Does Calculate Value (Model Only Tool) work correctly in tools run in Batch?

Question

Am I correct that if my model has a model-only tool (Calculate Value), and then I run the model as a batched process, it will not run the Calculate Value expression?

I wrote a model to upload, define, project (and clip) XY data from excel files. I had thought to use iterate tables, but it wasn't working. (I assume due to having to choose which worksheet within xlxs). So I thought to do a batch, but this seems to leave that annoying $ that arc appends to table names (and is an invalid character in most tools...)

My guess is that the Calculate value that removes my $ is not being run in the batch. Ideas? Confirmations?

Answer 1

The Model Only Tool called Calculate Value can be run in Batch.

To prove this to myself I did the following:

1. Create a test feature class, add one feature and an empty field to it - I used Short Integer
2. Write first tiny model with Iterator called For and Copy Features and run it to create five copies of the test feature class called test1, test2, ..., test5
3. Write second tiny model that uses Calculate Value tool to do perhaps 12 + 17 and then feed that output_value to a Calculate Field tool that uses it to populate the field added in 1.
4. Run the second model in Batch with the five feature classes created in 2.

Result is the number 29 in the field for each of the five feature classes so the Calculate Value tool was run in Batch.

UPDATE 2 (First UPDATE has been deleted because it was overly long and complicated)

The "proof" above was poorly designed because only proves that the Calculate Value tool run in Batch gives the right result when Calculate Value is not intended to provide a different answer for each row in the Batch Grid.

Consequently, I've now run a third set of tests using this model.

The model takes a feature class (which must have an integer as the 5th character in its name e.g. test1, test2) as input, uses Calculate Value to grab the 5th character and return it as an integer so that Calculate Field can add that to the value of a field called Count (always has value of 1) to get a value written into another field called NewCount. Details of dialog settings to accomplish this are below.

The tool produces the expected result when run using Open or as a Batch with one row.

However, when the tool is run in batch using two input feature classes of test1 and test2 you would expect the NewCount fields to be updated to 2 (=1+1) and 3 (=1+2) respectively. Instead, what happens is that if test1 is in the first row of the batch grid then 2 gets written to both and if test2 is first then 3 gets written to both.

From the following it is obvious that while every other tool gets run once per row of the batch grid, the Calculate Value tool is only getting run once in total.

Executing: BatchGridBug C:\Support\MBarretts20\test.gdb\test1
Start Time: Fri Oct 26 15:17:26 2012
Executing (Parse Path): ParsePath C:\Support\MBarretts20\test.gdb\test1 NAME
Start Time: Fri Oct 26 15:17:26 2012
Executing (Parse Path): ParsePath C:\Support\MBarretts20\test.gdb\test2 NAME
Succeeded at Fri Oct 26 15:17:26 2012 (Elapsed Time: 0.00 seconds)
Executing (Calculate Value): CalculateValue UpdateValue("test1") "def UpdateValue(Value):\n  Value = Value\[4:\]\n  return int(Value)" Variant
Start Time: Fri Oct 26 15:17:26 2012
Value = 1
Succeeded at Fri Oct 26 15:17:26 2012 (Elapsed Time: 0.00 seconds)
Executing (Calculate Field): CalculateField C:\Support\MBarretts20\test.gdb\test1 NewCount "!Count! + 1" PYTHON #
Start Time: Fri Oct 26 15:17:26 2012
Executing (Calculate Field): CalculateField C:\Support\MBarretts20\test.gdb\test2 NewCount "!Count! + 1" PYTHON #
Succeeded at Fri Oct 26 15:17:27 2012 (Elapsed Time: 1.00 seconds)
Succeeded at Fri Oct 26 15:17:27 2012 (Elapsed Time: 1.00 seconds)

Answer 2

This sounds like the issue described in this thread: Force batch to run processes sequentially

Basically, when you run a model in batch mode, it runs the first step in the model once for each row in the batch dialog, goes to the next step and runs it for each row, etc.

So it is in a way running the processes in parallel instead of in sequence, which can have all sorts of stupid side effects and I have seen no explanation from ESRI as to why it behaves this way.

I've had to wrap many of my models in Python scripts to work around this annoying behavior.

Update: Here's an even simpler test (doesn't use Calculate Value).

1. Open up ArcMap and using the Catalog window, create a table with a Long Integer column and populate it with 1 row whose value for the column is 1.
2. Create a model in ArcMap that looks like this:
   • Set up the Get Field Value tool:
   • Set up the Calculate Field tool:
3. Start editing in ArcMap (so you can see the changes without having to Reload Cache)
4. Run the model normally (not batch mode)
   • Notice the COUNT value increments by 1 each time you run it.
5. Run the model through batch mode with say 10 entries.
   • Notice the COUNT value only increments by 1 no matter how many entries you have.

What's happening is during the first iteration (batch grid row), it runs the Get Field Value Tool. Then it runs it again. And again. For each row in the batch grid it gets the SAME field value over and over.

When it's done with that it goes onto the Calculate Field tool and runs that for the first batch grid row, then runs it again for the next row, etc., with that same field value, so it never increments.

So in the text output you see something like this:

Executing (Get Field Value): GetFieldValue batch_count COUNT Long 0
Executing (Get Field Value): GetFieldValue batch_count COUNT Long 0
Executing (Get Field Value): GetFieldValue batch_count COUNT Long 0
Executing (Get Field Value): GetFieldValue batch_count COUNT Long 0
Executing (Get Field Value): GetFieldValue batch_count COUNT Long 0
Executing (Get Field Value): GetFieldValue batch_count COUNT Long 0
Executing (Get Field Value): GetFieldValue batch_count COUNT Long 0
Executing (Get Field Value): GetFieldValue batch_count COUNT Long 0
Executing (Get Field Value): GetFieldValue batch_count COUNT Long 0
Executing (Get Field Value): GetFieldValue batch_count COUNT Long 0
Executing (Calculate Field): CalculateField batch_count COUNT "2 + 1" VB #
Executing (Calculate Field): CalculateField batch_count COUNT "2 + 1" VB #
Executing (Calculate Field): CalculateField batch_count COUNT "2 + 1" VB #
Executing (Calculate Field): CalculateField batch_count COUNT "2 + 1" VB #
Executing (Calculate Field): CalculateField batch_count COUNT "2 + 1" VB #
Executing (Calculate Field): CalculateField batch_count COUNT "2 + 1" VB #
Executing (Calculate Field): CalculateField batch_count COUNT "2 + 1" VB #
Executing (Calculate Field): CalculateField batch_count COUNT "2 + 1" VB #
Executing (Calculate Field): CalculateField batch_count COUNT "2 + 1" VB #
Executing (Calculate Field): CalculateField batch_count COUNT "2 + 1" VB #
Executing (Calculate Field): CalculateField batch_count COUNT "2 + 1" VB #

Silliness.