Problem: activeView always None

AndyAnderson

Running ArcGIS Pro 2.9.1 on Windows 10 Enterprise v. 1607 (OS Build 14393.4886), also Windows 10 v. 20H2 (OS Build 19042.1526).

Problem: activeView always returns None. Steps to reproduce:

1) Create new Map project.

2) Open Notebook or Python Window

3) Include this code taken from https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/arcpy/mapping/mapview-class.htm :

import arcpy, os

aprx = arcpy.mp.ArcGISProject('current')
mv = aprx.activeView

# Change the extent of the map view
ext = mv.camera.getExtent()

4) Result:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
AttributeError                            Traceback (most recent call last)
In  [16]:
Line 7:     ext = mv.camera.getExtent()

AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'camera'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

aprx.activeMap works, as does aprx.activeMap.defaultView, but I'm pretty limited if I can't manipulate the camera!

The docs say "The activeView property is intended for scripts that are to be executed in the ArcGIS Pro application, such as scripts run in the Python pane or those associated with a script tool", which is what I'm trying. What am I missing?

Thanks,

-- Andy

AndyAnderson

I found confirmation of this issue here:

https://community.esri.com/t5/python-questions/zoom-to-layer-on-the-map-view-arcpy-mp/m-p/1147618/highlight/true#M63870

The problem is that a Notebook is also a "view", and is technically the active view (even though it still shows null). If the code is in a script file, the correct active view is returned.

The solution is in version 3.0 of ArcGIS Pro, forthcoming at this date. It will correctly provide the active view, whether a map or a layout, and provide some additional methods for maps and layouts to open views for themselves.

-- Andy