Python Toolbox causes serious Application Error in ArcCatalog

Question

I have an intermittent error, which other colleagues have experienced as well, where having created working python toolboxes ArcCatalog 10.1 will crash on opening with a serious application error. I then delete the Normal.gxt file, which restores ArcCatalog but I cannot see the python toolboxes. Oddly eventually they do reappear, usually after a few uses of arcmap, and will function again. I find the crash is far more likely to happen if I am testing toolboxes but this is not always the case.

Furthermore I do not get this issue if I use the python toolboxes in ArcMap, they are always present and always work.

Has anyone experienced this issue and if so know how to resolve it?

EssamElhalhuli · Answer

Dave,

I appreciate you following up on this, thank you.
I will share the work around with colleagues and hopefully see an end to this issue

DaveBarrett · Answer

Evening all,

I have had a bit more of a dig into this problem and possible solutions. I found this link in the forums that appears to show that there is a bug at 10.1 with loading python toolboxes.

http://forums.arcgis.com/threads/91593-New-Python-Toolbox-will-Crash-Arc-Catalog?highlight=python+toolbox

This is supposed to have been fixed at 10.2 but not tested that yet. I have also found that this will cause ArcMap to crash in the same way if you add a python toolbox to ArcToolbox and save the settings to default.

The work around is to delete the ArcToolbox.dat file stored in the user profile.

C:\Users\[USER NAME]\AppData\Roaming\ESRI\Desktop10.1\ArcToolbox\ArcToolbox.dat

There are a couple of methods to fix ArcCatalog if this happening. Either remove the python toolbox from the last location you were using before encountering the problem or edit the following registry to change the last used location.

HKEY_Current_User\Software\Esri\Desktop10.1\ArcCatalog\Settings\LastLocation

The registry option worked for me and then I set the ArcCatalog option to forget the last used location. This is found at

Customize|ArcCatalog Options then go to the general tab and at the bottom is a check box that is called:

Return to last used location when ArcCatalog starts up.

From all the testing and reading I have carried out this problem only seems to happen when the Applications are loading not when accessing a functioning toolbox after they have opened.

Hope this is useful

Dave

EssamElhalhuli · Answer

Thank you for the responses.

Does anyone have any ideas why this does not happen in the ArcCatalog window from ArcMap?
Because these pyt run perfectly fine from ArcMap (and most of the time from ArcCatalog) I am a bit stumped as to where to look for any coding errors?