I have a working script that searches for a text element in an MXD and replaces it with new text. I'm using it to update the "print date: mo./day/year". But, this method is sort of limited in that it only finds that exact string. In my map document folder, the dates of these maps differ from each other. So, how can I make the script replace an open-ended string? I've tried: oldText = "Print Date: " and oldText = "Print Date: *" As the script is here, "oldText = Print Date: 9.6.2016" will be replaced with "newText = Print Date: 11/13/2018". But, dates on other maps could be anything. If I could replace the old with dynamic text date that would be even better. arcpy . env . workspace = Workspace = r "path\to\TestFolder" Output = r "path\to\TestFolder2" oldText = "Print Date: 9.6.2016" oldList = oldText . split ( ', ' ) newText = "Print Date: 11/13/2018" newList = newText . split ( ', ' ) # list the mxds of the workspace folder for mxdname in arcpy . ListFiles ( "*.mxd" ) : print "checking document: {}" . format ( mxdname ) # set the variable mxd = arcpy . mapping . MapDocument ( Workspace + "\\" + mxdname ) # replace elements that occur in the map document for elm in arcpy . mapping . ListLayoutElements ( mxd , "TEXT_ELEMENT" ) : counter = 0 for text in oldList : if text in elm . text : elm . text = elm . text . replace ( text , newList [ counter ] ) print '{} changed' . format ( elm . text ) counter = counter + 1 else : counter = counter + 1 for elm in arcpy . mapping . ListLayoutElements ( mxd , "" ) : counter = 0 for text in oldList : if text in mxd . title : mxd . title = elm . text . replace ( text , newList [ counter ] ) counter = counter + 1 else : counter = counter + 1 # move the mxd.saveACopy outside of the if loop so a copy is saved even it does not meet the condition of the if loops mxd . save ( ) #(os.path.join(Output + "\\" + mxdname)) # do not include this delete statement inside the above loop or it will delete the mxd object inside the loop. Make sure to dedent. del mxd

There are a couple of ways that you can go. If all the date text contains the address info, you could replace the entire contents with the similar contents that include dynamic text for the date. If the print date line is separated by new line codes \n, you can split your old text, replace the part with the print date and rejoin the text. It appears that your text might follow this pattern. If so, you can try something like this: import arcpy , glob , os path = r "C:\Directory\with\mxds" os . chdir ( path ) for file in glob . glob ( "*.mxd" ) : print "Processing: {}" . format ( file ) mxd = arcpy . mapping . MapDocument ( file ) for elm in arcpy . mapping . ListLayoutElements ( mxd , "TEXT_ELEMENT" ) : if ' DATE' in elm . text . upper ( ) : txt = elm . text . split ( '\n' ) for i , t in enumerate ( txt ) : if ' DATE' in t . upper ( ) : # txt = "Print date: " # format date with periods, no leading zero in month txt [ i ] = "Print date: " elm . text = '\n' . join ( txt ) elm . name = 'DateBox' print elm . text , elm . name mxd . save ( ) del mxd If the date text that you want replaced is on the same line with other text ( such as: Print Date: 11/28/2018 By: JP ) then you may need to consider an alternative like regular expressions if a pattern in the text cannot be found. There is a discussion on stackoverflow ( Extracting date from a string in Python ) that would be of interest if you need another option.

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find text element in MXD with wildcard?

JaredPilbeam2

I have a working script that searches for a text element in an MXD and replaces it with new text. I'm using it to update the "print date: mo./day/year". But, this method is sort of limited in that it only finds that exact string. In my map document folder, the dates of these maps differ from each other. So, how can I make the script replace an open-ended string?

I've tried:

oldText <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"Print Date: "</SPAN>‍<SPAN class="line-numbers-rows"><SPAN>‍</SPAN></SPAN>

and

oldText <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"Print Date: *"</SPAN>‍<SPAN class="line-numbers-rows"><SPAN>‍</SPAN></SPAN>

As the script is here, "oldText = Print Date: 9.6.2016" will be replaced with "newText = Print Date: 11/13/2018". But, dates on other maps could be anything. If I could replace the old with dynamic text date that would be even better.

arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>env<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>workspace <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> Workspace <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> r<SPAN class="string token">"path\to\TestFolder"</SPAN>
Output <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> r<SPAN class="string token">"path\to\TestFolder2"</SPAN>
oldText <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"Print Date: 9.6.2016"</SPAN>
oldList <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> oldText<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>split<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="string token">', '</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>
newText <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"Print Date: 11/13/2018"</SPAN>
newList <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> newText<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>split<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="string token">', '</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>

<SPAN class="comment token"># list the mxds of the workspace folder</SPAN>
<SPAN class="keyword token">for</SPAN> mxdname <SPAN class="keyword token">in</SPAN> arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>ListFiles<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="string token">"*.mxd"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">print</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"checking document: {}"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>format<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>mxdname<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>
<SPAN class="comment token"># set the variable</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; mxd <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>mapping<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>MapDocument<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>Workspace <SPAN class="operator token">+</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"\\"</SPAN> <SPAN class="operator token">+</SPAN> mxdname<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>
<SPAN class="comment token"># replace elements that occur in the map document</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">for</SPAN> elm <SPAN class="keyword token">in</SPAN> arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>mapping<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>ListLayoutElements<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>mxd<SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"TEXT_ELEMENT"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; counter <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="number token">0</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">for</SPAN> text <SPAN class="keyword token">in</SPAN> oldList<SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">if</SPAN> text <SPAN class="keyword token">in</SPAN> elm<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>text<SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; elm<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>text <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> elm<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>text<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>replace<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>text<SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> newList<SPAN class="punctuation token">[</SPAN>counter<SPAN class="punctuation token">]</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">print</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">'{} changed'</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>format<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>elm<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>text<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; counter <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> counter <SPAN class="operator token">+</SPAN> <SPAN class="number token">1</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">else</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; counter <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> counter <SPAN class="operator token">+</SPAN> <SPAN class="number token">1</SPAN>

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">for</SPAN> elm <SPAN class="keyword token">in</SPAN> arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>mapping<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>ListLayoutElements<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>mxd<SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">""</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; counter <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="number token">0</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">for</SPAN> text <SPAN class="keyword token">in</SPAN> oldList<SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">if</SPAN> text <SPAN class="keyword token">in</SPAN> mxd<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>title<SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; mxd<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>title <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> elm<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>text<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>replace<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>text<SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> newList<SPAN class="punctuation token">[</SPAN>counter<SPAN class="punctuation token">]</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; counter <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> counter <SPAN class="operator token">+</SPAN> <SPAN class="number token">1</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">else</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; counter <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> counter <SPAN class="operator token">+</SPAN> <SPAN class="number token">1</SPAN>
<SPAN class="comment token"># move the mxd.saveACopy outside of the if loop so a copy is saved even it does not meet the condition of the if loops</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; mxd<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>save<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN> <SPAN class="comment token">#(os.path.join(Output + "\\" + mxdname))</SPAN>
<SPAN class="comment token"># do not include this delete statement inside the above loop or it will delete the mxd object inside the loop. Make sure to dedent.</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>‍</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><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN></SPAN>

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Accepted answers

RandyBurton

There are a couple of ways that you can go. If all the date text contains the address info, you could replace the entire contents with the similar contents that include dynamic text for the date.

If the print date line is separated by new line codes \n, you can split your old text, replace the part with the print date and rejoin the text. It appears that your text might follow this pattern. If so, you can try something like this:

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

path <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> r<SPAN class="string token">"C:\Directory\with\mxds"</SPAN>

os<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>chdir<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>path<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>
<SPAN class="keyword token">for</SPAN> file <SPAN class="keyword token">in</SPAN> glob<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>glob<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="string token">"*.mxd"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">print</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"Processing: {}"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>format<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>file<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; mxd <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>mapping<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>MapDocument<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>file<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">for</SPAN> elm <SPAN class="keyword token">in</SPAN> arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>mapping<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>ListLayoutElements<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>mxd<SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN><SPAN class="string token">"TEXT_ELEMENT"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">if</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">' DATE'</SPAN> <SPAN class="keyword token">in</SPAN> elm<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>text<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>upper<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; txt <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> elm<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>text<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>split<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="string token">'\n'</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">for</SPAN> i<SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> t <SPAN class="keyword token">in</SPAN> enumerate<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>txt<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">if</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">' DATE'</SPAN> <SPAN class="keyword token">in</SPAN> t<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>upper<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="comment token"># txt<I> = "Print date: <dyn type=\"date\" format=\"\"/>"</I></SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="comment token"># format date with periods, no leading zero in month</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; txt<SPAN class="punctuation token">[</SPAN>i<SPAN class="punctuation token">]</SPAN> <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"Print date: <dyn type=\"date\" format=\"M.dd.yyyy\"/>"</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; elm<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>text <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">'\n'</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>join<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>txt<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; elm<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>name <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">'DateBox'</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">print</SPAN> elm<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>text<SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> elm<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>name

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; mxd<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>save<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <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>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN></SPAN>

If the date text that you want replaced is on the same line with other text ( such as: Print Date: 11/28/2018 By: JP ) then you may need to consider an alternative like regular expressions if a pattern in the text cannot be found. There is a discussion on stackoverflow ( Extracting date from a string in Python ) that would be of interest if you need another option.

All comments

JaredPilbeam2

I started a new Question: https://community.esri.com/message/817891-textelement-content-in-map-layout-not-displaying-correctly

JaredPilbeam2

It's ArcMap 10.5.1

RandyBurton

Just curious, what version of ArcMap are you using? I notice your properties box has a few more tabs: Columns and Margins, Area, and Frame.

DanPatterson_Retired

oldText <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"Print Date: 9.6.2016"</SPAN>

newdate <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"12.12.2018"</SPAN>

<SPAN class="keyword token">if</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"PRINT DATE"</SPAN> <SPAN class="keyword token">in</SPAN> oldText<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>upper<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">print</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="string token">"{} {}"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>format<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>oldText<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>split<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="string token">":"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">[</SPAN><SPAN class="number token">0</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">]</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> newdate<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
Print Date <SPAN class="number token">12.12</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN><SPAN class="number token">2018</SPAN><SPAN class="line-numbers-rows"><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN></SPAN>

JaredPilbeam2

Randy,

Thanks for that. I tried your script verbatim (besides the path variable) and for some reason it won't save (nothing's open, tried saveACopy('test'), unindented, quit python, restarted, etc...). But, as far as the printout goes, it doesn't look like it changed the date because it's showing the same old date.

Using yours and Dan's help from before, I put together this script:

<SPAN class="keyword token">import</SPAN> arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> os
<SPAN class="keyword token">from</SPAN> arcpy <SPAN class="keyword token">import</SPAN> env

arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>env<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>workspace <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> ws <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> r<SPAN class="string token">"\\gisfile\GISmaps\AtlasMaps\ATLAS_MAPS_18\Test Folder"</SPAN>
oldText <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"Print Date:9.23.2016"</SPAN>
newdate <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"Print date: <dyn type=\"date\" format=\"\"/>"</SPAN> <SPAN class="comment token">#i want the date text dynamic</SPAN>

<SPAN class="comment token"># list the mxds of the workspace folder</SPAN>
<SPAN class="keyword token">for</SPAN> mxdname <SPAN class="keyword token">in</SPAN> arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>ListFiles<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="string token">"*.mxd"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">print</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"checking document: {}"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>format<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>mxdname<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; mxd <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>mapping<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>MapDocument<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>ws <SPAN class="operator token">+</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"\\"</SPAN> <SPAN class="operator token">+</SPAN> mxdname<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">for</SPAN> elm <SPAN class="keyword token">in</SPAN> arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>mapping<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>ListLayoutElements<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>mxd<SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"TEXT_ELEMENT"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">if</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"Print Date"</SPAN> <SPAN class="keyword token">in</SPAN> oldText<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>upper<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; new_fixed <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"{}: {}"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>format<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>oldText<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>split<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="string token">":"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">[</SPAN><SPAN class="number token">0</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">]</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> newdate<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">print</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"+++date changed+++"</SPAN>

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>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN></SPAN>

However, it doesn't print the second statement or change the text in the MXD. I'm guessing it might have to do with the contents of the text box? This is the actual text box I've been testing on with all it's contents as it is in the MXD. As I said before this "Print Date..." line will have different content in different MXDs; where I'm eventually headed. Also, I've never named any elements in any of the maps. So, I don't see how I'd use this to access the text.

XanderBakker

I always name the element for easy access using arcpy.mapping.ListLayoutElement...

RandyBurton

You could process all your MXDs in a directory using os.walk or similar. If you only wanted to rename textboxes with the word "Date" in the text, you could use something like:

import arcpy, glob, os

path = r"C:\Directory\to\search"

os.chdir(path)
for file in glob.glob("*.mxd"):
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; print "Processing: {}".format(file)

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; mxd = arcpy.mapping.MapDocument(file)
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; for elm in arcpy.mapping.ListLayoutElements(mxd,"TEXT_ELEMENT"):
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; if "DATE" in elm.text.upper():
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; elm.name = 'DateBox'
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; print elm.text, elm.name

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; mxd.save() # or mxd.saveACopy('newname')
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; del 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>‍</SPAN></SPAN>

This assumes that only one box will contain the word "Date". To take this further, you could check for other text and name the box accordingly (if a dictionary key is found in the text, set the name to the paired value, for example).

RandyBurton

Using Dan's example, try the comparison with just "DATE" and use .upper():

<SPAN class="keyword token">if</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"DATE"</SPAN> <SPAN class="keyword token">in</SPAN> oldText<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>upper<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; new_fixed <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"{}: {}"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>format<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>oldText<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>split<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="string token">":"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">[</SPAN><SPAN class="number token">0</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">]</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> newdate<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>‍<SPAN class="line-numbers-rows"><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN></SPAN>

JaredPilbeam2

Dan,

I like that approach. The thing is, "oldText" could be "Print Date:", "Plot Date:", "Plot date", etc... I wasn't the originator of the maps. I've only been updating them.

So, with that, could I create a list with all these possibilities? I'm basically wondering how to formulate that.

JaredPilbeam2

Randy,

Are you aware of a way to name the text boxes with Arcpy? That's a good idea. Sad thing is I'd have to retroactively do that at this point.

RandyBurton

I place a "revision" at the bottom of my maps using dynamic text. The format is easy to figure out:

Rev: <dyn type="date" format="yyMMdd"/><dyn type="time" format="HHmm"/>‍‍‍‍‍<SPAN class="line-numbers-rows"><SPAN>‍</SPAN></SPAN>

Working with dynamic text

Another method I like to use is naming the text boxes when you create them. This helps in finding a specific one and makes it easy to replace text. Set the 'Element Name' on 'Size and Position' tab in Desktop version.

for elm in arcpy.mapping.ListLayoutElements(mxd,"TEXT_ELEMENT"):
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; if elm.name == "PrintDate": # text element named 'PrintDate'
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; elm.text = "Print date: {}".format(someDate)
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; # elm.text = "Print date: <dyn type=\"date\" format=\"\"/>"‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍<SPAN class="line-numbers-rows"><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN></SPAN>

DanPatterson_Retired

perhaps, it could be handled in a similar fashion

oldText <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"Print Date: 9.6.2016"</SPAN>

newdate <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"12.12.2018"</SPAN>

<SPAN class="keyword token">if</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"Print Date"</SPAN> <SPAN class="keyword token">in</SPAN> oldText<SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; new_fixed <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"{}: {}"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>format<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>oldText<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>split<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="string token">":"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">[</SPAN><SPAN class="number token">0</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">]</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> newdate<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 

new_fixed

<SPAN class="string token">'Print Date: 12.12.2018'</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>

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