Assigning random points within polygon using ArcGIS Desktop?

Question

I have a vector layer with multiple polygons. I converted the layer to a raster layer in order to convert the raster cells to points (I needed my points to be in rows). Is there a way to combine the points and polygons, in a way that I could assign all points within the same polygon one value and other points within a different polygon different values for the points. I would like the points within the polygon to have the same values, but different polygons will have different point values.

Answer 1

There are two ways to do that depending on what value you want to be assigned to your points.

Route 1 - if you used a unique value to create your polygons

If you used a unique value within the attributes of your polygon layer to create your raster, so that the raster cells corresponding to each polygon have a different value, then you can run a tool such as Extract Raster Values to Points - this will transfer your raster values to the points. This does require a Spatial Analyst license.

Route 2 - if you didn't use a unique value to create your polygons

If all your raster cells have the same value then you will need to go back to your original polygon shapefile. Open the attribute table for your polygon layer and create a new field. Populate this with the values that you want to assign to the points - or obviously use an existing field if you have it already. You can then run a spatial join . This will add the attributes of the polygons to the points depending on their spatial location.