Create a locator to geocode polygons by unique field values in ArcGIS Pro

Summary

In ArcGIS Pro, geocoding is the process of navigating to specific locations on a map or generating features from tables of addresses or places. The Geocode Addresses tool works with a locator to perform geocoding using addresses as the locator input. However, if unique field names of locations must be used instead of addresses, a custom locator must be created.

In this example, a locator is created to geocode polygons in the Administrative_area feature class by its zone name from the Zone field.

Procedure

1. Open the ArcGIS Pro project.
2. On the Analysis tab, in the Geoprocessing group, click the Tools button to open the Geoprocessing pane.
3. In the Geoprocessing pane, search for and select Create Locator (Geocoding Tools).
4. Configure the parameters in the Create Locator pane.
   1. For Country or Region, select the country-specific geocoding logic to be applied to the reference data for the locator from the drop-down list. In this example, United States is selected.
   2. For Primary Table(s), select the feature class to be used to create the locator from the drop-down list. In this example, the Administrative_area feature class is selected.
   3. For Role, select Parcel.
   4. Under Field Mapping, for Feature ID, select OBJECTID as the Alias Name from the drop-down list.
   5. For Parcel Name, select the field containing the unique values as the Alias Name from the drop-down list. In this example, Zone is selected.
   6. For Output Locator, if necessary, name and specify the location of the output locator file. In this example, the output locator is named Administrative_CreateLocator.
   7. For Language Code, select the language-specific geocoding logic to be applied to the reference data for the locator from the drop-down list. In this example, English is selected.
   8. Click Run to create the locator.

To geocode polygons on the map using the locator, refer to ArcGIS Pro: Find places on the map. The image below shows the new locator, Administrative_CreateLocator, used to geocode the polygon using the zone name, A66, as the input in the Locate pane.