Remove leading zeros in an attribute table in ArcGIS Pro

Summary

Removing leading zeros from a field in an attribute table can be time-consuming if the data provided is large, as shown in the image below. However, this task can be automated using a Python or Arcade expression. In Python, the Int() function is used to remove the leading zeros from a text data type field; deeming the values as integers, thus preventing the population of numbers beginning with a zero ('0'). This article provides the workflow to automate the removal of leading zeros from a field in an attribute table using a Python or Arcade expression in ArcGIS Pro.

Procedure

1. Open the ArcGIS Pro project.
2. In the Contents pane, right-click the layer and click Attribute Table.
3. In the attribute table, right-click the field’s header and select Calculate Field.
4. In the Calculate Field window, select the field from the Field Name (Existing or New) drop-down list. In this example, Distance (KM) is selected.
5. Select Python 3 or Arcade from the Expression Type drop-down list.

• For Python 3, in the <Field_Name> box, type the following expression and click Verify.

Int(!<Field_Name>!)

• For Arcade, in the <Field_Name> box, type the following expression and click Verify.

Number($feature.<Field_Name>)

6. When the message, "Expression is valid" is returned, click OK.

The following image shows the leading zeros removed from the data in the attribute table.