Esri Mapping Center - Ask a Cartographer

Data Driven Pages: why is it labeling features which lie outside the DDP clip?

March 28 2011 | 5 comments
Categories: ArcGIS Methods, Labeling

Hello! I have attached this image to show two things: 1) everything is being clipped to the index layer polygon, nothing is excluded. You can see the green dots are not being drawn outside the index layer polygon. 2) You can also see that labels are being drawn for green dots which lie outside the index layer polygon. Why is this happening, and how can I control it? Thank you!

Mapping Center Answer:

To prevent labels from drawing outside the Data Driven Pages extent they need to have an attribute identifying what Data Driven Page they should be shown on. For example, if on page one you want certain labels, those labels must have an attribute identifying them as page one labels. If the labeling feature has those attributes then you can open the layer properties, click the Definition Query tab, click the Page Definition Query button, and enable the page definition query so that labels will only show for that Data Driven Page. For more help with page definition queries see the online help topic for Using Page Definition Queries.

Also, download the Data Driven Pages – Legislative District Atlas to see an example of how only the appropriate labels are labeled.

Attachment: Labels drawing for outlying features

Clip to Current Data Driven Page Extent posted by Marianne Farretta on Mar 30 2011 8:05AM

Thank you for your response, I do need some clarification, then, on the DDP clipping. Isn't the purpose of Clip to Current Data Driven Page Extent to exclude geometry which lies outside of the index layer polygon? It seems to work that way. And why is it that my road layer's labels aren't drawing outside the index layer polygon, but these point layer's labels are? Neither has any relationship at all to the index layer.

Clip to Current Data Driven Page Extent posted by Wesley Jones on Mar 30 2011 1:48PM

I misread your original question somewhat, but it appears that in your situation the points (traffic count stations) are not entirely outside the clip therefore they are being labeled. So yes, the Clip to the Current Data Driven Page Extent is supposed to exclude geometry outside the clip, but in your case it looks like a portion of the point is still within the clip. One solution would be to use the method I mentioned above.

Clip to Current Data Driven Page Extent posted by Marianne Farretta on Mar 30 2011 2:38PM

May I submit an additional pic?

May I submit an additional pic? posted by Wesley Jones on Mar 30 2011 3:32PM

For sure

The way you did it posted by Aileen Buckley on Mar 31 2011 12:42PM

The best thing to do is to send it in a new Ask a Cartographer question - as you did! So you are all set, I think.

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