I am trying to create a file path and add it to a field by concatenating the path with a file name that is held in a field in my data.My path is a constant \Links\Sheets\Project\ and my Drawing_Name field has values like Drawing01.pdf, Drawing02.pdf etc. I keep getting the error: The SELECT statement includes a reserved word or an argument name that is misspelled or missing, or the punctuation is incorrect. Failed to execute (CalculateField). The function is written like this... # Process: Calculate Field arcpy . CalculateField_management ( Centroids , "URL" , expression , "PYTHON_9.3" , "" ) And for my expression I want something like one of these... expression = "\"\\\\Links\\\\Sheets\\\\Project\\\\\"+ !Drawing_Name!" expression = "\"\\Links\\Sheets\\Project\\{0}\".format( !Drawing_Name! )" I want to end up with \Links\Sheets\Project\Drawing01.pdf in the field. The first expression used to work, but seems to throw the error above now - I believe it is my punctuation which is the problem - can anyone help? Thanks Rebecca

Although using the Field Calculator sounds like the easiest way of solving this, in many cases it is more complex due to double interpretation/parsing of the expression. I would seriously recommend you to use a cursor, like the one below: import arcpy import os fc = r 'your path to the fc or table' fld_out = "URL" fld_in = "Drawing_Name" url = r "\Links\Sheets\Project" with arcpy . da . UpdateCursor ( fc , ( fld_in , fld_out ) ) as curs : for row in curs : if row [ 0 ] : row [ 1 ] = os . path . join ( url , row [ 0 ] ) curs . updateRow ( row )

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arcpy calculate field expression

RebeccaWatson1

I am trying to create a file path and add it to a field by concatenating the path with a file name that is held in a field in my data.My path is a constant \Links\Sheets\Project\ and my Drawing_Name field has values like Drawing01.pdf, Drawing02.pdf etc.

I keep getting the error:

The SELECT statement includes a reserved word or an argument name that is misspelled or missing, or the punctuation is incorrect. Failed to execute (CalculateField).

The function is written like this...

<SPAN class="comment token"># Process: Calculate Field</SPAN>
arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>CalculateField_management<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>Centroids<SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"URL"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> expression<SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"PYTHON_9.3"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">""</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>‍‍‍‍<SPAN class="line-numbers-rows"><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN></SPAN>

And for my expression I want something like one of these...

expression = "\"\\\\Links\\\\Sheets\\\\Project\\\\\"+ !Drawing_Name!"

expression = "\"\\Links\\Sheets\\Project\\{0}\".format( !Drawing_Name! )"‍‍‍‍‍<SPAN class="line-numbers-rows"><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN></SPAN>

I want to end up with \Links\Sheets\Project\Drawing01.pdf in the field.

The first expression used to work, but seems to throw the error above now - I believe it is my punctuation which is the problem - can anyone help?

Thanks

Rebecca

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Accepted answers

XanderBakker

Although using the Field Calculator sounds like the easiest way of solving this, in many cases it is more complex due to double interpretation/parsing of the expression. I would seriously recommend you to use a cursor, like the one below:

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

fc <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> r<SPAN class="string token">'your path to the fc or table'</SPAN>
fld_out <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"URL"</SPAN>
fld_in <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"Drawing_Name"</SPAN>
url <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> r<SPAN class="string token">"\Links\Sheets\Project"</SPAN>

<SPAN class="keyword token">with</SPAN> arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>da<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>UpdateCursor<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>fc<SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> <SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>fld_in<SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> fld_out<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN> <SPAN class="keyword token">as</SPAN> curs<SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">for</SPAN> row <SPAN class="keyword token">in</SPAN> curs<SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">if</SPAN> row<SPAN class="punctuation token">[</SPAN><SPAN class="number token">0</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">]</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; row<SPAN class="punctuation token">[</SPAN><SPAN class="number token">1</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">]</SPAN> <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> os<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>path<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>join<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>url<SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> row<SPAN class="punctuation token">[</SPAN><SPAN class="number token">0</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">]</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; curs<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>updateRow<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>row<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>

All comments

DanPatterson_Retired

for the future (ie PRO)

f-strings do make some things look tidy

fld_in <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"Drawing_Name"</SPAN>
url <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> r<SPAN class="string token">"\Links\Sheets\Project"</SPAN>

f<SPAN class="string token">"{url}\{fld_in}"</SPAN>&nbsp; <SPAN class="comment token"># ---- f-string, sort of like "stuff".format(*args)</SPAN>

<SPAN class="string token">'\\Links\\Sheets\\Project\\Drawing_Name'</SPAN><SPAN class="line-numbers-rows"><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN><SPAN>‍</SPAN></SPAN>

RebeccaWatson1

Thank you - this has done the trick. You are right that the calculate field was just making the expression too complex. Stripping that out and using UpdateCursor instead has worked perfectly.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions.

XanderBakker

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

fc <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> r<SPAN class="string token">'your path to the fc or table'</SPAN>
fld_out <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"URL"</SPAN>
fld_in <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"Drawing_Name"</SPAN>
url <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> r<SPAN class="string token">"\Links\Sheets\Project"</SPAN>

<SPAN class="keyword token">with</SPAN> arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>da<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>UpdateCursor<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>fc<SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> <SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>fld_in<SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> fld_out<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN> <SPAN class="keyword token">as</SPAN> curs<SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">for</SPAN> row <SPAN class="keyword token">in</SPAN> curs<SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">if</SPAN> row<SPAN class="punctuation token">[</SPAN><SPAN class="number token">0</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">]</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; row<SPAN class="punctuation token">[</SPAN><SPAN class="number token">1</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">]</SPAN> <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> os<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>path<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>join<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>url<SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> row<SPAN class="punctuation token">[</SPAN><SPAN class="number token">0</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">]</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; curs<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>updateRow<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>row<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>

RebeccaStrauch__GISP

try something like this

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

myPath <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> r<SPAN class="string token">"\Links\Sheets\Project"</SPAN>
myPDFs <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="punctuation token">[</SPAN><SPAN class="string token">'Drawing01'</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">'Drawing02'</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">'Drawing03'</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">]</SPAN>

<SPAN class="keyword token">for</SPAN> aPDF <SPAN class="keyword token">in</SPAN> myPDFs<SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; pdfPath <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> os<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>path<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>join<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>myPath<SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"{0}.pdf"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>format<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>aPDF<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <SPAN class="keyword token">print</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>pdfPath<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>

(I saw a flash that Dan just sent an answer...he might have a better way. Haven't looked yet)

DanPatterson_Retired

Use raw notation 'r'

Don't put a backslash at the end of a path you are concatenating

pth <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN>r<SPAN class="string token">"c:\temp\somepath"</SPAN>
f <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> r<SPAN class="string token">"\my.pdf"</SPAN>
pth <SPAN class="operator token">+</SPAN> r<SPAN class="string token">"\Links\Sheets\Project{0}"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>format<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>f<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>
<SPAN class="string token">'c:\\temp\\somepath\\Links\\Sheets\\Project\\my.pdf'</SPAN>

<SPAN class="comment token"># ---- or....</SPAN>

r<SPAN class="string token">"{}\Links\Sheets\Project{}"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>format<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>pth<SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> f<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>
<SPAN class="string token">'c:\\temp\\somepath\\Links\\Sheets\\Project\\my.pdf'</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>

you don't need the 0, 1 etc in the {} if they are in order

RebeccaWatson1

Thanks for your reply - I believe that I have to use \ for windows paths? Do you have any more pointers on how the " look off? I have tried various combinations of single and double quotes but with no luck.

NeilAyres

Ever thought of using "/" instead. Too many back slashes... And those "" look a bit off.

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