How to add field attribute values from line features to polygon features they pass through using Python?

Question

I have a set of polygons and I want to add a field with the name of the streets (from another feature class of streets) that are within each polygon. Using Select Features by Location, I select streets that are within the polygons, but I can't think of a way (using python) to automate the process of populating each polygon with the name of the street that falls within it. I don't have a matching field for either feature class to base a join on. Is this possible or is it something that would have to be done manually?

Answer 1

Try something to do with this, it is the idea, but it mostly untested, but i am sure it good and it's should work: This "your_streets" and "your_polygons" are your feature classe.

cursor=arcpy.SearchCursor(your_streets)

for street in cursor:

name_of_street=street.Name 
ID_line=street.OBJECTID

if arcpy.Exists(street_layer):
    arcpy.Delete_management(street_layer)
arcpy.MakeFeatureLayer_management(your_streets,street_layer)
arcpy.SelectLayerByAttribute_management(street_layer, "NEW_SELECTION", "\"OBJECTID\" = "+str(ID_line))

if arcpy.Exists(polygons_layer):
    arcpy.Delete_management(polygons_layer)
arcpy.MakeFeatureLayer_management(your_polygons,polygons_layer)

arcpy.SelectLayerByLocation_management(polygons_layer,"WITHIN",street_layer) 

cursor_1=arcpy.UpdateCursor(polygons_layer) 
for polygon in cursor_1:
    polygon.Name_street=name_of_street

Answer 2

The analysis that you want to do, might be a bit strange, as you may have lots of streets passing trough your polygons, and it might be complicated put all that in a single field, but I do not know your dataset, so it might be perfectly reasonable.

A quite easy way would be to use the following algorithm that you can process in a Python Script:

• Use Spatial join using Polygons as "Target features" and street as "Join Features", set the merge rule for streets field name to join (use ", " as separator) and intersects in the "matching";
• Make Feature Layer from your Polygons
• Add Join between Polygons Layer and the output of the Spatial Join using the original FID
• Add field Streets_Name (text 255)
• Calculate Field Streets_Name from the joined table Join_Street_Name Field
• Remove Join
• Delete (Management) Spatial Join Output

Remember that if the join of the street names from any polygon is bigger than 155 character you will have problems...