📝 Bulk Update Field Aliases in All Feature Classes (ArcPy + CSV)

 

📝 Bulk Update Field Aliases in All Feature Classes (ArcPy + CSV)

Keeping your GIS field names meaningful is important—but sometimes they can be cryptic due to system constraints (e.g., LU_CODE, ADM_NAME). That’s where aliases come in: they provide readable labels without changing the field's actual name.

Here’s a simple ArcPy script that updates field aliases across all feature classes—including those inside datasets—using a CSV file.

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🧾 Input: CSV Format

Make sure your CSV looks like this:

csv
FieldName,AliasName
LU_CODE,Land Use Code
ADM_NAME,Administrative Name
CITY_ID,City Identifier

This approach is great for global alias updates when you know the field names but don’t want to repeat entries for every feature class.

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💻 Python Script (ArcPy)

python
import arcpy
import csv
import os

# === INPUT PARAMETERS ===
gdb_path = r"C:\Users\Testuser\OneDrive - GPC Global Information Solutions LLC\Projects\MPDA\Data\MPDA_MigratedData_25_03\MPDA_MigratedData_1.gdb"
csv_path = r"C:\Users\Testuser\Downloads\Updated_Alias_Names.csv"

# === LOAD CSV TO DICTIONARY ===
field_alias_dict = {}
with open(csv_path, newline='', encoding='utf-8') as csvfile:
    reader = csv.DictReader(csvfile)
    for row in reader:
        field_name = row['FieldName'].strip()
        alias_name = row['AliasName'].strip()
        field_alias_dict[field_name] = alias_name

# === PROCESS FEATURE CLASSES IN DATASETS ===
arcpy.env.workspace = gdb_path
datasets = arcpy.ListDatasets(feature_type='feature') or []

# Include root-level feature classes
datasets.append("")

for ds in datasets:
    feature_classes = arcpy.ListFeatureClasses(feature_dataset=ds)
    for fc in feature_classes:
        fc_path = os.path.join(gdb_path, ds, fc) if ds else os.path.join(gdb_path, fc)
        print(f"🔄 Processing: {fc_path}")

        fields = arcpy.ListFields(fc_path)
        for field in fields:
            if field.name in field_alias_dict:
                new_alias = field_alias_dict[field.name]
                try:
                    print(f"  ➤ Updating alias for '{field.name}' to '{new_alias}'")
                    arcpy.AlterField_management(
                        in_table=fc_path,
                        field=field.name,
                        new_field_alias=new_alias
                    )
                except Exception as e:
                    print(f"  ⚠️ Failed to update field '{field.name}': {e}")

print("\n✅ Alias name update completed.")

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🔧 Use Cases

• Renaming confusing or auto-generated field names in bulk

• Preparing datasets for external sharing (with readable labels)

• Standardizing field aliases across hundreds of layers