Adding shapefile to multiple MXDs using ArcPy?

Question

My ArcMap verison is 10.6. The purpose is to add a wetland shapefile to multiple MXDs. It doesn't work and the error said the addLayer is not defined. My script is below.

Does anyone have an idea?

import arcpy,os
arcpy.env.workspace = ws = r"C:\Users\Rachel\Desktop\Example\Wetland.shp"
wetland = r"C:\Users\Rachel\Desktop"

mxd_list = arcpy.ListFiles("*.mxd")

for mxd in mxd_list:

current_mxd = arcpy.mapping.MapDocument(os.path.join(ws, mxd))

dFrame = arcpy.mapping.ListDataFrames(current_mxd, "Main Map")[0]
addLayer = arcpy.mapping.Layer(wetland)
arcpy.mapping.AddLayer(dFrame, addLayer)

current_mxd.save()
print("done")

del mxd_list

Answer 1

There are many issues in your code:

1. You are mixing the env and wetland layer. The wetland layer should point to the shapefile and the arcpy.env.workspace should point to the folder where the shapefile exists
2. No indent after for loop

Here is a working code that I used

import arcpy,os
arcpy.env.workspace = r"C:\Users\Rachel\Desktop"
ws = arcpy.env.workspace
wetland = r"C:\Users\Rachel\Desktop\Example\Wetland.shp"

mxd_list = arcpy.ListFiles("*.mxd")

for mxd in mxd_list:

    current_mxd = arcpy.mapping.MapDocument(os.path.join(ws,mxd))

    dFrame = arcpy.mapping.ListDataFrames(current_mxd)[0]
    addLayer = arcpy.mapping.Layer(wetland)
    arcpy.mapping.AddLayer(dFrame, addLayer)

    current_mxd.save()
    print("done")

del mxd_list

The above code assumes that the mxd files are stored inside r"C:\Users\Rachel\Desktop" workspace.

Answer 2

You haven't got any indentation in your code sample, that may just be this version of the code has been badly formatted but as it reads the iteration for mxd in mxd_list: has no instructions and will cause an error. In python indentation is crucial to understanding what the code does.

@ahmadhanb is correct, you're transposing your workspace and wetland:

import arcpy,os
arcpy.env.workspace = ws = r"C:\Users\Rachel\Desktop"
wetland = r"C:\Users\Rachel\Desktop\Example\Wetland.shp"

mxd_list = arcpy.ListFiles("*.mxd")

for mxd in mxd_list:

    current_mxd = arcpy.mapping.MapDocument(os.path.join(ws, mxd))

    dFrame = arcpy.mapping.ListDataFrames(current_mxd, "Main Map")[0]
    addLayer = arcpy.mapping.Layer(wetland)
    arcpy.mapping.AddLayer(dFrame, addLayer)

    current_mxd.save()
    print("done")

del mxd_list

However I would dissuade you from using your desktop as your workspace. User folders have funny permissions and can be subject to quota management; please consider making a folder at the root level (call it GIS perhaps, example C:\GIS) and work from there to avoid potential problems. By all means add a shortcut to it on your desktop for ease of access.