Specifying color in ArcGIS Pro from the external text file for Attribute Table function

Level Up Your ArcGIS Pro Maps: Color Them with External Data!

ArcGIS Pro is a powerhouse for visualizing spatial data, no doubt about it. And let’s face it, color is what really brings those maps to life, helping you tell the story you want to tell. Now, wouldn’t it be awesome if you could control those colors using data from a simple text file? Turns out, you can! It might sound a bit technical, but trust me, it’s totally doable and opens up a world of possibilities for dynamic map creation. This article will walk you through the process of using color values from external text files to style your features in ArcGIS Pro.

The Basic Idea

The core concept is pretty straightforward: you link the color info chilling in your text file to the attributes of your spatial data. Think of it as giving your map a brain – it can now change its appearance based on the data you feed it. ArcGIS Pro plays nice with different types of text files, like .txt, .csv, and others. These files can hold your color codes in various formats, such as those familiar RGB values or the handy Hex codes we see everywhere online.

Getting Your Text File Ready

First things first, you need to get your text file organized. Each row should represent a feature or a category, and the columns should include a unique identifier and the matching color information.

Here’s a simple example of a comma-delimited text file: