ArcScripts on Node Dangles

Converting MXD to Layer file in Arcpy

Fri, 14 Aug 2015 10:01:54 -0500

Working on doing some advanced ArcGIS server printing and had the need to batch convert many existing .mxd files to .lyr files. So instead of opening up X number of map documents, thought I would do it via code. All of my .mxds in this case had just one data frame so the process was pretty simple–I add an empty group layer (Thanks Petr Krebs for the idea), copy all the existing layers into it, and save it out as a layer file.

I created an ArcGIS toolbox with two options–one to convert a single .mxd and one to batch convert an entire folder. To use it, make sure to have the EmptyGroup.lyr in the same directory as the .py file.

Here is the raw code or git it:

import os
import arcpy
import inspect
import glob
import uuid
import inspect

codeDir = os.path.dirname(inspect.getfile(inspect.currentframe()))
EmptyGroupLayerFile = codeDir+"/EmptyGroup.lyr"
inArg1 = sys.argv[1]
inArg2 = sys.argv[2]

def printit(inMessage):
    arcpy.AddMessage(inMessage)

def makeLyrFromMXD(inMXD, outLyr):
    if not (os.path.exists(inMXD)):
        printit( "ERROR: {} does not exist".format(inMXD))
        return False
    if not (os.path.exists(EmptyGroupLayerFile)):
        printit( "ERROR: {} does not exist".format(EmptyGroupLayerFile))
        return False
    if  (os.path.exists(outLyr)):
        printit( "Skipping: {} already exists".format(outLyr))
        return True

    printit( "Making Layer file: {0}".format(outLyr))

    mxd = arcpy.mapping.MapDocument(inMXD)
    ###Right now, just doing the first Dataframe, this could be modified
    df = arcpy.mapping.ListDataFrames(mxd)[0]

    theUUID = str(uuid.uuid1())

    iGroupLayerRaw = arcpy.mapping.Layer(EmptyGroupLayerFile)
    iGroupLayerRaw.name = theUUID
    arcpy.mapping.AddLayer(df,iGroupLayerRaw,"TOP")
    groupBaseName = os.path.basename(outLyr).split(".")[0]

    for lyr in arcpy.mapping.ListLayers(df):
        if not (lyr.name == theUUID):
            if (lyr.longName == lyr.name):
                arcpy.mapping.AddLayerToGroup (df, iGroupLayer, lyr, "Bottom")
        else:
            iGroupLayer = lyr

    iGroupLayer.name = groupBaseName
    arcpy.SaveToLayerFile_management(iGroupLayer, outLyr)
    return os.path.exists(outLyr)

def doMultiple(inDir,outDir):
    for iMxd in glob.glob(inDir+"/*.mxd"):
        lyrFile = outDir+"/"+os.path.basename(iMxd).lower().replace(".mxd",".lyr")
        makeLyrFromMXD(iMxd, lyrFile)

if(not os.path.exists(EmptyGroupLayerFile)):
    printit("Error: {} is missing, can not run.".format(EmptyGroupLayerFile))
else:
    if (os.path.isdir(inArg1) and (os.path.isdir(inArg2))):
        doMultiple(inArg1,inArg2)
    elif (os.path.isfile(inArg1)):
        if (os.path.exists(inArg2)):
            printit("Error: {} already exists".format(inArg2))
        else:
            makeLyrFromMXD(inArg1,inArg2)
    else:
        printit("Unable to understand input parameters")

Renaming Raster Dataset and arcpy.Exists()

Tue, 03 May 2011 09:33:48 -0500

Discovered something today. I was working on an arcpy script that copies a raster dataset from a file geodatabase into a Postgres SDE geodatabase and then does some boring routine tasks–building stats, creating a mosaic dataset, adding the raster to the mosaic dataset and making a couple referenced mosaic datasets.

It sometimes has trouble with the initial step of uploading the raster because of the sheer size of if (1m elevation raster for counties) and it failed today on one. It failed today so I used the ArcCatalog GUI to copy the raster and renamed it.

I then proceeded to run launch my script. Before each step, I use arcpy.Exists extensively to check to see if various items exist before I attempt to create them. It was continuously reporting that my raster set did not exist even though I could see it in ArcCatalog.

Finally, I realized that I needed to close ArcCatalog before arcpy recognized the fact I had renamed something. To note, I was running arcpy from a separate PythonWin window, not from the ArcCatalog session I had renamed the raster dataset with.

Once I closed ArcCatalog, arcpy recognized the renaming and life was good.

I’m also suspicious now about a problem I often have running statistics on my rasters. The ArcTool reports no errors when I create them but for some reason the raster does not show that it has statistics afterwards. I normally have multiple ArcApplication sessions open and now suspect that perhaps this problem is due to sessions not letting go of the connection. Stay tuned for further developments on this.

44.852994-93.55073

Quick & Dirty arcpy: Batch Splitting Polylines to a Specific Length

Sun, 01 May 2011 05:01:50 -0500

For some odd reason, I wanted to split all the arcs in a polyline feature class to a specific length–if a specific feature was longer than the target length, it would become two or more separate polyline records.

Here is the bare-bones script that copies an existing feature class into a new feature class then processes each record, splitting it into multiple records if the polyline is longer than the user-specified tolerance. Some cautionary notes:

This is Quick & Dirty code–minimal error catching or documentation.
I basically tested this against one feature class (the one I wanted to split) once I got it to work, I quit.
There is some rounding error–features may be a tad bit off (a few ten-thousandths of a unit).
I did not test against multi-part features.
The tolerance is the native units of the data–if your data is in meters but you want to split the polylines every mile, enter 1,609.344.

I have included both a toolbox file (.tbx) and python script (.py). After loading the toolbox, you’ll have to change the Source of the script by right-clicking on it, selecting the Source tab, and then navigating to the .py file.

Here is the code for the Googlebots, but you are better off just downloading it.

import arcpy
import sys, math

def printit(inMessage):
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; print inMessage
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; arcpy.AddMessage(inMessage)

if len(sys.argv) > 1:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; inFC = sys.argv[1]
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; outFC = sys.argv[2]
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; alongDistin = sys.argv[3]
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; alongDist = float(alongDistin)
else:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; inFC = "C:/temp/asdfasdf.mdb/jkl"
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; OutDir = "C:/temp/asdfasdf.mdb"
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; outFCName = "jkl2d"
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; outFC = OutDir+"/"+outFCName
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; alongDist = 1000

if (arcpy.Exists(inFC)):
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; print(inFC+" does exist")
else:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; print("Cancelling, "+inFC+" does not exist")
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; sys.exit(0)

def distPoint(p1, p2):
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; calc1 = p1.X - p2.X
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; calc2 = p1.Y - p2.Y

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; return math.sqrt((calc1**2)+(calc2**2))

def midpoint(prevpoint,nextpoint,targetDist,totalDist):
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; newX = prevpoint.X + ((nextpoint.X - prevpoint.X) * (targetDist/totalDist))
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; newY = prevpoint.Y + ((nextpoint.Y - prevpoint.Y) * (targetDist/totalDist))
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; return arcpy.Point(newX, newY)

def splitShape(feat,splitDist):
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; # Count the number of points in the current multipart feature
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; partcount = feat.partCount
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; partnum = 0
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; # Enter while loop for each part in the feature (if a singlepart feature
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; # this will occur only once)
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; lineArray = arcpy.Array()

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; while partnum < partcount:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; # Print the part number
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #print "Part " + str(partnum) + ":"
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; part = feat.getPart(partnum)
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #print part.count

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; totalDist = 0

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; pnt = part.next()
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; pntcount = 0

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; prevpoint = None
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; shapelist = []

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; # Enter while loop for each vertex
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; while pnt:

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; if not (prevpoint is None):
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; thisDist = distPoint(prevpoint,pnt)
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; maxAdditionalDist = splitDist - totalDist

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; print thisDist, totalDist, maxAdditionalDist

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; if (totalDist+thisDist)> splitDist:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; while(totalDist+thisDist) > splitDist:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; maxAdditionalDist = splitDist - totalDist
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #print thisDist, totalDist, maxAdditionalDist
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; newpoint = midpoint(prevpoint,pnt,maxAdditionalDist,thisDist)
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; lineArray.add(newpoint)
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; shapelist.append(lineArray)

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; lineArray = arcpy.Array()
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; lineArray.add(newpoint)
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; prevpoint = newpoint
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; thisDist = distPoint(prevpoint,pnt)
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; totalDist = 0

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; lineArray.add(pnt)
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; totalDist+=thisDist
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; else:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; totalDist+=thisDist
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; lineArray.add(pnt)
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #shapelist.append(lineArray)
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; else:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; lineArray.add(pnt)
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; totalDist = 0

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; prevpoint = pnt&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; pntcount += 1

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; pnt = part.next()

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; # If pnt is null, either the part is finished or there is an
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #&nbsp;&nbsp; interior ring
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; if not pnt:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; pnt = part.next()
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; if pnt:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; print "Interior Ring:"
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; partnum += 1

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; if (lineArray.count > 1):
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; shapelist.append(lineArray)

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; return shapelist

if arcpy.Exists(outFC):
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; arcpy.Delete_management(outFC)

arcpy.Copy_management(inFC,outFC)

#origDesc = arcpy.Describe(inFC)
#sR = origDesc.spatialReference

#revDesc = arcpy.Describe(outFC)
#revDesc.ShapeFieldName

deleterows = arcpy.UpdateCursor(outFC)
for iDRow in deleterows:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; deleterows.deleteRow(iDRow)

del iDRow
del deleterows

inputRows = arcpy.SearchCursor(inFC)
outputRows = arcpy.InsertCursor(outFC)
fields = arcpy.ListFields(inFC)

numRecords = int(arcpy.GetCount_management(inFC).getOutput(0))
OnePercentThreshold = numRecords // 100

printit(numRecords)

iCounter = 0
iCounter2 = 0

for iInRow in inputRows:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; inGeom = iInRow.shape
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; iCounter+=1
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; iCounter2+=1&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; if (iCounter2 > (OnePercentThreshold+0)):
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; printit("Processing Record "+str(iCounter) + " of "+ str(numRecords))
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; iCounter2=0

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; if (inGeom.length > alongDist):
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; shapeList = splitShape(iInRow.shape,alongDist)

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; for itmp in shapeList:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; newRow = outputRows.newRow()
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; for ifield in fields:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; if (ifield.editable):
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; newRow.setValue(ifield.name,iInRow.getValue(ifield.name))
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; newRow.shape = itmp
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; outputRows.insertRow(newRow)
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; else:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; outputRows.insertRow(iInRow)

del inputRows
del outputRows

printit("Done!")

44.852994-93.55073

Change Detector arcpy Script

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 10:48:59 -0500

During a process I was working on, I needed to compare a feature class before and after some edits. I did not quickly find anything in ArcToolbox but searching ArcResources led me to Change Detector script by Bruce Harold. After making a couple of tweaks–for some reason in one of my feature classes, the Shape field had an upper case ‘S’ and in the other it was a lower case ’s'. I also discovered that it needs to export to the same format (personal geodatabase, file geodatabase, shapefile) as the source data (or at least one that uses the same field name deliminator).

After minor adjustments, though, it worked like a charm. I’ll be submitting the changes I made to Bruce and let him incorporate the changes into the official code.

FOLLOW-UP: Mr. Harold quickly responded to my email & made the change (although I haven’t checked it). Way to go Bruce! Thanks for a handy script.

44.852994-93.55073

Multiple outputs for Python scripts

Fri, 17 Dec 2010 15:19:38 -0600

Related to my post on how I enable a script to accept parameters from different sources, I also often set up pythons scripts to output information a variety of ways. This is largely due to the fact that some are called by ArcToolbox scripts. Running in ESRI’s domain, these scripts need to send the output through the arcgisscripting object but if you are running the python outside the ArcGIS framework, you can just print.

If you assume one output method but then run your code in the opposite framework, you don’t get to see all the pretty little messages. What I do is create a simple little routine that broadcasts the message both ways. This is probably an obvious solution but took a few cases before I went ahead and started implementing it.

gp = arcgisscripting.create()

#This will print both to the geoprocessing window or Python output window
def gpprint(inmessage):
 gp.addmessage(inmessage)
 print inmessage

<Code to do stuff>

#Ok, I want to send a message:
gpprint('Hello, sailor!')

X-section Xacto Updated

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 18:15:51 -0600

I just happened to stumble upon an update of a tool to Create Geologic Cross Sections, eXacto Section v. 2.0, that I mentioned in July. Jennifer Carrell at the Illinois Geological Survey wrote this tool. The latest update is from December 8, 2010 and can be downloaded at ESRI’s ArcGIS Resource Center. Our office has used previous versions and finds in very useful in creating cross-sections. I have not tried this latest update.

44.852994-93.55073

Create Geologic Cross Sections–eXacto Section v. 2.0, ArcMap 9.3

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 13:59:44 -0500

The Create Geologic Cross Sections–eXacto Section v. 2.0, ArcMap 9.3 written by Jennifer Carrell of the Illinois State Geological Survey is a handy tool for creating cross sections.

It requires ArcGIS and a 3D Analyst Extension license.

You can create profiles against multiple DEMs at once, define the vertical exaggeration, and have it include contact points. It is well documented and comes with sample data to use with the tutorial.

I did not see it mentioned but it also include a personal geodatabase that include a grid that can be used along with the profiles you create.

If you make profiles, think this is definitely an option you should look at. The fact that it is a VBA application is a bit worrisome in that its lifespan is limited.