Latest Contributions by DavidSmith

James, thanks for all your suggestions. I finally got back to this after being busy with other stuff for a while. I managed to get the script to work perfectly. This is probably not the best way to do it but since I am not an expert I will take whatever works. I had additional issues with python inserting 'u'  in the definition query because I am still using version 2.7. and not 3. but  I found information that I needed to use str method for string. I am posting the full working version here for reference.  The variables have changed.Like I have said in my initial post I needed a script that would allow users to input multiple values from one field(up to 10 values) and create a definition query for those values. import arcpy #Set to current mxd and dataframe mxd = arcpy.mapping.MapDocument ('CURRENT') df = arcpy.mapping.ListDataFrames(mxd,"Layers") Layer = (mxd,"SAMPLE",df) # Set the tool parameters InputFeatureclass = 'SAMPLE' InputField = 'LIDs' InputValue1 = str(arcpy.GetParameterAsText(0)) InputValue2 = str(arcpy.GetParameterAsText(1)) InputValue3 = str(arcpy.GetParameterAsText(2)) InputValue4 = str(arcpy.GetParameterAsText(3)) InputValue5 = str(arcpy.GetParameterAsText(4)) InputValue6 = str(arcpy.GetParameterAsText(5)) InputValue7 = str(arcpy.GetParameterAsText(6)) InputValue8 = str(arcpy.GetParameterAsText(7)) InputValue9 = str(arcpy.GetParameterAsText(8)) InputValue10 = str(arcpy.GetParameterAsText(9)) # Set the definition query val = arcpy.mapping.ListLayers(mxd, "SAMPLE")[0] val.definitionQuery = "{0} in {1} """.format(arcpy.AddFieldDelimiters(InputFeatureclass, InputField), (InputValue1,InputValue2,InputValue3,InputValue4,InputValue5,InputValue6,InputValue7,InputValue8,InputValue9,InputValue10,)) arcpy.RefreshActiveView() mxd.save() ... View more

I have tried pretty much everything you mentioned before but i get error messages. Incrementing the numbers as placeholder  or leaving blank results in: "IndexError: tuple index out of range". Or on some occasions in trying different things I get: "ValueError: cannot switch from manual field specification to automatic field numbering". I am using ArcGIS 10.2. I am not sure if that matters anyway. I know it is probably something simple that is wrong but I can't figure it out right now. But can I ask, is there a simple way to pass  selected records into a definition query in python? That could be a workaround! I already have a script that allows a user to make multiple selections using data from one field. It is written in a 'chunky' way but it works perfect.  I do not want to create any additional layer using 'make feature layer' etc. I just want the records selected by the user to be made into a definition query that displays those records of interest only. Thanks. ... View more

James, thanks for responding to my post. I used the SQL IN operator just like you suggested but I am still not getting the desired result. It returns just one value: Color IN ('"Color"', 'red'). I assume my parameters are correctly set up? I corrected the "InputValue1" in the script to match the first parameter in my initial post. I also tried to expand the script with a third parameter this way and it returned the same value three times.Color IN ('"Color"', 'red','red','red'). What can I do to get it to work correctly? """Color IN ('{0}', '{1}', '{1}', '{1}' )""" ... View more