Refreshing open attribute table in ArcMap using ArcPy rather than ArcObjects?

Question

I am running the Calculate Field GP tool from the arcpy in ArcMap. When a row value is updated, it does not show up untill I use the Reload Cache tool (Table Options > Reload Cache). How do I refresh the attribute table automatically without using ArcObjects?

I have tried updating the definition query as @blah238 suggested Using python, how do you "reload cache" an opened Attribute Table, but this doesn't help. Resetting the data source is not an option because the feature class might be in the editing session and I don't want to lose the connection to the source data.

Answer 1

You appear to be hitting a limitation of ArcPy, in the absence of ArcObjects.

The limitations of ArcPy.mapping have been broadly described here as:

Arcpy.mapping is not a replacement for ArcObjects but rather an alternative for the different scenarios it supports. ArcObjects is still necessary for finer-grain development and application customization, whereas arcpy.mapping is intended for automating the contents of existing map documents and layer files.

If @blah238's other suggestion of using ArcObjects from ArcPy is not an option for you, then you may be best to submit an ArcGIS Idea to have this functionality exposed to ArcPy. If you post a link to such an ArcGIS Idea here then I will be happy to vote for it.

Answer 2

This may or may not be useful to your for your specific workflow. I have found that if you change the selection on your layer then the attribute table updates too.

So I often use

arcpy.SelectLayerByAttribute_management("MY-LAYER","CLEAR_SELECTION")

Of course if you actually have something selected that you don't want to loose track of then this is no good. In that case you might select from layer where OID is in list of OIDs from currently selected features (basically change selection to whatever is already currently selected). This might take to long to be practically, I have never tried it in a real life scenario.

Answer 3

Have you tried:

arcpy.RefreshCatalog(target) # Set the target to your layers data source

or

arcpy.RefreshActiveView() # Refreshes the map

or

arcpy.RefreshTOC() # I highly doubt this will do anything, but you never know

I think one of these will work, but I know sometimes in ArcMap I have to manually close the attribute table then re-open it to see some edits. I'm not sure if closing and opening the table can be done with ArcPy, but that would also be an option.

Answer 4

This works:

    import arcpy

    definition_query = layer.definitionQuery
    # Change the Definition Query into something different
    if definition_query == '':
        oid = arcpy.ListFields(dataset = layer, field_type = 'OID')[0]
        layer.definitionQuery = '{} > 0'.format(oid.name)
    else:
        layer.definitionQuery = ''
    arcpy.RefreshActiveView()

    # Restore the Definition Query
    layer.definitionQuery = definition_query
    arcpy.RefreshActiveView()

Answer 5

I just ended up using a SWITCH_SELECTION twice before a RefreshActiveView...

arcpy.SelectLayerByAttribute_management (myLayer, "SWITCH_SELECTION")
arcpy.SelectLayerByAttribute_management (myLayer, "SWITCH_SELECTION")
arcpy.RefreshActiveView()