Generate tessellations

A generate tessellations analysis resulting in a new layer with 1 mile hexagon bins created for a study area in Auckland.

What is a generate tessellation analysis?

A generate tessellation analysis is the process of creating equally sized square, hexagon, triangle, or diamond geometry bins for an area or extent. To execute the analysis, use the spatial analysis service and the GenerateTessellations operation.

You typically generate tessellations to create regularly shaped areas that can be used in subsequent analysis.

Real-world examples of this analysis include the following:

Enriching the polygons with data from the GeoEnrichment service.
Aggregating and summarize high-density point data.
Visualizing how best to allocate resources for projects such as reforestation.

How to generate tessellations

Review the parameters for the GenerateTessellations operation.
Send a request to get the spatial analysis service URL.
Execute a job request with the following URL and parameters:
- URL: https://<YOUR_ANALYSIS_SERVICE>/arcgis/rest/services/tasks/GPServer/GenerateTessellations/submitJob
- Parameters:
  - binType: The tessellation shape.
  - binSize: The size of each bin.
  - outputName: A string representing the name of the hosted feature layer to return with the results.
Check the status.
Get the output layer results.

To see examples using ArcGIS API for Python, ArcGIS REST JS, and the ArcGIS REST API, go to Examples below.

URL request

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http://<YOUR_ANALYSIS_SERVICE>/arcgis/rest/services/tasks/GPServer/GenerateTessellations/submitJob?<parameters>

Required parameters

Name	Description	Examples
`f`	The format of the data returned.	`f=json` `f=pjson`
`token`	An OAuth 2.0 access token.	`token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>`
`binType`	The tessellation shape.	`HEXAGON`, `SQUARE`, `DIAMOND`, `TRIANGLE`, `TRANSVERSEHEXAGON`
`binSize`	The size of each bin.	`500`

Key parameters

Name	Description	Examples
`binSizeUnit`	The unit to be used with the specified value in `binSize`.	`Feet`,`Miles`,`Kilometers`
`extentLayer`	The extent that the tessellations will cover.	`{"url":"https://services3.arcgis.com/GVgbJbqm8hXASVYi/arcgis/rest/services/Portland_boundary/FeatureServer/0"}`
`outputName`	A string representing the name of the hosted feature layer to return with the results. NOTE: If you do not include this parameter, the results are returned as a feature collection (JSON).	`{"serviceProperties": {"name": "<SERVICE_NAME>"}}`
`context`	A bounding box or output spatial reference for the analysis.	`"extent":{"xmin:", "ymin:", "xmax:", "ymax:"}`

Code examples

Generate hexagon bins

This example uses the GenerateTessellations operation to create hexagon bins in a polygon (boundary) by specifying the binType value as a hexagon with a binSize value of 1 mile.

Generate tessellations analysis creating 1 mile hex bins (1 mile) within a polygon of the Santa Monica mountains.

APIs

ArcGIS API for Python

ArcGIS REST JS

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results = generate_tessellation(
    bin_size=1,
    bin_type="HEXAGON",
    bin_size_unit="Miles",
    intersect_study_area=True,
    extent_layer="https://services3.arcgis.com/GVgbJbqm8hXASVYi/arcgis/rest/services/Boundary/FeatureServer/0",
    # Outputs results as a hosted feature service.
    output_name="Generate tessellation results",
)

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Service requests

Request

HTTP

cURL

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POST arcgis.com/sharing/rest/portals/self HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

&f=json
&token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>
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Response (JSON)

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{
  "helperServices": {
    // Other parameters
    "analysis": {
      "url": "https://<YOUR_ANALYSIS_SERVICE>/arcgis/rest/services/tasks/GPServer"
    },
    "geoenrichment": {
      "url": "https://geoenrich.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/World/GeoenrichmentServer"
    }
  }
}

Request

HTTP

cURL

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POST <YOUR_ANALYSIS_SERVICE>/arcgis/rest/services/tasks/GPServer/GenerateTessellations/submitJob HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

&f=json
&token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>
&binType=HEXAGON
&extentLayer={"url":"https://services3.arcgis.com/GVgbJbqm8hXASVYi/arcgis/rest/services/Boundary/FeatureServer/0","name":"Boundary"}
&intersectStudyArea=true
&binSize=1
&binSizeUnit=Miles
&outputName={"serviceProperties":{"name":"Generate tessellations results"}}

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Response (JSON)

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{
  "jobId": "<JOB_ID>",
  "jobStatus": "esriJobSubmitted",
  "results": {},
  "inputs": {},
  "messages": []
}

Request

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POST <YOUR_ANALYSIS_SERVICE>/arcgis/rest/services/tasks/GPServer/GenerateTessellations/jobs/<JOB_ID> HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

&f=json
&token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>

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Response (JSON)

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// Executing job
{
  "jobId": "<JOB_ID>",
  "jobStatus": "esriJobExecuting",
  "results": {},
  "inputs": {},
  "messages": []
}
// Job succeeded
{
  "jobId": "<JOB_ID>",
  "jobStatus": "esriJobSucceeded",
  "results": {
      "tessellationLayer": {
          "paramUrl": "results/tessellationLayer"
      },
  },
  "inputs": {},
  "messages": []
}

Request

HTTP

cURL

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POST <YOUR_ANALYSIS_SERVICE>/arcgis/rest/services/tasks/GPServer/GenerateTessellations/jobs/<JOB_ID>/results/tessellationLayer HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

&f=json
&returnType=data
&token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>

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Response (JSON)

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{
  "paramName": "tessellationLayer",
  "dataType": "GPString",
  "value": {
      "url": "<SERVICE_URL>",
      "itemId": "<ITEM_ID>"
  }
}

Generate square bins

This example uses the GenerateTessellations operation to create square bins in a polygon (boundary) by specifying the binType value as a square with a binSize value of 1 mile in Portland.

Generate tesselations analysis creating 1 mile square bins for a polygon boundary in Portland.

APIs

ArcGIS API for Python

ArcGIS REST JS

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results = generate_tessellation(
    bin_size=1,
    bin_type="SQUARE",
    bin_size_unit="Miles",
    intersect_study_area=True,
    extent_layer="https://services3.arcgis.com/GVgbJbqm8hXASVYi/arcgis/rest/services/Portland_boundary/FeatureServer/0",
    # Outputs results as a hosted feature service.
    output_name="Generate tessellation results",
)

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Go to API Reference

Service requests

Request

HTTP

cURL

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POST arcgis.com/sharing/rest/portals/self HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

&f=json
&token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>
Run in Postman

Response (JSON)

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{
  "helperServices": {
    // Other parameters
    "analysis": {
      "url": "https://<YOUR_ANALYSIS_SERVICE>/arcgis/rest/services/tasks/GPServer"
    },
    "geoenrichment": {
      "url": "https://geoenrich.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/World/GeoenrichmentServer"
    }
  }
}

Request

HTTP

cURL

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POST <YOUR_ANALYSIS_SERVICE>/arcgis/rest/services/tasks/GPServer/GenerateTessellations/submitJob HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

&f=json
&token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>
&binType=SQUARE
&extentLayer={"url":"https://services3.arcgis.com/GVgbJbqm8hXASVYi/arcgis/rest/services/Portland_boundary/FeatureServer/0","name":"Portland_boundary"}
&intersectStudyArea=true
&binSize=1
&binSizeUnit=Miles
&outputName={"serviceProperties":{"name":"Generate tessellations results"}}

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Response (JSON)

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{
  "jobId": "<JOB_ID>",
  "jobStatus": "esriJobSubmitted",
  "results": {},
  "inputs": {},
  "messages": []
}

Request

HTTP

cURL

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POST <YOUR_ANALYSIS_SERVICE>/arcgis/rest/services/tasks/GPServer/GenerateTessellations/jobs/<JOB_ID> HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

&f=json
&token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>

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Response (JSON)

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// Executing job
{
  "jobId": "<JOB_ID>",
  "jobStatus": "esriJobExecuting",
  "results": {},
  "inputs": {},
  "messages": []
}
// Job succeeded
{
  "jobId": "<JOB_ID>",
  "jobStatus": "esriJobSucceeded",
  "results": {
      "tessellationLayer": {
          "paramUrl": "results/tessellationLayer"
      },
  },
  "inputs": {},
  "messages": []
}

Request

HTTP

cURL

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POST <YOUR_ANALYSIS_SERVICE>/arcgis/rest/services/tasks/GPServer/GenerateTessellations/jobs/<JOB_ID>/results/tessellationLayer HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

&f=json
&returnType=data
&token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>

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Response (JSON)

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{
  "paramName": "tessellationLayer",
  "dataType": "GPString",
  "value": {
      "url": "<SERVICE_URL>",
      "itemId": "<ITEM_ID>"
  }
}