ArcPy ImportToolbox Alias Overwrite Issue with .tbx/.atbx Files – Bug or Expected Behavior?

tasubasu

Using ArcGIS Pro 3.2.0 and ArcGIS Pro 3.1.4

I hope the following is understandable. I’ve been working with ArcPy and am encountering a potential issue with importing custom toolboxes using the ImportToolbox function, specifically with .tbx and .atbx files. The problem does not occur with .pyt files.

According to the documentation, the recommended usage of ImportToolbox is as follows:

ImportToolbox(input_file, {module_name})

def ImportToolbox(input_file, module_name=None😞

    "ImportToolbox(input_file, {module_name})

       Imports the specified toolbox into ArcPy, allowing for access to the

       toolbox's associated tools.

         input_file(String):

       The geoprocessing toolbox added to the ArcPy site package.

         module_name{String}:

       If the toolbox does not have an alias, the module_name is required.

       When a tool is accessed through the ArcPy site package, the toolbox alias

       where the tool is contained is a required suffix (

       arcpy.<toolname>_<alias> ).  Since ArcPy depends on toolbox aliases to

       access and execute the correct tool, aliases are extremely important when

       importing custom toolboxes.  A good practice is to always define a custom

       toolbox's alias;  however, if the toolbox alias is not defined, a

       temporary alias can be set as the second parameter."

The toolbox alias is crucial for accessing tools, and if not defined, a temporary alias can be set with the second parameter (module_name). However, in our tests, we’ve observed that setting the module_name parameter can overwrite the predefined alias in .tbx and .atbx files, leading to execution failures for certain tools.

Test Results:
.tbx:

ImportToolbox(tbx_path)
arcpy.<alias>.<toolname> → Success

ImportToolbox(tbx_path, module_name)
arcpy.<module_name>.<toolname> → Success

ImportToolbox(tbx_path)
arcpy.<alias>.<toolname> → fail:
 - without module_name, but referencing tools using the predefined alias, worked fine.
 - The issue arises when the module_name is introduced, which overwrites the alias. It is this alias overwrite that leads to process failures, not the predefined alias in ArcGIS Pro itself.

.pyt: No issues at all. The alias can be redefined without the problems observed with .tbx and .atbx files.

We’re trying to determine if this is a bug or expected behavior. The .pyt files work as expected, but .tbx and .atbx exhibit problematic behavior when the module_name parameter is used, likely due to the alias being overwritten.

Has anyone else encountered this? Any advice or insights would be appreciated! If this is indeed a bug, we’d like to report it.

Thank you

Hayden Welch

Here's the actual import code from arcpy:

 

def import_toolbox(tbxfile, module_name=None):
    r"""Loads a file toolbox(.tbx) and creates a Python module for it.

       Sample usage:

       arcpy.import_toolbox(r"C:\Data\ArcToolbox\Sample Toolbox\demo.tbx",
                             'toolboxsample')

       This will then generate a python module for demo.tbx and make it
       available for import as arcpy.toolboxes.toolboxsample

       If the second argument is not provided, the function will use the alias
       of the toolbox, if it is set and a valid Python identifier."""
    use_alt_alias = True
    if isinstance(tbxfile, str):
        toolbox = gp.createObject("Toolbox", tbxfile)
        if tbxfile.lower().startswith('http://'):
            use_alt_alias = False
    else: # Assume non-strings are instances of Toolbox
        toolbox = tbxfile
    mymodule = generate_toolbox_module(toolbox, None, False, False, False, module_name, use_alt_alias)
    import arcpy
    for tool in mymodule.__all__:
        setattr(arcpy, tool + ('_' + mymodule.__alias__
                               if mymodule.__alias__ else ''),
                getattr(mymodule, tool, None))
    # Module already exists in arcpy?
    if hasattr(arcpy, mymodule.__alias__):
        existing_module = getattr(arcpy, mymodule.__alias__)
        # Is it a module?
        if not hasattr(existing_module, '__all__'):
            existing_module.__all__ = []
        # Add to the __all__
        existing_module.__all__ += mymodule.__all__
        # Then add the tool functions
        for tool in mymodule.__all__:
            setattr(existing_module, tool,
                    getattr(mymodule, tool, None))
    # arcpy.X = mymodule
    else:
        setattr(arcpy, mymodule.__alias__, mymodule)
    return mymodule

 

This code lives in the 'toolbox_code.py' file in your arcpy source directory. There's a lot of stuff in there that could cause issues it seems. Like the generate_toolbox_module initializing a mutable list in the function header. It also does the module re-writes in a confusing way that seems to persist the aliases across runs. Honestly it does seem like this import_toolbox file is in dire need of some re-writing as I'm getting weird results when I test it with a toolbox:

...
import arcpy

# There should be no aliased tools here
print(f"Default: {[m for m in dir(arcpy) if 'my_module' in m.lower()]}")

# There should be no aliased tools here
import_toolbox(r"C:\Users\hwelch\Desktop\Test.atbx")
print(f"Raw Import: {[m for m in dir(arcpy) if 'my_module' in m.lower()]}")

# There should be one set of aliased tools here
import_toolbox(r"C:\Users\hwelch\Desktop\Test.atbx", 'my_module')
print(f"Aliased Import: {[m for m in dir(arcpy) if 'my_module' in m.lower()]}")

# There shoud be two sets of aliased tools here
import_toolbox(r"C:\Users\hwelch\Desktop\Test.atbx", 'my_module2')
print(f"Re-Aliased Import: {[m for m in dir(arcpy) if 'my_module' in m.lower()]}")

>>> Default: []
>>> Raw Import: ['Tool_my_module2', 'my_module2']
>>> Aliased Import: ['Tool_my_module', 'Tool_my_module2', 'my_module', 'my_module2']
>>> Re-Aliased Import: ['Tool_my_module', 'Tool_my_module2', 'my_module', 'my_module2']

 

I have no clue why the first run of the import_toolbox function is somehow applying the alias from the last run...