Button that allows project search and zooms to site once executed

Question

I am trying to create a button that will execute a Python script. I have limited Python experience. What we are trying to accomplish is to recreate these steps:

1. Query on project Site and Radius Layers (both in an SDE)
2. Zoom to the site
3. Adjust scale to 10,500

I have pasted the code I wrote while trying to figure this all out, see below:

import arcpy
mxd = arcpy.mapping.MapDocument('CURRENT')
df = arcpy.mapping.ListDataFrames(mxd, "Layers") [0]
df.zoomToSelectedFeatures()
df.scale = 10500
arcpy.RefreshActiveView()

This works, but is not anything that I can't do with ArcMap tools.

Answer 1

Since user interaction is required (choose a layer, enter a number), I would suggest creating a script tool with parameters: one for the layer and another for the ID value. See this answer for a list of parameter types; I would suggest Feature Layer and Long but it depends on exactly what you want to do.

Then in your script, construct a SQL query expression (WHERE clause) from the chosen layer and specified ID value. Pass this, along with the layer name, into SelectLayerByAttribute_management and then continue with your script as-is.

A couple of tips for creating where clauses I always suggest are:

• Use AddFieldDelimiters to automatically append the DBMS-specific field delimiters (e.g. "FIELD_NAME" for file geodatabases or [FIELD_NAME] for personal geodatabases)
• Use Python string formatting (new or old styles) to more clearly format the SQL query.
• If it is possible to enter multiple ID values, you might find the code in this answer helpful (also illustrates the other two suggestions).