Split field name of feature class in ArcGIS

Question

Is it possible to split a field name within an attribute table of a feature class into two new fields where just the field name is being split. Please note that I do not need to split the features (rows), just the field name.

So for example, I have a field name called "JoinCount_5meters" and I would like to split this field name into two new fields called "JoinCount" and "5meters". Again, the features themselves (row values) do not need to be split. so, anyone have any ideas how I could split a field name into two new field names in ArcGIS?

I understand I can do this manually but I have 250 feature classes for which I need to split 16 field names in each feature class. It would be great if I can do this process using Python or within model builder using an iterator.

Answer 1

Assuming you want to split any field with an underscore you can use ListFileds (which returns Field Objects) with a wildcard to get the fields to split then string.split("_") to break it up into parts then calculate with quotes to populate the string:

import arcpy, os, sys

InFolder = sys.argv[1] # folder for shapefiles, or database for feature classes

arcpy.env.workspace = InFolder

for ThisFC in arcpy.ListFeatureClasses():
    # assuming any field with an underscore needs to be split
    SplitFields = arcpy.ListFields(ThisFC,"*_*")
    # iterate through each field found with an underscore
    for ThisField in SplitFields:
        # skip shape length and shape area fields
        if not ThisField.baseName.lower() == "shape_length" and not ThisField.baseName.lower() == "shape_area" :
            # break it up into parts
            Parts = ThisField.baseName.split("_")
            for ThisPart in Parts:
                # Add a field for each part
                arcpy.AddField_management(ThisFC,ThisPart,"TEXT",field_length = 30)
                # populate with the part ("\"" is a quote). In order to put a string into
                # a field it is necessary to quote it so the processor understands that it's
                # a string to be populated and not a field name..
                arcpy.CalculateField_management(ThisFC,ThisPart,"\"" + ThisPart + "\"","PYTHON")

Note, there's no error checking here, if a field already exists it will fall over. A try/catch on the addfield would fix that but in this case you'd possibly want to skip the whole bit... if you use ListFields with the full field name it can be used like a boolean:

DoesFieldExist = arcpy.ListFields("FullFieldName")
if not DoesFieldExist: