Geoprocessing with GISquirrel layers

Many users ask us whether they can use ArcGIS Toolbox tools with GISquirrel layers. The answer is... yes, mostly, but please read the following.

First a general point… ArcGIS does not always support the exact same functionality on “plugin data sources” as on native data sources. GISquirrel achieves what it does by using plugin data sources. However, the majority of the tools we have tested operate succcessfully, including Union, Merge, Intersect, Buffer, Dissolve.

For the tools to work, it is necessary to add the data source first as a layer in the map document, then reference the layer in the Toolbox tool, rather than using GISquirrel feature classes directly from the workspace (using the Toolbox tool’s browse button or scripting the WorkspacePath\FeatureClassName path).  It is not possible to use a GISquirrel workspace as a geoprocessing tool’s output workspace.

For example, the following will work on the Python command line:
import arcpy
arcpy.Buffer_analysis("gisquirrel.Siedlungsflaeche", "D:/Documents/ArcGIS/Default.gdb/siedlungsfleache_Buffer ", 25, "FULL", "ROUND", "ALL")

But if you replace the input layer reference "gisquirrel.Siedlungsflaeche" with a direct reference to the underlying feature class " D:/Documents/psql-gisquirrel.asq /Siedlungsflaeche" it will throw “ERROR 000732: Input Features: Dataset D:/Documents/psql-gisquirrel.asq /Siedlungsfleache does not exist or is not supported”. Likewise if you replace the out file geodatabase  feature class "D:/Documents/ArcGIS/Default.gdb/siedlungsfleache_Buffer " with a GISquirrel feature class " D:/Documents/psql-gisquirrel.asq /Siedlungsflaeche_Buffer". The same is true when you invoke the tool through a Toolbox UI dialogue.

We welcome feedback on users' experience with different Toolbox tools. And remember that these geoprocessing operations can also be accomplished using the SQL Server or PostGIS database functions.