Two Ways to Display Parcel Lineage with Your Parcel Fabric Data

Matt Junker, GISP

Ongoing Services Manager

If your organization is looking for ways to represent parcel lineage with your parcel fabric data, Esri has some options at ArcGIS Pro 3.2.  A Link Chart is a visual representation of the relationship between items in the parcel fabric, such as parcels and records. Another option to display parcel lineage is with a Before/After Map Layout in ArcGIS Pro.

Link Charts

The Parcel Lineage tool is used to create Link Charts, and is found in the Records Gallery of the Parcel Fabric Workflows tab in ArcGIS Pro. Upon opening the tool, the user is prompted to to select a record or any of its parcels from the map.

With a selection, the user provides a name for the Link Chart, and chooses which Parcel Types to display. Also, the user chooses a layout for the Link Chart, ranging from Hierarchical, Organic, or Clustered configurations.

The result of the tool is a Link Chart, displayed in an ArcGIS Pro project pane (see below).

With the Link Chart pane, the user is provided functionality to edit, analyze, or change the display of the Link Chart.  For instance, the user can change the symbology of the items in the chart, or change the layout for how the Link Chart is displayed.

Before/After Maps


Displaying your parcel lineage data in a Before/After Map Layout requires the new Export Parcel Record Features tool. This tool exports the layers (current and historic) associated with a selected parcel record to a dataset in a staging geodatabase. An Exported Status attribute is added to all layers exported by the tool.

The Before/After Layout consists of two map frames representing the state of the parcel(s) before action (split or combine) was taken, and the state of the parcel(s) as the result of the action. Dynamic tables and text elements are also part of the layout to further communicate the message of the layout to the end user.

The parcel layer in each map frame is mapped with a definition query based on an attribute from the Exported Status attribute; in this case the Before map displays parcels Retired by the Record, while the After map displays parcels Created by the Record. Also, the retired and current parcels are listed alongside each map frame, created from dynamic table elements using distinct values from the parcel layer in each respective map.

These new options from Esri at ArcGIS Pro 3.2 provide intuitive ways to further understand data and communicate the information to an end user. Link Charts, along with the Before/After Map Layout, are great ways to track parcel history and visualize the spatial relationships in parcel data. If you need assistance with your Parcel Fabric, contact us today!