> - operator and “Shape_Area” field in a geodatabase

Question

this might be a pure python problem or a problem with arcpy. please help me out:

    min_area = float(GKPROZ_functions.min_of_field(out_name,"Shape_Area"))
    print area_max
    if min_area > area_max:
        print "success!"
    else:
        print "failed."            

    if min_area > 100:
        print "success!"
    else:
        print "failed."

    print str(min_area)

output:

100
failed.
success!
100.018289077

min_of_field returns the minimum value of the field "Shape_Area" of the whole feature class. it is (apparently) 100.018289077. however if i check that with area_max (supposedly 100) it says it's smaller (failed!). if i check it with 100, it says it's bigger(success!). what mistake am i making here? thanks in advance.

Answer 1

The code you have provided does not show how area_max is assigned a value. When I ran your code, assigning area_min = float(100.0182890771) and area_max = float(100) I get a correct output:

success!
success!
100.018289077

However, If I assign area_max = str(100) I am able to replicate the error:

failed.
success!
100.018289077

It could be that your error is in the assignment of the area_min value but its hard to say for sure without that part of the code.