Invalid Expression ERROR 000358: Select by Attribute

Question

I'm attempting to select a certain point in a feature layer so I can perform buffer analysis on it. The code seems fine, but I am getting an invalid expression error:

File "C:\Program Files (x86)\ArcGIS\Desktop10.3\ArcPy\arcpy\management.py", line 7221, in SelectLayerByAttribute raise e ExecuteError: ERROR 000358: Invalid expression Failed to execute (SelectLayerByAttribute).

Here is my code:

import arcpy
where = """ Location = 'C' """
print where
arcpy.MakeFeatureLayer_management("Q:\Admin\F2F_Scripts\Tools\Template\Intermediate\DATA\Temp.gdb\PADPOINTS", "POINTS")
arcpy.SelectLayerByAttribute_management ("POINTS","NEW_SELECTION", where)
arcpy.Buffer_analysis("POINTS", "Q:\Admin\F2F_Scripts\Tools\Template\Intermediate\DATA\Temp.gdb\Buff", "100 Feet")
arcpy.Delete_management("POINTS")
del where

Answer 1

I suggest looking at ESRI's page http://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/arcpy/get-started/specifying-a-query.htm (Written for Pro, but most of the tools and syntax listed work in Desktop, especially the Add Field Delimiters function.) I hate using SQL queries in ArcPy and avoid it wherever I can, but from the look of their sample code, your query should read closer to "Location" = 'C'.

Check also how your field name is formatted. Is "Location" your field name or your field alias? Go into your feature class's Attribute Table and check that field's properties to figure out whether it's a name or an alias. Given the presence of lowercase letters, I bet that it's an alias, and your field name is different.