Calculate attributes to table based on other attributes

Question

I am going through thousands and thousands of road lines and giving them a value based on QC with imagery. So for instance for the add_data field I give it one of these five numbers:

• 0 = not examined
• 1 = include
• 2 = consider excluding
• 3 = exclude
• 4 = DC

But for each of these I also need to fill out comments and type of road data. So I was wondering if there is a way to calculate the comment and other fields based on the add_value field? So maybe it might look like this for the add data:

"1" = "include" comment = looks good RD_Typ = Major Road.
"2" = "include" comment = looks good RD_Typ = Dirt Road.
"3" = "include" comment = Joined data to other data RD_Typ = Major Road.
"4" = "include" comment = Joined data to other data = Dirt Road.

..... and so on you get the point. So the question is can I calculate the other fields based on the number I calculate in the add data field. I know I could do this with a join and then calc field but that just does not seem to be as much fun.

Answer 1

You should have no problem calculating a field based on another. One way to accomplish this is through the field calculator directly. You can also easily incorporate calculations such as this using stand-alone Python scripting. I've attached a screenshot from ESRI's Calculate Field examples that will hopefully get you started. Keep in mind you will have to add to the pre-logic script code slightly by adding elif statements to account for all of your variables.

Another example in python from the same source:

Expression:
Reclass(!WELL_YIELD!)

Expression Type:
PYTHON_9.3

Code Block:
def Reclass(WellYield):
  if (WellYield >= 0 and WellYield <= 10):
    return 1
  elif (WellYield > 10 and WellYield <= 20):
    return 2
  elif (WellYield > 20 and WellYield <= 30):
    return 3
  elif (WellYield > 30):
    return 4