Select by location and copy to new shape and name based on attribute

Question

I have a point features and polygon features. I need to:

1. Select points that intersect the polygons
2. Copy the points to a new shapefile
3. Name this new point shapefile using an attribute of the polygon it intersects

Some of these polygons overlap each other. If one point intersects 2 polygons, this point would need to be included in two new shapefiles.

I'm very new to Python, and therefore I'm trying to achieve this by modifying the code below. I believe most of the basic pieces are there.

#import libraries
import arcpy, os, sys

#set current workspace
arcpy.env.workspace = r"C:\data"
arcpy.env.overwriteOutput = True

#assign variables
rawSurvey = "rawSurvey" #rawSurvey is the point file from the survey company
surface= "surface"       # surface is the approach surface polygon
output = r"C:\Users\data\airspace_Working2.gdb"

#create cursor to cycle through each "Type" of surface
cursor = arcpy.da.UpdateCursor ('surface', "Type")
for row in cursor:
    # selects the survey features intersecting (under) the surfaces
    # Make a layer and select rawSurvey points which overlap each polygon
    arcpy.MakeFeatureLayer_management ('rawSurvey', 'Tes_lyr')
    arcpy.SelectLayerByLocation_management ('Tes_lyr', 'intersect', 'surface')

# If features matched criteria write them to new feature classes appSurvey_"type" based on which type of surface they ovelrap
matchcount = int(arcpy.GetCount_management ('Tes_lyr').getOutput(0))
if matchcount == 0:
    print ('no features matched spatial and attribute criteria')
else:
    arcpy.CopyFeatures_management ('Tes_Lyr', 'appSurvey')
#print the number of features matched
print (str(matchcount) + ' points were under the surfaces and written as appSurvey')

Answer 1

Piece of cake. Use a cursor to iterate and selection to determine intersection. You need feature layers to allow selection. Check out the below code with comments that explain each step.

#Input polygon feature class
inPolyfc = r"in\polygon\full\path"
#Name of ID field to be used to name new shapefiles
PolyIDfld = "ID_FIELD_NAME"

#input point feature class
inPointfc = r"in\point\full\path"

#Out folder path for new shape file
outPath = r"Out\full\path"

from arcpy import *
import os

#Make feature layer of feature classes to allow selection
MakeFeatureLayer_management (inPolyfc, "Polylyr")
MakeFeatureLayer_management (inPointfc, "Pointlyr")

#Get name of OID field for sql expression
polyOIDfld = Describe ("Polylyr").OIDFieldName

#iterate through polygons with cursor
cursor = da.SearchCursor ("Polylyr", ["OID@", PolyIDfld])
for row in cursor:
    #sql to select individual polygon
    sql = '"{0}" = {1}'.format (polyOIDfld, str(row[0]))
    #select individual polygon
    SelectLayerByAttribute_management ("Polylyr", "", sql)

    #select intersecting points
    SelectLayerByLocation_management ("Pointlyr", "", "Polylyr")

    #Check to make sure points are selected, ie at least one point actually intersects polygon
    if Describe ("pointlyr").FIDSet:
        FeatureClassToFeatureClass_conversion ("Pointlyr", outPath, str(row[1]) + ".shp")
    #Optional: Create empty feature class if no points intersect
    else:
        CreateFeatureclass_management (outPath, str(row[1]) + ".shp", "POINT", inPointfc)
del row
del cursor