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definitionQuery syntax problem

ColinBerg1

Hi everyone,

can someone please tell me what is wrong with my syntax here? This should be very simple but any time I run this script tool it does not like the syntax of my definitionQuery.. I can't understand what the problem is

I have tried all of these and it wont work:

lyr.definitionQuery = '"BANDID" = \'GRNN00A\''

lyr.definitionQuery = "BANDID" = 'GRNN00A'

lyr.definitionQuery = """"BANDID" = 'GRNN00A'"""

lyr.definitionQuery = '"BANDID" = 'GRNN00A''

lyr.definitionQuery = ("BANDID" = 'GRNN00A')

lyr.definitionQuery = ("BANDID" = \'GRNN00A\')

What am I doing wrong?

definition_query_bandID_GRNN00A.py.zip

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Accepted answers

bixb0012

Your code is failing because the mxd variable isn't a map document object but a unicode string, which generates the unicode error you are seeing. Try this:

<SPAN class="keyword token">import</SPAN> arcpy
<SPAN class="keyword token">import</SPAN> os


<SPAN class="comment token">#define the mxd from user input</SPAN>
mxd <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>mapping<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>MapDocument<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>GetParameterAsText<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="number token">0</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>

<SPAN class="comment token">#set the dataframe as the default "Layers"</SPAN>
df <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>mapping<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>ListDataFrames<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>mxd<SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"Layers"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">[</SPAN><SPAN class="number token">0</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">]</SPAN>

<SPAN class="comment token">#for every layer, query only those records where "BANDID" equals 'GRNN00A'</SPAN>
<SPAN class="keyword token">for</SPAN> lyr <SPAN class="keyword token">in</SPAN> arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>mapping<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>ListLayers<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>mxd<SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">""</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> df<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; lyr<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>definitionQuery <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"BANDID = 'GRNN00A'"</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
mxd<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>save<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>
<SPAN class="keyword token">del</SPAN> mxd<SPAN class="line-numbers-rows"><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN></SPAN>

All comments

ColinBerg1

Thank you!!

Yes that worked.

Thanks Randy and Joshua, both of you contributed to this success

MitchHolley1

What is the tool parameter data type set as for the mxd variable? Try adding a print statement to see what is being returned.

<SPAN class="keyword token">import</SPAN> arcpy
<SPAN class="keyword token">import</SPAN> os


<SPAN class="comment token">#get user to input the mxd into the script tool</SPAN>
mxd <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>GetParameterAsText<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="number token">0</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>

<SPAN class="comment token">#define the mxd from the above</SPAN>
arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>mapping<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>MapDocument<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>mxd<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>

arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>AddMessage<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="string token">"{}"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>format<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>mxd<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>

<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN><SPAN class="line-numbers-rows"><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN></SPAN>

To ensure fields are being formatted properly in sql queries, you can use AddFieldDelimiters.

bixb0012

Your code is failing because the mxd variable isn't a map document object but a unicode string, which generates the unicode error you are seeing. Try this:

<SPAN class="keyword token">import</SPAN> arcpy
<SPAN class="keyword token">import</SPAN> os


<SPAN class="comment token">#define the mxd from user input</SPAN>
mxd <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>mapping<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>MapDocument<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>GetParameterAsText<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="number token">0</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>

<SPAN class="comment token">#set the dataframe as the default "Layers"</SPAN>
df <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>mapping<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>ListDataFrames<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>mxd<SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"Layers"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">[</SPAN><SPAN class="number token">0</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">]</SPAN>

<SPAN class="comment token">#for every layer, query only those records where "BANDID" equals 'GRNN00A'</SPAN>
<SPAN class="keyword token">for</SPAN> lyr <SPAN class="keyword token">in</SPAN> arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>mapping<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>ListLayers<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>mxd<SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">""</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> df<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; lyr<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>definitionQuery <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"BANDID = 'GRNN00A'"</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
mxd<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>save<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>
<SPAN class="keyword token">del</SPAN> mxd<SPAN class="line-numbers-rows"><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN></SPAN>

ColinBerg1

Just tried it now, but it failed These are just shapefiles, no geodatabase or anything.

import arcpy
import os

#get user to input the mxd into the script tool
mxd = arcpy.GetParameterAsText(0)

#define the mxd from the above
arcpy.mapping.MapDocument(mxd)

#set the dataframe as the default "Layers"
df = arcpy.mapping.ListDataFrames(mxd, "Layers")[0]

#for every layer, query only those records where "BANDID" equals 'GRNN00A'
for lyr in arcpy.mapping.ListLayers(mxd, "", df):
lyr.definitionQuery = "BANDID = 'GRNN00A'"

mxd.save()
del mxd

it's giving me this error message:

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "I:\For_Colin\arcModels\python_scripts\definition_query_bandID_GRNN00A.py", line 11, in <module>
    df = arcpy.mapping.ListDataFrames(mxd, "Layers")[0]
File "c:\program files (x86)\arcgis\desktop10.4\arcpy\arcpy\utils.py", line 182, in fn_
    return fn(*args, **kw)
File "c:\program files (x86)\arcgis\desktop10.4\arcpy\arcpy\mapping.py", line 1496, in ListDataFrames
    result = mixins.MapDocumentMixin(map_document).listDataFrames(wildcard)
File "c:\program files (x86)\arcgis\desktop10.4\arcpy\arcpy\arcobjects\mixins.py", line 745, in listDataFrames
    return list(reversed([fr for fr in self.dataFrames if wildcardmatch(wildcard, fr.name)]))
File "c:\program files (x86)\arcgis\desktop10.4\arcpy\arcpy\arcobjects\mixins.py", line 710, in dataFrames
    return map(convertArcObjectToPythonObject, self.pageLayout.dataFrames)
File "c:\program files (x86)\arcgis\desktop10.4\arcpy\arcpy\arcobjects\mixins.py", line 694, in pageLayout
    return convertArcObjectToPythonObject(self._mxd._arc_object.pageLayout)
AttributeError: 'unicode' object has no attribute '_arc_object'

Failed to execute (DefineBandIDAsGRNN00A).

RandyBurton

Did you try:

lyr<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>definitionQuery <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"BANDID = 'GRNN00A'"</SPAN>‍‍<SPAN class="line-numbers-rows"><SPAN>‍</SPAN></SPAN>

Often the field name is not quoted; it depends on the geodatabase type/server.

ColinBerg1

this is my script if you don't want an attachment for it:

import arcpy
import os

#get user to input the mxd into the script tool
mxd = arcpy.GetParameterAsText(0)

#define the mxd from the above
arcpy.mapping.MapDocument(mxd)

#set the dataframe as the default "Layers"
df = arcpy.mapping.ListDataFrames(mxd, "Layers")[0]

#for every layer, query only those records where "BANDID" equals 'GRNN00A'
for lyr in arcpy.mapping.ListLayers(mxd, "", df):
lyr.definitionQuery = '"BANDID" = \'GRNN00A\''

mxd.save()
del mxd

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