Using %n% inline variable as %n%-1 with Iterate Feature Classes iterator

Question

I am new to ArcGIS Pro and have just a "Basic" license. I have no Python coding experience.

I am trying to make a ModelBuilder tool that will Union multiple feature classes (as little as two but maybe up to 20). Since I only have the Basic license, I can only Union two feature classes at a time.

When I perform this manually I set up a bracket like this:

I union ShapeW to ShapeX to form Union 1. I then Union ShapeY to ShapeZ to form Union 2. I then Union 1 and 2 to form my final Union 3. With more shapes, my bracket just expands to more levels.

For my ModelBuilder I am using the following flow:

• Iterate Feature Classes
• If %n% <> 0 then go to Branch 1
• If %n% = 0 then go to Branch 2
• Both branches are similar in that they remove fields, delete rows etc. the difference is that Branch 2, exports the current Feature Class as Union0.
• I would like to have Branch 1 "Union" the current feature class (%n%) and the previous feature (%n%-1). So if %n% =1 it would Union the current feature class (ShapeX) and the previous %n%-1 (Union0).

The inline variable %n% keeps a count of the iteration. I would like use %n%-1 as an inline substitute variable. Is there a way to do this?

Answer 1

You can use Calculate Value with the expression "Union"+str(%n%-1) to identify the name of the feature class created in a previous iteration. This is just the concatenation of the known part of the feature class name (Union in your example) with the iteration count %n% - 1 wrapped in the Python str() function which converts the count integer to a string value.