

Learn how to execute a SQL query to access polygon features from feature services.

ArcGIS API for Python

Tutorial: Import data

Prerequisites

Steps

Import modules and log in

Import the Trailheads CSV file

Import the Trails GeoJSON file

Import the Parks and Open Spaces Shapefile

Identify the Item URLs

What's next?

Download data

Add a layer from a portal item

Query a feature layer (SQL)

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