What is the difference between XTools and the Clip, Intersect, and Union tools in the Geoprocessing Extension that comes with ArcView?
There are six main differences between XTools and equivalent functions in the Geoprocessing Extension: 1. XTools updates area, perimeter, acres (or hectares), and length fields. The Geoprocessing Extension does not. 2. For functions other than Clip and Erase, XTools allows the user to choose which specific fields will be in the output file. The Geoprocessing Extension puts all fields into the output file. 3. In some limited comparative testing, I found that the Geoprocessing Extension Union function had slightly more area of overlapping polygons in the output than XTools. These overlaps are an error that results from bugs in ESRI’s Avenue programming code that both XTools and the Geoprocessing Extension are built on. See AiXTcompare.htm. for more information. 4. In a timed test on sample data, the XTools ran significantly faster than the Geoprocessing Extension. 5. The Geoprocessing Extension has a nicer user interface. 6. The Geoprocessing Extension is supported by ESRI.
