All I'm trying to do is use SelectLayerByAttribute to select all lines less than 5.1 meters. However, no matter what query I try I keep getting "error 000358 invalid expression" when I run the script as a tool. I have already tried using various combinations of escape characters and string concatenations like ' \"Shape_Length\" < \'5.1\' ' and '\"Shape_Length\" <' + '5.1'. I've also have tried putting Shape_Length in {}'s. I tried doing the same query in the python window in ArcMap and all I have to do is "Shape_Length < 5.1" and it works just fine. I've never been so stumped. Anyone have anymore ideas on what to try?
import arcpy
import os
from arcpy import env
from arcpy.sa import *
from arcpy import da
arcpy.env.overwriteOutput = True
arcpy.SetLogHistory(False)
arcpy.CheckOutExtension("spatial")
og_polyline = arcpy.GetParameterAsText(0)
polyline =arcpy.CopyFeatures_management(og_polyline,r"in_memory/lines")
layer=arcpy.MakeFeatureLayer_management(polyline,"thelayer.lyr")
calc_fields=["SHAPE@","OBJECTID"]
norepeatlist=[]
query="Shape_Length < 5.1"
arcpy.SelectLayerByAttribute_management(layer, "NEW_SELECTION", query)
