Using in_memory in Python deletes values in field - Arcgis 10.4.1

Question

I have a problem in using the in_memory function in a Python-script.

I have a shapefile test.shp with 3 fields (Alter, Geschlecht, Anzahl) and 2 rows of data. When I am using arcpy.CopyFeatures_management to copy the shapefile to in_memory it deletes the data of the rows.

I wrote a little test-script:

import arcpy

arcpy.env.workspace = "C:\\Python\\"

arcpy.CopyFeatures_management("test.shp","in_memory/test")
arcpy.CopyFeatures_management("in_memory/test", "test1.shp")
arcpy.CopyFeatures_management("test.shp","test2.shp")

You can download the shapefiles here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/b47og9rjfevpi7v/AAB_YLz1l_eY3b-lFJPm9kP9a?dl=0

test1.shp is empty (rows are still here but without data) and test2.shp is an correct copy.

Can someone tell me what is going wrong?

Answer 1

I also confirmed it with 10.3.1. One potential work around is to load it into memory as a feature set. Then the copy features tool works.

Here you can see it is during the process of copying test.shp to in_memory where you lose the attributes.

results = arcpy.CopyFeatures_management("test.shp","in_memory/test")[0]

with arcpy.da.SearchCursor(results,["*"]) as sc:
     for row in sc:
         print row
#(1, (698585.7347000018, 242057.83449999988), None, None, None)
#(2, (698390.1845999993, 241798.5549999997), None, None, None)

However with a feature set you don't.

feature_set = arcpy.FeatureSet("test.shp")
with arcpy.da.SearchCursor(feature_set,["*"]) as sc:
     for row in sc:
         print row
#(0, (698585.7347000018, 242057.83449999988), u'0-1', u'w', 1.0)
#(1, (698390.1845999993, 241798.5549999997), u'1-2', u'w', 1.0)
arcpy.CopyFeatures_management(feature_set,"test4.shp")

Answer 2

I don't have access to ArcGIS 10.4.1, but I was able to replicate the issue with 10.3.1.

I imported the test.shp feature class into an empty file geodatabase, modified your test script and ran it. The results were as expected (i.e. attributes were copied into the in_memory feature class and copied out fine).

I also created my own dummy shapefile within ArcCatalog and ran it through your script. The results were as expected.

I think your issue is related to your input "test.shp", there is something about it that is not quite right.