{"id":167001,"date":"2010-03-10T17:52:54","date_gmt":"2010-03-11T01:52:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&p=167001"},"modified":"2018-12-18T11:33:49","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T19:33:49","slug":"setting-a-definition-query-in-modelbuilder","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/setting-a-definition-query-in-modelbuilder","title":{"rendered":"Setting a Definition Query in ModelBuilder"},"author":4331,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[23341,23851,22941],"tags":[38411,24331],"industry":[],"product":[36991],"class_list":["post-167001","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-analytics","category-data-management","category-mapping","tag-mapping-center","tag-modelbuilder","product-arcgis-desktop"],"acf":{"short_description":"You can use the\u00a0Make Feature Layer\u00a0tool available in the Layers and Table Views toolset of the Data Management Toolbox.","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Question:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019m currently finishing up a model which performs many different operations on a single raster. Ultimately it will convert the raster to a polygon where I may use it in my maps. In my last step of the model, I am trying to \u201cClip (analysis)\u201d my polygon (produced by the Raster to Polygon tool) based on a coverage layer. This coverage layer however has a field in it which defines accessible areas.<\/p>\n

Areas that are accessible have a \u201cY\u201d in the field, those that don\u2019t, are empty. In the past, if I only wanted to work with areas that had access, I was able to set the coverage\u2019s Definition Query to = \u201cY\u201d. Since I\u2019m so used to working in this manner I thought I\u2019d be able to achieve the same thing in ModelBuilder but this appears not to be the case.<\/p>\n

As I didn\u2019t even know if this was workable I thought I\u2019d \u201cAsk a Cartographer\u201d. Is this even workable aim for ModelBuilder? Am I trying to go about it the wrong way?<\/p>\n

Answer:<\/strong>\u00a0You can use the\u00a0Make Feature Layer<\/a>\u00a0tool available in the Layers and Table Views toolset of the Data Management Toolbox. With this, you can achieve the same result as with a definition query. The tool allows you to use an expression to create a subset of the data. Note that the layer created by tool is temporary and will not persist after your ArcMap session ends unless you save the document.<\/p>\n

Formerly a Mapping Center Ask a Cartographer \u00a0Q & A.<\/em><\/p>\n"}],"authors":[{"ID":4331,"user_firstname":"Aileen","user_lastname":"Buckley","nickname":"Aileen Buckley","user_nicename":"abuckley","display_name":"Aileen Buckley","user_email":"abuckley@esri.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2018-03-02 00:15:57","user_description":"Dr. Aileen Buckley is a cartographer researcher and Senior Principal GIS Engineer at Esri. I'm on the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World Team, making, writing, and talking about maps. I'm also involved in a number of cartographic societies and association, and I'm the chair of the ICA Ethics in Cartography Commission.","user_avatar":""}],"related_articles":"","card_image":false,"wide_image":false},"yoast_head":"\nSetting a Definition Query in ModelBuilder<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/setting-a-definition-query-in-modelbuilder\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Setting a Definition Query in ModelBuilder\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/setting-a-definition-query-in-modelbuilder\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ArcGIS Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-12-18T19:33:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ESRI\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/setting-a-definition-query-in-modelbuilder#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/setting-a-definition-query-in-modelbuilder\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Aileen Buckley\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/874953792dea98fe178fbb6a5e8255b0\"},\"headline\":\"Setting a Definition Query in ModelBuilder\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-03-11T01:52:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-12-18T19:33:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/setting-a-definition-query-in-modelbuilder\"},\"wordCount\":6,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Mapping Center\",\"ModelBuilder\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Analytics\",\"Data Management\",\"Mapping\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/setting-a-definition-query-in-modelbuilder\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/setting-a-definition-query-in-modelbuilder\",\"name\":\"Setting a Definition Query in ModelBuilder\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-03-11T01:52:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-12-18T19:33:49+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/setting-a-definition-query-in-modelbuilder#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/setting-a-definition-query-in-modelbuilder\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/setting-a-definition-query-in-modelbuilder#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Setting a Definition Query in ModelBuilder\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/\",\"name\":\"ArcGIS Blog\",\"description\":\"Get insider info from Esri product teams\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Esri\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Esri.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Esri.png\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"Esri\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/ESRI\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/5311\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/874953792dea98fe178fbb6a5e8255b0\",\"name\":\"Aileen Buckley\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Aileen.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Aileen.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Aileen Buckley\"},\"description\":\"Dr. Aileen Buckley is a cartographer researcher and Senior Principal GIS Engineer at Esri. I'm on the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World Team, making, writing, and talking about maps. I'm also involved in a number of cartographic societies and association, and I'm the chair of the ICA Ethics in Cartography Commission.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/buckley.aileen\/\",\"linkedin.com\/in\/aileenbuckley\"],\"honorificPrefix\":\"Dr.\",\"honorificSuffix\":\"PhD\",\"gender\":\"female\",\"award\":[\"Chair of the ICA Commission on Ethics in Cartography\"],\"knowsAbout\":[\"Cartography\",\"GIS\"],\"knowsLanguage\":[\"English\"],\"jobTitle\":\"Research Cartographer\",\"worksFor\":\"Esri\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/author\/abuckley\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Setting a Definition Query in ModelBuilder","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/setting-a-definition-query-in-modelbuilder","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Setting a Definition Query in ModelBuilder","og_url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/setting-a-definition-query-in-modelbuilder","og_site_name":"ArcGIS Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/","article_modified_time":"2018-12-18T19:33:49+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@ESRI","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/setting-a-definition-query-in-modelbuilder#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/setting-a-definition-query-in-modelbuilder"},"author":{"name":"Aileen Buckley","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/874953792dea98fe178fbb6a5e8255b0"},"headline":"Setting a Definition Query in ModelBuilder","datePublished":"2010-03-11T01:52:54+00:00","dateModified":"2018-12-18T19:33:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/setting-a-definition-query-in-modelbuilder"},"wordCount":6,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Mapping Center","ModelBuilder"],"articleSection":["Analytics","Data Management","Mapping"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/setting-a-definition-query-in-modelbuilder","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/setting-a-definition-query-in-modelbuilder","name":"Setting a Definition Query in ModelBuilder","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-03-11T01:52:54+00:00","dateModified":"2018-12-18T19:33:49+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/setting-a-definition-query-in-modelbuilder#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/setting-a-definition-query-in-modelbuilder"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-desktop\/mapping\/setting-a-definition-query-in-modelbuilder#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Setting a Definition Query in ModelBuilder"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/","name":"ArcGIS Blog","description":"Get insider info from Esri product teams","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#organization","name":"Esri","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Esri.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Esri.png","width":400,"height":400,"caption":"Esri"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/","https:\/\/x.com\/ESRI","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/5311\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/874953792dea98fe178fbb6a5e8255b0","name":"Aileen Buckley","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Aileen.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Aileen.jpg","caption":"Aileen Buckley"},"description":"Dr. Aileen Buckley is a cartographer researcher and Senior Principal GIS Engineer at Esri. I'm on the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World Team, making, writing, and talking about maps. I'm also involved in a number of cartographic societies and association, and I'm the chair of the ICA Ethics in Cartography Commission.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/buckley.aileen\/","linkedin.com\/in\/aileenbuckley"],"honorificPrefix":"Dr.","honorificSuffix":"PhD","gender":"female","award":["Chair of the ICA Commission on Ethics in Cartography"],"knowsAbout":["Cartography","GIS"],"knowsLanguage":["English"],"jobTitle":"Research Cartographer","worksFor":"Esri","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/author\/abuckley"}]}},"text_date":"March 10, 2010","author_name":"Aileen Buckley","author_page":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/author\/abuckley","custom_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Newsroom-Keyart-Wide-1920-x-1080.jpg","primary_product":"ArcMap","tag_data":[{"term_id":38411,"name":"Mapping Center","slug":"mapping-center","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":38411,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":35,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":24331,"name":"ModelBuilder","slug":"modelbuilder","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":24331,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":28,"filter":"raw"}],"category_data":[{"term_id":23341,"name":"Analytics","slug":"analytics","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":23341,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":1328,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":23851,"name":"Data Management","slug":"data-management","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":23851,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":920,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":22941,"name":"Mapping","slug":"mapping","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":22941,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":2690,"filter":"raw"}],"product_data":[{"term_id":36991,"name":"ArcMap","slug":"arcgis-desktop","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":36991,"taxonomy":"product","description":"","parent":36981,"count":325,"filter":"raw"}],"primary_product_link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?s=#&products=arcgis-desktop","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog\/167001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/blog"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog\/167001\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167001"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=167001"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=167001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}