Simplify Polygon

Function Description: Simplifies polygon features by removing relatively extraneous vertices while preserving essential shape.

Data Description

Input and Output Relationship

Input and Output Relationship for Simplify Polygon

Simplify Polygon

• Parameter Description:

  • Input Features: The input polygon features to be simplified.

  • Simplification Algorithm: Specifies the algorithm used for polygon simplification.

    • Distance (Douglas-Peucker) - Retains key points that define the basic shape of the polygon while removing all other points (Douglas-Peucker). This is the default setting.
    • Area (Visvalingam) - Retains vertices that form valid triangles based on their area.
    • Snap to Grid - Retains vertices that lie outside the grid tolerance.

  • Simplification Tolerance: This tolerance determines the degree of simplification. You can select a preferred unit; otherwise, the unit of the input data will be used.

    • For the Distance (Douglas-Peucker) algorithm, the tolerance represents the maximum allowed vertical distance between each vertex and the newly created polygon.
    • For the Area (Visvalingam) algorithm, the tolerance is the area of a valid triangle defined by three adjacent vertices, normalized to the length of the corresponding square side.
    • For the Snap to Grid algorithm, the tolerance is the length of the grid cell.

  • Minimum Area: The minimum area of polygons to be retained. The default value is zero, meaning all polygons will be kept. You can select a preferred unit for the specified value; otherwise, the unit of the input data will be used.

  • Output Feature Class: The output polygon feature class containing the simplified results, which includes all fields from the input feature class.

  • Add Result to Project: This option is only applicable when the output feature class is saved to the project's gpkg database. When checked, it will automatically create a layer for the result and add it to the project.