I am a novice in python programming but I am trying to learn by doing. I got stuck with this function a while back and can't seem to find a solution or a workaround. I am writing a script that is trying to select all data in an MXD within a 70m distance from a layer and then export that data to a newly created file geodatabase. I can´t seem to get this to work, all I get is the error: FDO error: -2147024894 [GDB_Items] The table was not found. [Output name] And I somehow manage to get some kind of output, in the form of empty geodatabase tables in the output file geodatabase with the “correct” output names. I have a suspicion that the problem lies in the feature layers origins. They reside deep in our file tree (for exampel G:\KONSULTUPPDRAG VMN\SAMRÅD\2012\Uppsala\C 55 Örsundsbro - Kvarnbo\Kartor\Grundkartor\Fastighetskartan.gdb\vo) there is nothing I can do about it unfortunately. Here is my code: import arcpy, os, re from unicodedata import normalize Skapa_mapp = (unicode ("C:\\Users\dabr\\Desktop\KMZtest\\", 'UTF-8')) Mxd_Natur = arcpy.mapping.MapDocument((unicode ("C:\\Users\\dabr\\Desktop\\KMZ test\\YAYYY_Test1.mxd", 'UTF-8'))) Vag = "c 801" def Select_and_Export (Mxd_Natur, Skapa_mapp, Vag): Db = Skapa_mapp +"KMZ\\KMZ_Databas.gdb\\" #Define the output DB for df in arcpy.mapping.ListDataFrames(Mxd_Natur): #Find the road from whitch the selection is made with. for lyr in arcpy.mapping.ListLayers(Mxd_Natur, "", df): if lyr.name.lower() == unicode (Vag, 'UTF-8'): Utgangslager = lyr for df in arcpy.mapping.ListDataFrames(Mxd_Natur): for lyr in arcpy.mapping.ListLayers(Mxd_Natur, "", df): #Loop trough all the layers in the MXD to make #a selection and exprt if annything got selected Sokvag = lyr.workspacePath #Get the path to the specific layer SokvagNamn = lyr.datasetName #Get the name of the specific layer File_path = Sokvag + "\\" + SokvagNamn #Combine to create full path print File_path if not Sokvag.endswith(".gdb"): #layers in mxd can be both from GDB and .shp File_path = File_path + ".shp" Namn = lyr.name.lower() # Namn = re.sub('[ ]', '_', Namn) #create a output name bades on the layer name Namn = normalize('NFKD', Namn).encode('ascii', 'ignore') #in the mxd if arcpy.Exists("TEMP"): #if temporary file exis´ts from previous run, remove it arcpy.Delete_management("TEMP") print "temp removed" arcpy.management.MakeFeatureLayer(File_path,"TEMP") #Recreata a empty templayer arcpy.SelectLayerByLocation_management("TEMP", "WITHIN_A_DISTANCE", Utgangslager, "70 Meters", "NEW_SELECTION") #populate the templayer whit selected objekts? out = os.path.join(Db, Namn) #Create a path to the output location print str(arcpy.GetCount_management("TEMP").getOutput(0))+" Selected from " + Namn #Show number of selected objekts. if int(arcpy.GetCount_management("TEMP").getOutput(0)) > 0: #check if anny objects were selected. if not dont export try: if "TEMP".endswith(".shp"): #test if the temporary layer is based on a shp file? print Namn + " skall shp kopieras" arcpy.CopyFeatures_management("TEMP", out.rstrip(".shp")) #Coppy selected objekts to FDB print Namn + " shp kopierad" else: print Namn + " skall koppiers" arcpy.CopyFeatures_management("TEMP", out) #Coppy selected objekts to FDB print Namn + " är kopierad" except: print arcpy.GetMessages() else: print lyr.name.lower() + " no objekts were selected" Does anyone see a solution to my problem or perhaps a workaround? Edit: After some tweaking I stumbled upon the problem and solution. I was using a File GDB as an output in the CopyFeatures_management function. I don’t know why but if I changed it to a personal GDB everything went fine. Can anyone explain why?