Why does FeatureClassToFeatureClass work in ArcMap but not in Python script?

Question

When trying to copy a feature class from an SDE connection file to a scratch GDB, the FeatureClassToFeatureClass_conversion works in the ArcMap Python window, but I can't get it to work in a Python script. In ArcMap, the code looks like this:

pathScratchGDB = arcpy.env.scratchGDB + os.path.sep
arcpy.FeatureClassToFeatureClass_conversion("C:/SmartFarm_Tools/smartfarm_connection.sde/smartfarm.master.zone_catalog", pathScratchGDB, "fcZones", 'fldid_id = ' + str(504) + " and type = 'BW2014'")

which results in:

<Result 'C:\\Users\\username\\Documents\\ArcGIS\\scratch.gdb\\fcZones'>

In my Python script I have the exact same code:

pathScratchGDB = arcpy.env.scratchGDB + os.path.sep
arcpy.FeatureClassToFeatureClass_conversion("C:/SmartFarm_Tools/smartfarm_connection.sde/smartfarm.master.zone_catalog", pathScratchGDB, "fcZones", 'fldid_id = ' + str(504) + " and type = 'BW2014'")

which results in:

Exception in Tkinter callback
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Python27\ArcGISx6410.3\lib\lib-tk\Tkinter.py", line 1486, in __call__
    return self.func(*args)
  File "C:\SmartFarm_Tools\python_scripts\SmartFarm_Engine1.py", line 1228, in onLoad
    arcpy.FeatureClassToFeatureClass_conversion("C:/SmartFarm_Tools/smartfarm_connection.sde/smartfarm.master.zone_catalog", pathScratchGDB, "fcZones", 'fldid_id = ' + str(504) + " and type = 'BW2014'")
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\ArcGIS\Desktop10.3\ArcPy\arcpy\conversion.py", line 1789, in FeatureClassToFeatureClass
    raise e
ExecuteError: Failed to execute. Parameters are not valid.
ERROR 000732: Input Features: Dataset C:/SmartFarm_Tools/smartfarm_connection.sde/smartfarm.master.zone_catalog does not exist or is not supported
Failed to execute (FeatureClassToFeatureClass).

In the same Python script I am able to successfully run this line of code:

arcpy.FeatureClassToFeatureClass_conversion("C:/SmartFarm_Tools/smartfarm_connection.sde/smartfarm.master.boundary_2015", pathScratchGDB, "fcBound", 'master_id = ' + str(inMasterID))

Has anyone seen this before?

EDIT

The data resides on a PostgreSQL/PostGIS database.

Answer 1

I've encountered this and similar issues when trying to run geoprocessing tools against our Oracle enterprise GDB. Connecting to the Oracle GDB works fine in 32bit ArcGIS Desktop, however running geoprocessing tools in 64bit python, either standalone or via background geoprocessing, fails as as our IT provider only installs a 32 bit Oracle client.

I suggest you ensure you have a 64bit PostgreSQL driver installed and configured correctly.

Answer 2

With Luke's help I was able to determine that it was a 32 vs. 64 bit issue. As a workaround, I wrote a quick script that I call with a 32 bit python.exe using subprocess.Popen:

Popen([r"C:\Python27\ArcGIS10.3\python.exe", r"C:\Temp_Tools\python_scripts\post2fc.py", "lsCatalogID=" + str(lsCatalogID)], stdout=PIPE)

The code for the post2fc.py looks like this:

import arcpy

inList = arcpy.GetParameterAsText(0)
exec(inList)

arcpy.env.overwriteOutput = True

pathScratchGDB = arcpy.env.scratchGDB + os.path.sep

arcpy.FeatureClassToFeatureClass_conversion("C:/Temp_Tools/temp_connection.sde/temp.master.zone_catalog", pathScratchGDB, "fcZones", 'id IN ' + str(tuple(lsCatalogID)))