Getting a Feature Layer by Name

date:

2009-06-03 10:43

author:

admin

category:

arcobjects, esri, programming

slug:

getting-a-feature-layer-by-name

status:

published

An often required function is to get a specific layer from a current map document. The code below is for VB.NET and requires a map document and uses the alias name of the feature class. The first function returns all IGeoFeature layers in a map - these are layers based on vector geographic data. The second loops through these layers and compares the layer names.

Public Function GetFeatureLayers(ByRef pMap As IMap) As IEnumLayer

Dim pUID As New UIDClass
pUID.Value = "{E156D7E5-22AF-11D3-9F99-00C04F6BC78E}" 'IGeoFeatureLayer GUID

If pMap.LayerCount > 0 Then
GetFeatureLayers = pMap.Layers(pUID, True)
Else
Return Nothing
End If

End Function

Public Function GetFeatureLayerByAliasName(ByRef pMap As IMap, _
ByVal strLayerModelName As String) As IFeatureLayer

Dim pLayerEnum As IEnumLayer
Dim pFLayer As IFeatureLayer

pLayerEnum = GetFeatureLayers(pMap)
If pLayerEnum Is Nothing Then
Return Nothing
End If

pFLayer = DirectCast(pLayerEnum.Next, IFeatureLayer)

Do Until pFLayer Is Nothing
If pFLayer.Valid Then
If strLayerModelName = pFLayer.FeatureClass.AliasName Then
Return pFLayer
End If
End If
pFLayer = DirectCast(pLayerEnum.Next, IFeatureLayer)
Loop

'the layer was not found
Return Nothing

End Function

Rather than using the layer name visible in the table of contents which is easly changed by a user, I use the .AliasName of the feature class. This is automatically set to the name of the layer when added to a map. A user is much less likely to change this. There is however another name that is 100% certain not to change, it does however require an additional step when adding the layer shown below:

Dim pModelInfo As IModelInfo
pModelInfo = CType(pFLayer.FeatureClass, IModelInfo)
pModelInfo.ModelName = “AnyValueYouLike”

The code to find this layer is similar to the FindFeatureLayer, but relies on the IModelInfo interface. As stated in the documentation - “Object classes and fields in a geodatabase can have between one and three names..The third name is the model name which is a tool for developers of custom objects to use to guarantee the names of objects independent of the true name or alias name.”

This property could be used in conjunction with a GUID to ensure you return the layer you are looking for.

Public Function GetFeatureLayerByModelName(ByRef pMap As IMap, _
ByVal strLayerModelName As String) As IFeatureLayer

Dim pLayerEnum As IEnumLayer
Dim pFLayer As IFeatureLayer
Dim pModelInfo As IModelInfo

pLayerEnum = GetFeatureLayers(pMap)
If pLayerEnum Is Nothing Then
Return Nothing
End If

pFLayer = DirectCast(pLayerEnum.Next, IFeatureLayer)

Do Until pFLayer Is Nothing
If pFLayer.Valid Then
pModelInfo = DirectCast(pFLayer.FeatureClass, IModelInfo)
If strLayerModelName = pModelInfo.ModelName Then
Return pFLayer
End If
End If
pFLayer = DirectCast(pLayerEnum.Next, IFeatureLayer)
Loop

'the layer was not found
Return Nothing
End Function

orphan:

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