BUG-000150465: Complicated area of interest polygons affect the performance of the Generate Grids and Hexagons tool

Description

A bug in the Generate Grids and Hexagons tool results in poor processing performance if the polygon selected as Area of Interest contains a complex boundary with a high number of vertices. Examples of problematic complex polygons include the state of Alaska or the country of Norway; the jagged coastlines, in both cases, are represented by an abundance of vertices.

Cause

The bug is caused by the expense of processing the volume of cells that need to be spatially qualified for inclusion, combined with the number of vertices in the Area of Interest polygon.

Workaround

Use the Simplify Polygons tool to create a modified copy of the complex polygon feature class with fewer vertices. Use the output of this tool as the Area of Interest parameter in the Generate Grids and Hexagons tool.

To create the amended feature class, follow these steps:

1. In ArcGIS Pro, open the Simplify Polygons tool and set the complex polygon feature class as Input Features.
2. Set a Simplification Tolerance. Iteration may be necessary to find the ideal balance. For reference, with a state of Alaska polygon as the Input Features, a simplification tolerance of 20,000 Meters results in an output feature class containing a manageable number of vertices.
3. Set the output of this tool as the Area of Interest in the Generate Grids and Hexagons tool, enter additional parameter values, and run the tool.