Create an area of interest for Europe without a specific country for a color-coded layer using the Europe (beta) dataset

Summary

The pan-European dataset has been available to ArcGIS Business Analyst Pro since July 2024, via the Europe (beta) country choice in the portal data source. This dataset consists of 39 countries in Eastern and Western Europe, with 66 consistent variables.

Users may want to exclude a country from the area of interest (AOI) in the color-coded layer workflow. However, using spatial selection is not precise enough and selecting all the countries for the AOI is cumbersome. Generalizing the country boundaries can also mean that the generalized AOI can overlap excluded countries where they are bordered by rivers and islands.

Procedure

To resolve these challenges, complete the following steps:

1. In the Geoprocessing pane, in Business Analyst Tools, expand the Trade Areas toolset, and select the Generate Standard Geography Trade Areas geoprocessing tool.
   1. For Geography Level, select Countries (XE.Countries).
   2. For Output Feature Class, enter an appropriate name.
   3. For Input Type, select List.
   4. For Geography IDs List, use the browse folder icon to select the countries to include. For example, to exclude Türkiye, use the following ID List:

  AL,AT,BE,BA,BG,HR,CY,CZ,DK,EE,FI,FR,DE,GR,HU,IS,IE,IT,LV,LI,LT,LU,MT,MD,ME,NL,MK,NO,PL,PT,RO,RS,SK,SI,ES,SE,CH,GB

2. Use the Dissolve geoprocessing tool to create a new feature layer without the internal national boundaries.
3. In the Color Coded Layer tool, use the Set area of interest to a layer on the map option to select the dissolved boundary as the area of interest.

Note:
The degree of generalization varies based on the geography level. Using countries as the geography layer will create a more generalized boundary than using major subdivisions.

Note:
At certain scales and with different geography levels, Color Coded Layer may include features that are adjacent to and touch the AOI but are outside of the chosen countries.
This is an expected artifact of the generalization and the need to balance performance with accuracy.

Note:
The initial performance of Color Coded Layer is impacted by the number of vertices in the AOI. Choose an appropriate level of geography for the total extent of the AOI.
It is recommended to only use Countries as the geography level if you are excluding one or two countries. When the AOI is small, such as a group of 4 countries like Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland, you may want to use smaller subdivisions.