ArcMap - automatically select record based on data driven pages value

Question

I'm designing a workflow involving 1km grid cells which are referenced by data driven pages. In it the user will use the data driven pages toolbar to skip to the next cell in the index layer and perform a manual interpretation task for that record. This will simply involve clicking on buttons set up in a custom toolbar. So far so good.

What I'd like to do is for ArcMap to automatically select the record in the index layer to which the data driven pages value relates. I have a hunch that this is possible but I can't find a way to make it happen.

Answer 1

It is possible using arcpy mapping DataDrivenPages. You could put something similiar in your custom button:

import arcpy

def nextpage_and_select():
    mxd = arcpy.mapping.MapDocument("CURRENT")
    ddp = mxd.dataDrivenPages
    layer = ddp.indexLayer.name
    fieldname = ddp.pageNameField.name

    if ddp.currentPageID>1:
        ddp.currentPageID += 1
        arcpy.RefreshActiveView()

    current_value = ddp.pageRow.getValue(fieldname)
    sql = "{0}={1}".format(arcpy.AddFieldDelimiters(datasource=layer, field=fieldname), current_value)
    arcpy.SelectLayerByAttribute_management(in_layer_or_view=layer, 
                                                where_clause=sql)

Call function:

nextpage_and_select()