Syntax error running script in PythonWin after success in ArcPy

Question

I am building a script to automate a water outage map(I'm new to Python). In the ArcGIS Desktop 10.1 window the script runs fine. However in Pythonwin and IDLE I get syntax errors(In Pythonwin reads: Failed to run script-syntax error-Invalid syntax). The goal is to use task scheduler to run the script outside of ArcGIS.

import arcpy
mxd = arcpy.mapping.MapDocument(r"X:\Mikes_Workspaces\Outage\Outage.mxd") 
df = arcpy.mapping.ListDataFrames(mxd,"Layers")[0]
# Script arguments
OutCurrent = arcpy.GetParameterAsText(0)
if OutCurrent == '#' or not OutCurrent:
    OutCurrent = "X:\\Geodatabases\\WebData\\Water_Service.gdb\\OutCurrent" # provide a default value if unspecified

# Local variables:
Service_Group = "Service_Group"
Update_ = "X:\\Mikes_Workspaces\\Outage\\Outage_Board.xls\\Update$"
Group_Out = "Service_Group"

# Process: Add Join
arcpy.AddJoin_management(Service_Group, "Group_", Update_, "Group_Out", "KEEP_COMMON")

# Process: Copy Features
arcpy.CopyFeatures_management(Group_Out, OutCurrent, "", "0", "0", "0")
    # Process: Symbology
arcpy.ApplySymbologyFromLayer_management("OutCurrent", "X:\Mikes_Workspaces\Online Shapefiles\Outage_today.lyr") 
# Process: Remove Join
arcpy.RemoveJoin_management(Service_Group, "")
mxd.save()
arcpy.RefreshActiveView()

Answer 1

It appears your Service_Group and Group_Out are just string variables and not an actual GIS layer. You are not setting an environmental workspace, so the various methods will fail that reference these variables. Try setting the environmental workspace before the layer variables are assigned.

Answer 2

arcpy.GetParameterAsText is for accessing parameters in Script Tools.

If you're going to run this outside of ArcGIS, you'll need another way to pass parameters in a command line, such as sys.argv.

Have a look at this page for some examples uses: http://www.tutorialspoint.com/python/python_command_line_arguments.htm

Here's more information on the sys module: https://docs.python.org/2/library/sys.html

Answer 3

Check your code at http://pep8online.com/ It will find things line line 19 where "# Process: Symbology" is indented and python doesn't like that.

I often use print statement to see the progress and variable values, however if it already runs in the python window, your code should be ok, the IDLE and pythonwin are likely to fail on the bad syntax format errors. That website should help clean it up.