A python API created by ESRI to perform geoprocessing and layer management.
31
votes
9answers
2k views
Alternatives to using Arcpy
I seem to use ESRI's Arcpy site package for virtually all of my python geoprocessing. To ESRI's credit, these are an incredible suite of tools that can help accomplish a great deal. However, I would ...
29
votes
7answers
3k views
How can I effectively debug arcpy Python scripts?
I have written many Python scripts using arcpy in ArcGIS 10, and so far my only means of debugging is restricted to printing messages to the geoprocessing results window using arcpy.AddMessage(). Are ...
23
votes
2answers
962 views
Streamlining Python Code for Big Data
I have Python code which is designed to take point shapefiles through the following workflow:
Merge points
Integrate points, such that any points within 1 m of each other
become one point
Create ...
17
votes
8answers
641 views
What are some resources for learning Python and arcpy?
I would like to learn arcpy, but I do not know quite where to begin. Does anyone have any good advice on where I should start to learn arcpy?
16
votes
4answers
759 views
Run a Python Script when opening an MXD?
Can anyone tell me how to accomplish this? I want a Python script to run on opening the MXD which would pull an excel worksheet into a GDB and refresh the map. I only want this to happen in this ...
15
votes
5answers
2k views
Ways to Speed Up Python Scripts Running As ArcGIS Tools
This is a pretty general question. I just wondering what tips and tricks GIS programmers have used to speed up arcpy scripts that you import into the toolbox and run.
I work most everyday writing ...
15
votes
2answers
487 views
Crashing ArcGIS 10.1 Add-ins Using Multiprocessing
I would like to run a multiprocessing task from a python add-in tool. My issue is that the process keeps failing. Basically crashes ArcMap.
Here is my basic code:
def function(startOID, endOID, ...
14
votes
3answers
1k views
Can i use ArcPy to get layer symbology?
Hello all
Since ArcGIS 10 comes with ArcPy package, i'm wondering it is possible to use ArcPy functions to get Symbology (i.e color, width...) of a layer?
Thanks in advance
14
votes
4answers
6k views
ArcPy and running Python scripts (with parameters) within another Python script
A common coding pattern used in AML was to run an AML (with parameters) inside another AML.
An application that I'm currently developing would benefit from being able to run a Python script (with ...
13
votes
5answers
501 views
How to make a GIS inventory?
My office will be seeing a big change in its GIS section. This section has been operational since the 1980's and has a huge collection of GIS data (i.e., shapefiles, raster files, data, etc) but never ...
13
votes
1answer
750 views
Calling arcpy/python from .NET?
Are there any available examples that show how python can be integrated into a .NET ArcGIS Addin or Extension? I have a series of python scripts that I would like to call from form events (e.g. button ...
12
votes
3answers
365 views
How are people using Python data structures and classes in Arcpy?
This question may expose my ignorance on programming but I'm curious about how people are using different python data structures within Arcpy.
This page lists the data structures in Python. I ...
12
votes
3answers
6k views
Will ArcGIS 10 support Python 2.7 or Python 3.1?
I'm curious to know whether ArcGIS 10 will support newer versions of Python than 2.6. And for that matter newer versions of NumPy (ie, 1.4, 1.5 etc). I'm sure that this documentation is on the ESRI ...
12
votes
4answers
521 views
How can one compare two geometries in arcpy successfully?
I am trying to compare two separate feature classes to identify differences between them (sort of a diff function). My basic workflow:
I extract the geometries using a SearchCursor
Save the ...
12
votes
1answer
586 views
How do you write a Python script for repairing data sources in ArcGIS 10
So, I have about 50 mxd's with all broken layers that I have been going through and manually resetting. The data was moved from another computer and the folder structure was changed so it isn't just ...
12
votes
1answer
230 views
How can I utilize NumPy arrays to optimize big data geoprocessing?
I'm interested in learning how to utilize NumPy arrays to optimize geoprocessing. Much of my work involves "big data", where geoprocessing often takes days to accomplish certain tasks. Needless to ...
12
votes
2answers
212 views
Arcpy adds erroneous interior ring when writing adjacent, multipart geometry
I've run into an odd issue when using Arcpy to write multipart geometry to a shapefile. I am using an InserCursor to create a multipart feature from a list of parts each with a list of vertex pairs. I ...
11
votes
1answer
262 views
File Validation using ArcPy
I have a script which scans a directory and outputs basic raster data information such as the file name, format, number of bands, and etc. I need a way to make it so if the directory does not contain ...
11
votes
1answer
101 views
Watermarking photos using their geotag and create a shapefile
I have geotagged photographs and I would like to place a watermark of the photos location on the front for easy reference as well as creating a shapefile from the coordinates. Does anyone know of any ...
11
votes
1answer
582 views
How can I display raised error messages to the user in the ArcGIS geoprocessing results window?
Question:
Can print statemnts raised from a custom exception be displayed in the gp results window?
Background:
I modified a script that I found that takes two inputs from a user, finds the ...
11
votes
1answer
317 views
Teaching Python to Land Surveyors
Does anyone have any good examples of using Python to automate or simplify common surveying tasks?
I'm teaching a Python/ArcPy lab this week for a GIS class. There are a number of surveying ...
11
votes
0answers
518 views
How to Split a Concave Polygon Into Convex Polygons in Arcpy?
I'm looking for a tool or algorithm to detect concave polygons and split them into convex polygons. Like explained in the picture, the blue polygon is split into A and B polygons
I'm using Arcpy ...
10
votes
2answers
578 views
Methods for optimizing multcore processing in ArcGIS
I am interested in learning methods to utilize the full extent of multicore processing power available on a desktop computer. Arc states that background geoprocessing allows the user to utilize ...
10
votes
3answers
1k views
How do I use sys.exit(0) in an arcpy script to exit early without having an error message show up?
I have an arcpy tool script for ArcGIS 10.0 that has two major functional sections. The user can choose whether or not to run the second section. If the user chooses NOT to run the second section, I ...
10
votes
2answers
165 views
Count raster value in a bounding box (spatial extent)
I have simple question: given a bounding box, how can I count the number of specific values (say, I am interested in the number of value == 1 ) in a raster in 1) arcpy, or 2) raster package in R?
10
votes
3answers
571 views
Efficiently finding the 1st order neighbors of 200k polygons
For every one of the 208,781 Census block groups, I'd like to retrieve the FIPS IDs of all of its 1st order neighbors. I have all the TIGER boundaries downloaded and merged into a single 1GB ...
10
votes
2answers
2k views
Add a new group layer with python ArcGIS 10
Does anyone now how to add a group layer with python
can I use arcpy.mapping.AddLayer but surely this is only for an actual layer as opposed to a group layer.
so far I have this
import arcpy
mxd = ...
10
votes
2answers
445 views
Metadata -auto build using python
We have a large (10,000 plus) repository of spatial data (shp/gdb/tab vectors and ecw/tif rasters and also las, xyz and DEM data) where some have metadata records in xml using anzlic metadata editor. ...
9
votes
4answers
5k views
Is it possible to use Arcpy in ArcGIS 10 to zoom to a selected feature?
The answer to this may be a simple yes or no, but I'm hoping that someone is aware of a way to zoom to the extent of a selected feature using the ArcPy modules in ArcGIS 10.
9
votes
3answers
334 views
Industry-based examples of using Python in geoprocessing and arcpy
I was asked recently by some students what types of operations GIS Analyst/Developer are usually trying to automate by using Python with geoprocessing in ArcGIS and ArcPy site package. I guess it ...
9
votes
1answer
449 views
How to get the size of a file geodatabase feature class on disk?
Is there a simple way to determine the amount of hard drive space a feature class takes up? I feel like I'm missing something simple, but I don't recall a method that does so. You would think that ...
9
votes
2answers
803 views
How do you delete an in-memory Table View?
In a Python script, I'm cycling through thousands of Excel files and using arcpy.MakeTableView to create in memory table views from the first spreadhseet in each file. How do you delete the reference ...
9
votes
2answers
184 views
How to count zero values in a table in rows and write it to new field?
This is a very simple task to do but I can't understand the right syntax.
I have a shapefile whose attributes are similar to the following:
FID Shape FIELD1 FIELD2 FIELD3 ...
0 Polygon 0 1 ...
9
votes
3answers
2k views
What is quickest way to select polygon by point in ArcGIS 10 using ArcPy?
I keep thinking that I must be missing something, but there does not seem to be a tool in ArcGIS 10 to select features (in particular polygons) from a layer at a point (X,Y) location via ArcPy. The ...
9
votes
2answers
871 views
How can I crawl directory tree and change Mxd relativePaths to true?
I have a large number of project folders where each project folder can have many subfolders. These subfolders can contain mxds, shapefiles, personal gdb's and fgdb's. In many cases the user forgot ...
9
votes
1answer
196 views
Is there a way to use ArcPy and PyGRASS tools in the same Python script?
I´m trying to write a Python script, that includes different ArcPy / ArcGIS commands and want to combine it with GRASS geoprocessing tools.
Unfortunately importing the GRASS libraries doesn´t work.
...
9
votes
4answers
1k views
ArcGIS 10.0 Python SearchCursor file locking
I have a script that gets a value from a shapefile's field to return to the user.
It seems that only when the arcpy.SearchCursor is called ArcMap locks the file and it doesn't get removed after the ...
8
votes
4answers
175 views
Subset Folder Contents ArcPy
I have about 1500 .txt files within a folder named 3410001ne => 3809962sw. I need to subset about 470 of these files to process with a Python script. Below is the section of code prior to my for ...
8
votes
2answers
295 views
Why is this simple arcpy script so painfully slow?
I have a simple arcpy script to update a field in a point shapefile with info from the polygon feature that it is within. It takes 9 minutes to do 100 points in arcpy but a spatial join in arcmap is ...
8
votes
2answers
286 views
How to bypass errors in arcpy for/while loop?
I have a handy script tool that loops through a workspace and renames and copies shapefiles to a feature dataset. However, if there is a corrupted shapefile somewhere in the workspace the script ...
8
votes
3answers
4k views
How to create a shapefile in ArcGIS 10 using arcpy?
How can I create a shapefile using Python in ArcGIS 10?
I have lat & long. From this I need Python code which will create a shapefile and display it in ArcGIS 10.
Thanks.
8
votes
2answers
792 views
Export table to X,Y,Z ASCII file via arcpy
I'm looking for a way to export an ArcGIS table (created with the Sample command) to a text file via arcpy. I can do this in ArcGIS via the context menu by right-clicking the table, but have not found ...
8
votes
5answers
1k views
Get a point on a polyline from end points given distance along poly line
I have start point and end point of a polyline. How can I get a point on that polyline from end points specified by the given distance.
How can I get this by using arcpy provided that this script ...
8
votes
2answers
623 views
ArcMap running scripts slower if you import Arcpy
I am finding ArcMap runs slower, if you have written a script, which imports arcpy.
You may wish to write a script that can be operated in ArcMap, through the python window, or as a standalone ...
8
votes
1answer
220 views
Fastest methods for modifying attribute tables with Python?
A while ago, I wrote a quick Python function for converting an attribute table to a python dictionary, where the key is taken from a user-specified unique ID field (typically the OID field). ...
8
votes
2answers
366 views
How to reclassify a very large land cover dataset?
Consider the NLCD2001 Land Cover dataset for Alaska (download link). I need to reclassify this dataset so that only pixels of value 41, 42, and 43 are preserved; all other pixel values should become ...
8
votes
1answer
143 views
The role of '#' in a python 'if':
I recently exported an ArcGIS model to python and was reviewing the script and am confused by the following line:
if TRU_W_DatableFeatures == '#' or not TRU_W_DatableFeatures:
I can't seem to find ...
8
votes
2answers
5k views
Change data source path in .LYR files in Arcgis 10
How can one change the source data paths for every layer file in folder X using arcpy?
I've followed Updating and fixing data sources with arcpy.mapping as best I can, yet all I get is an unhelpful ...
8
votes
1answer
4k views
How to create a script tool that will create a copy of a feature class and offset it by a given distance? (arcpy)
I want to duplicate a polygon feature class and offset all of the polygons by about 10 feet in both the x and y directions. I asked if there was any way to do this last week, and I was informed that I ...
8
votes
5answers
473 views
How to split points by polygon?
I am looking for a way to split points by a county polygon feature class. The attached image shows two feature classes: one composed of points and the other a county polygon feature class. The split ...
