IGPDataType Interface

Provides access to members of a GP Data Type.

When To Use

The IGPDataType interface is used to define the data type for each parameter to a geoprocessing tool. Some examples of data types include FeatureClass, Table, and Raster.

The data type is an object used to specify and manage the values passed in as input to a geoprocessing function. For example, in ModelBuilder datatypes are used to determine if a given model variable is valid input to a geoprocessing tool.

Data types are used to provide a way to generate and validate the parameter values. For every data type there is a IGPValue object. IGPValue objects are the actual inputs to a geoprocessing tool.

A complete example of defining the parameter data types is available in the article, Building Geoprocessing Function Tools.

See also IGPValue.

Members

	Name	Description
	ControlCLSID	The COM class id of the data type.
	CreateValue	Creates a geoprocessing value object from the given string.
	DisplayName	The descriptive, user-friendly name.
	FullName	The associated Name object.
	HelpContext	The context identifier of the topic within the help file.
	HelpFile	The name of the (CHM) file containing help information.
	MetadataFile	The name of the (XML) file containing the default metadata for this data type.
	Name	The name of the data type.
	ValidateDataType	Validates if a given geoprocessing data type object is valid.
	ValidateValue	Validates if a given geoprocessing value object is the correct data type.

IGPDataType.ControlCLSID Property

The COM class id of the data type.

Public ReadOnly Property ControlCLSID As UID

public UID ControlCLSID {get;}

IGPDataType.CreateValue Method

Creates a geoprocessing value object from the given string.

Public Function CreateValue ( _
    ByVal text As String _
) As IGPValue

public IGPValue CreateValue (
    string text
);

Remarks

The CreateValue method creates the default Value object, which can subsequently be used in the parameter array that is passed to the Validate and the Execute methods of IGPFunction.

IGPDataType.DisplayName Property

The descriptive, user-friendly name.

Public ReadOnly Property DisplayName As String

public string DisplayName {get;}

Remarks

The DisplayName property returns the descriptive, user-friendly name of the DataType object.

IGPDataType.FullName Property

The associated Name object.

Public ReadOnly Property FullName As IName

public IName FullName {get;}

Remarks

The FullName property returns the full name of the DataType object, which is an IName object.

IGPDataType.HelpContext Property

The context identifier of the topic within the help file.

Public ReadOnly Property HelpContext As Integer

public int HelpContext {get;}

Remarks

The HelpContext property returns the context identifier to the topic inside the HelpFile for this DataType.

IGPDataType.HelpFile Property

The name of the (CHM) file containing help information.

Public ReadOnly Property HelpFile As String

public string HelpFile {get;}

Remarks

The HelpFile property returns the string of the help file, which contains the help for the DataType.

IGPDataType.MetadataFile Property

The name of the (XML) file containing the default metadata for this data type.

Public ReadOnly Property MetadataFile As String

public string MetadataFile {get;}

IGPDataType.Name Property

The name of the data type.

Public ReadOnly Property Name As String

public string Name {get;}

Remarks

The Name property returns the unique name assigned to the DataType object.

IGPDataType.ValidateDataType Method

Validates if a given geoprocessing data type object is valid.

Public Function ValidateDataType ( _
    ByVal Type As IGPDataType _
) As IGPMessage

public IGPMessage ValidateDataType (
    IGPDataType Type
);

Remarks

The ValidateDataType method determines if a given DataType object is compatible. The method is used by ModelBuilder to evaluate if a variable can be associated with this DataType.

IGPDataType.ValidateValue Method

Validates if a given geoprocessing value object is the correct data type.

Public Function ValidateValue ( _
    ByVal Value As IGPValue, _
    ByVal Domain As IGPDomain _
) As IGPMessage

public IGPMessage ValidateValue (
    IGPValue Value,
    IGPDomain Domain
);

Remarks

The ValidateValue method is used to determine if a Value object is compatible with a DataType.

Classes that implement IGPDataType

Classes	Description
DENetworkDatasetType	Network Dataset Data Element Type object.
NetworkTravelModeType	Network Travel Mode Type object.