9.3 Locating Features & Geocoding Workflows

9.3 Locating Features & Geocoding Workflows

Translating textual locations (such as street addresses, postal codes, or landmark names) or numeric coordinate pairs into spatial point features on a map canvas is one of the most widely applied capabilities in Desktop GIS. ArcGIS Pro provides robust tools for single-location search, interactive coordinate navigation, batch address geocoding, and interactive address rematching.

The Locate Pane & Single-Location Searching

The Locate pane (opened from the Map ribbon > Inquiry group > Locate) is the primary interactive navigation and search tool in ArcGIS Pro. It allows users to quickly search across multiple location providers simultaneously:

Primary Search Capabilities in the Locate Pane

• Address & Place Searching: Integrates with online locator services (such as the Esri World Geocoding Service) or local custom locators to find street addresses (e.g., '1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC') or named landmarks ('Yosemite National Park').
• Layer Feature Search: Allows users to configure project feature layers as search sources. For example, an analyst can configure a 'Parcels' layer so typing a Parcel Identification Number (PIN) in the Locate pane zooms directly to that feature on the map canvas.
• Coordinates Search: Supports direct entry of geographic or projected coordinates in various formats, including Decimal Degrees (DD), Degrees Minutes Seconds (DMS), Military Grid Reference System (MGRS), US National Grid (USNG), and Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM).

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Address Locators & Locator Files (.loc)

Geocoding relies on an Address Locator—a specialized GIS dataset containing reference data, indexing tables, and parsing rules that govern how street address strings are parsed and matched against spatial reference geometry.

Structure of an Address Locator

• Reference Data: High-quality spatial layers (such as street centerlines with address ranges for left/right sides of streets, or point address parcels) used to determine spatial position.
• Locator Engine & Files (.loc): In modern ArcGIS Pro releases, locators are compiled as .loc files. These locators are fast, support autocomplete, multi-role configurations, and localized linguistic rules.
• Locator Types & Roles:
  • Point Address: Matches exact parcel centroids or building structure points.
  • Street Address: Interpolates address numbers along street centerline segment ranges (e.g., interpolating address 124 along a line segment ranging from 100 to 200).
  • Postal Code / City State: Matches to administrative centroid polygons when exact street details are missing.

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Batch Geocoding: The Geocode Addresses Tool

When an analyst has a tabular file (CSV, Excel, or Geodatabase table) containing hundreds or thousands of customer addresses, individual manual searching is impossible. Batch geocoding processes the table into a spatial point feature class using the Geocode Addresses geoprocessing tool (or the Geocode Table wizard).

Key Steps in the Geocoding Workflow

1. Input Table: Select the table containing address records.
2. Input Address Locator: Choose a local .loc file, an ArcGIS Enterprise portal locator, or the Esri World Geocoding Service.
3. Field Mapping: Match columns in the input table to expected locator field roles:
   • Single Field: Full address in one string (e.g., 123 Main St, Denver, CO 80202).
   • Multiple Fields: Separate columns for Address (or Street), City, State, and ZIP Code. Mapping separate fields yields higher match accuracy.
4. Output Feature Class: Specify the output point feature class path in a Geodatabase.

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Match Scores, Candidates & Match Status

When geocoding executes, the locator parses each record and assigns a Match Score from 0 to 100 based on accuracy:

• Matched (M): The address matched a reference record above the minimum match score threshold (default is typically 60 or 85 depending on locator settings).
• Unmatched (U): No candidate reference features met the minimum match threshold, due to typos, invalid street ranges, or missing data.
• Tied (T): Multiple reference candidates yielded identical top match scores, leaving the engine unable to choose a definitive match without user intervention.

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The Rematch Addresses Pane

After running batch geocoding, ArcGIS Pro generates a summary showing percentages of Matched, Unmatched, and Tied records. Opening the Rematch Addresses pane allows analysts to interactively review and fix problem records:

• Filtering Records: Users can filter the display to view only Unmatched or Tied records.
• Candidate Inspection: Selecting an unmatched record displays candidate locations on the map canvas along with their individual match scores and matching reasons.
• Interactive Rematching: Analysts can manually select the correct candidate, edit misspelled street spelling in the input query field to trigger a re-search, or click a point directly on the map canvas to assign geometry manually (Pick from Map).

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Reverse Geocoding & Go To XY Tool

Reverse Geocoding

While standard geocoding converts text addresses to coordinates, Reverse Geocoding performs the inverse: converting a spatial coordinate pair or a clicked point on the map into the nearest estimated street address or intersection description. Executed via the Reverse Geocode tool or interactive locate options, it is widely used in field mobile workflows (such as reporting asset maintenance at a clicked map location).

The Go To XY Tool

The Go To XY tool (accessible from the Map ribbon > Inquiry group) provides a lightweight floating overlay on the map view for quick coordinate navigation:

• Analysts type X and Y (or Longitude and Latitude) values, select the coordinate unit (e.g., Decimal Degrees, Meters, Feet), and choose an action: Pan To, Zoom To, Flash, or Add Point/Callout Marker.
• It allows rapid verification of coordinates supplied in field reports or GPS survey datasets without requiring a full dataset import.