Buffer

The input point, line, or polygon features to be buffered.

The feature class containing the output buffers.

The distance around the input features that will be buffered. Distances can be provided as either a value representing a linear distance or as a field from the input features that contains the distance to buffer each feature.If linear units are not specified or are entered as Unknown, the linear unit of the input features' spatial reference is used.

Specifies the sides of the input features that will be buffered.Full—For line input features, buffers will be generated on both sides of the line. For polygon input features, buffers will be generated around the polygon and will contain and overlap the area of the input features. For point input features, buffers will be generated around the point. This is the default.Left—For line input features, buffers will be generated on the topological left of the line. This option is not valid for polygon input features.Right—For line input features, buffers will be generated on the topological right of the line. This option is not valid for polygon input features.Exclude the input polygon from buffer—For polygon input features, buffers will be generated outside the input polygon only (the area inside the input polygon will be erased from the output buffer). This option is not valid for line input features.This optional parameter is not available with a Desktop Basic or Desktop Standard license.

Specifies the shape of the buffer at the end of line input features. This parameter is not valid for polygon input features.Round—The ends of the buffer will be round, in the shape of a half circle. This is the default.Flat—The ends of the buffer will be flat, or squared, and will end at the endpoint of the input line feature.This optional parameter is not available with a Desktop Basic or Desktop Standard license.

Specifies the type of dissolve to be performed to remove buffer overlap.No Dissolve—An individual buffer for each feature will be maintained, regardless of overlap. This is the default.Dissolve all output features into a single feature—All buffers will be dissolved together into a single feature, removing any overlap.Dissolve features using the listed fields' unique values or combination of values—Any buffers sharing attribute values in the listed fields (carried over from the input features) will be dissolved.

The list of fields from the input features on which the output buffers will be dissolved. Any buffers sharing attribute values in the listed fields (carried over from the input features) will be dissolved.The Add Field button, which is only used in ModelBuilder, allows you to add expected fields to the Dissolve Field(s) list.

Specifies the method to use, planar or geodesic, to create the buffer.Planar—If the input features are in a projected coordinate system, Euclidean buffers will be created. If the input features are in a geographic coordinate system and the buffer distance is in linear units (meters, feet, and so forth, as opposed to angular units such as degrees), geodesic buffers will be created. This is the default. You can use the Output Coordinate System environment setting to specify the coordinate system to use. For example, if your input features are in a projected coordinate system, you can set the environment to a geographic coordinate system to create geodesic buffers.Geodesic (shape preserving)—All buffers will be created using a shape-preserving geodesic buffer method, regardless of the input coordinate system.