GPX to Feature Class

A handy tool created at 10.1, but refined at 10.2 is the GPX to Feature Class tool, which allows users to convert GPX files from GPS units to feature classes.  Waypoints and Tracks can then be extracted from the converted GPX file, and rendered as desired.

The ArcGIS online help for the GPX to Feature Class can be found here.

import arcpy
import os
if __name__ == "__main__":
    input_gpx = r"C:\data.gpx"
    convert_fc = arcpy.env.scratchGDB + os.sep + "gpxfc"
    gpx_fc = arcpy.GPXtoFeatures_conversion(Input_GPX_File=input_gpx, 
                                            Output_Feature_class=convert_fc
                                           )[0]
    track_points_lyr = arcpy.MakeFeatureLayer_management(in_features=convert_fc, 
                                                        out_layer="TRKLYR", 
                                                        where_clause="Type = 'TRKPT'", 
                                                        )[0]
    way_point_lyr = arcpy.MakeFeatureLayer_management(in_features=convert_fc, 
                                                      out_layer="WPT", 
                                                        where_clause="Type = 'WPT'", 
                                                        )[0]    

    if int(arcpy.GetCount_management(track_points_lyr)[0]) > 0:
        trkpt = arcpy.CopyFeatures_management(way_point_lyr,
                                              env.scratchGDB + os.sep + "trkpt")[0]
        trkLine = arcpy.PointsToLine_management(trkpt,
                                                env.scratchGDB + os.sep + "lines",
                                                "Name")[0]
    if int(arcpy.GetCount_management(way_point_lyr)[0]) > 0:
        waypts = arcpy.CopyFeatures_management(way_point_lyr,
                                               env.scratchGDB + os.sep + "WAYPTS")[0]
        

Here the code converted the GPX file to a feature class, then further refined the results from just a set of points to tracks and waypoints as mentioned earlier in this post.

There is a difference between 10.1 and 10.2 that should be noted.  In 10.2, more of the GPX properties will be converted where as in 10.1, I have noticed that only a small set of the data is actually pulled in from the GPX files.  So if you need all the GPX properties, ArcGIS 10.2 is probably what you need.  You can always parse the XML in the GPX manually using the minidom library in python if this doesn't suit you needs.


Enjoy