FeatureClass error message when running ArcGIS Python tool

Question

I am trying to remove rows from a feature class that is included in a python tool in ArcGIS 10.7. I have run the code as an independent Python script and it runs fine, but when I run the following code, I get an error. tmpfile is a copy of an existing feature that is in a geodatabase.

tmpfile = os.path.basename(tempfile.TemporaryFile().name) 
arcpy.CopyFeatures_management(infile, tmpfile)

### remove unnecessary values
vals = ["Unknown",""]
for val in vals:
    query = """ "DATEDISC" = '%s' """ %val
    tmpfile = arcpy.SelectLayerByAttribute_management(tmpfile,"NEW_SELECTION", query)
    arcpy.DeleteRows_management(tmpfile)

In the standalone script, this removes any rows with the values of "Unknown" or "". In the tool, I receive the error message for arcpy.SelectLayerByAttribute_management() that

The value cannot be a feature class
ERROR 000840: The value is not a Raster Layer.
ERROR 000840: The value is not a Mosaic Layer.
Failed to execute (SelectLayerByAttribute).

This seems like odd behavior for this function.

Does anyone know why this would be happening?

Answer 1

There are several problems with your code. You create a variable called tmpfile and then you overwrite it so destroying the original value. Your variable is a feature class. If you read the help file for the tool select by attribute you will see it takes as input a feature layer not a feature class. You need to convert your feature class into a layer first and feed that into the select tool.