topic Re: Trouble deleting feature layer in Geoprocessing Questions

Trouble deleting feature layer

BobBistrais — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 20:11:57 GMT

I am working on a Python script that includes a cursor looping process to create KML files for individual towns. For each iteration of the loop, the script creates a feature layer, then exports that feature layer to KML.

The problem is, the script tends to stop working for no apparent reason. After each KML is created from the feature layer, I delete the feature layer so a new one can be created for the next town. The script tends to stop at this point. No error messages, and it doesn't stop at the same town every time I try. Here is the code that manipulates the feature layer:

try:

print "Deleting feature layer..."

arcpy.Delete_management(parcelsProject_Layer)

print "...deleted it"

except:

print "Couldn't delete feature layer!", sys.exc_info()[0]

raise

else:

# Process: Make Feature Layer

arcpy.MakeFeatureLayer_management(parcelsProject_shp, parcelsProject_Layer, expression, "", "FID FID VISIBLE NONE;TOWN TOWN VISIBLE NONE;COUNTY COUNTY VISIBLE NONE;GEOCODE GEOCODE VISIBLE NONE;STATE_ID STATE_ID VISIBLE NONE;MAP_BK_LOT MAP_BK_LOT VISIBLE NONE;PARENT PARENT VISIBLE NONE;PROP_LOC PROP_LOC VISIBLE NONE;PROPLOCNUM PROPLOCNUM VISIBLE NONE;TYPE TYPE VISIBLE NONE;FMUPDORG FMUPDORG VISIBLE NONE;FMUPDAT FMUPDAT VISIBLE NONE;FMSRCORG FMSRCORG VISIBLE NONE;Shape_STAr Shape_STAr VISIBLE NONE;Shape_STLe Shape_STLe VISIBLE NONE;Shape Shape VISIBLE NONE;Shape_ST_1 Shape_ST_1 HIDDEN NONE;Shape_ST_2 Shape_ST_2 HIDDEN NONE")

# Process: Layer To KML

gp.AddMessage("Converting town to KML")

arcpy.LayerToKML_conversion(parcelsProject_Layer, parcels, "0", "false", parcelsProject_Layer, "1024", "96", "CLAMPED_TO_GROUND")

--Any suggestions?

Re: Trouble deleting feature layer

JakeSkinner — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 20:20:46 GMT

Hi Bob,

Instead of deleting the FeatureLayer, try overwriting it by adding the following line at the beginning of your script:

arcpy.env.overwriteOutput = 1

env—ArcPy Classes | ArcGIS for Desktop

Re: Trouble deleting feature layer

BobBistrais — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 22:23:10 GMT

Hi Jake, and thanks for the reply. I added the overwriteOutput line to my script, and I removed the delete featurelayer code. Also added more Print lines so I can see what's going on. The script is still quitting randomly. In some attempts, it stopped while creating a new output directory for a KML, in other cases it quit while creating a feature layer. But again, it quits with a different record each time. And I am not seeing any error messages.

Re: Trouble deleting feature layer

DarrenWiens2 — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 22:57:17 GMT

Can you post more of your code (in code tags) for context?

Re: Trouble deleting feature layer

BobBistrais — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 14:42:44 GMT

I'm sorry, I don't see how to put it in code tags, but here is the code:

rows = gp.SearchCursor(workspace + "\\parcels_ut_town_list.dbf")

for row in rows:

town = row.town

# Create Output Directory

towndir = town.strip()

# Create Output Directory

gp.AddMessage("Processing" + " " + town)

print "Processing" + " " + town

gp.AddMessage("Creating Directory For" + " " + town)

print "creating outfolder for "+town

outfolder = gp.CreateFolder_management(workspace, towndir) ##Sometimes quitting here

expression = "TOWN = " + "'" + town.strip() + "'"

parcels = outfolder + "\\parcels"+towndir+".kmz"

# Process: Make Feature Layer

print "making feature layer" ##-And sometimes quitting around the next line-

# Process: Layer To KML

gp.AddMessage("Converting town to KML")

print "Converting town to KML"

arcpy.LayerToKML_conversion(parcelsProject_Layer, parcels, "0", "false", parcelsProject_Layer, "1024", "96", "CLAMPED_TO_GROUND")

#Copy Metadata

gp.AddMessage("Copying parcels Metadata For" + " " + town)

print "Copying parcels Metadata For" + " " + town

shutil.copy(metat, outfolder + "\\" + "parcels.txt")

gp.AddMessage("Done Processing parcels For" + " " + town)

print "Done Processing parcels For" + " " + town

#Create The Zipfile

#gp.AddMessage(output + "\\Parcels_" + towndir)

zpfile = zipfile.ZipFile(output + "\\Parcels_" + towndir + ".zip", 'w')

zpfile.write(outfolder + "\\parcels"+towndir+".kmz", "Parcels_" + towndir + ".kmz", zipfile.ZIP_DEFLATED)

zpfile.write(outfolder + "\\parcels.txt", "Parcels_" + towndir + ".txt", zipfile.ZIP_DEFLATED)

zpfile.close()

#Delete Uncompressed Files

shutil.rmtree(outfolder)

gp.AddMessage("All Done Processing" + " " + town)

del rows

Re: Trouble deleting feature layer

DarrenWiens2 — Fri, 10 Dec 2021 23:06:28 GMT

Can you provide the line where you specify the workspace?

On a side note, why does your code flipflop between 'arcpy' and 'gp'? Are they both pointing to arcpy? Have you tried this with the superior data access module SearchCursor?

Here's how to post in code tags (it's a bit convoluted):

Posting Code blocks in the new GeoNet

rows = gp.SearchCursor(workspace + "\\parcels_ut_town_list.dbf")
for row in rows:
    town = row.town
    # Create Output Directory
    towndir = town.strip()   
    # Create Output Directory
    gp.AddMessage("Processing" + " " + town)
    print "Processing" + " " + town
    gp.AddMessage("Creating Directory For" + " " + town) 
    print "creating outfolder for "+town  
    outfolder = gp.CreateFolder_management(workspace, towndir)               ##Sometimes quitting here
    expression = "TOWN = " + "'" + town.strip() + "'"
    parcels = outfolder + "\\parcels"+towndir+".kmz"
    # Process: Make Feature Layer
    print "making feature layer"                                                                          ##-And sometimes quitting around the next line-
    arcpy.MakeFeatureLayer_management(parcelsProject_shp, parcelsProject_Layer, expression, "", "FID FID VISIBLE NONE;TOWN TOWN VISIBLE NONE;COUNTY COUNTY VISIBLE NONE;GEOCODE GEOCODE VISIBLE NONE;STATE_ID STATE_ID VISIBLE NONE;MAP_BK_LOT MAP_BK_LOT VISIBLE NONE;PARENT PARENT VISIBLE NONE;PROP_LOC PROP_LOC VISIBLE NONE;PROPLOCNUM PROPLOCNUM VISIBLE NONE;TYPE TYPE VISIBLE NONE;FMUPDORG FMUPDORG VISIBLE NONE;FMUPDAT FMUPDAT VISIBLE NONE;FMSRCORG FMSRCORG VISIBLE NONE;Shape_STAr Shape_STAr VISIBLE NONE;Shape_STLe Shape_STLe VISIBLE NONE;Shape Shape VISIBLE NONE;Shape_ST_1 Shape_ST_1 HIDDEN NONE;Shape_ST_2 Shape_ST_2 HIDDEN NONE")
    # Process: Layer To KML
    gp.AddMessage("Converting town to KML")
    print "Converting town to KML"
    arcpy.LayerToKML_conversion(parcelsProject_Layer, parcels, "0", "false", parcelsProject_Layer, "1024", "96", "CLAMPED_TO_GROUND")
    #Copy Metadata   
    gp.AddMessage("Copying parcels Metadata For" + " " + town)
    print "Copying parcels Metadata For" + " " + town
    shutil.copy(metat, outfolder + "\\" + "parcels.txt")
    gp.AddMessage("Done Processing parcels For" + " " + town)
    print "Done Processing parcels For" + " " + town
     #Create The Zipfile
    #gp.AddMessage(output + "\\Parcels_" + towndir)
    zpfile = zipfile.ZipFile(output + "\\Parcels_" + towndir + ".zip", 'w')
    zpfile.write(outfolder + "\\parcels"+towndir+".kmz", "Parcels_" + towndir + ".kmz", zipfile.ZIP_DEFLATED)
    zpfile.write(outfolder + "\\parcels.txt", "Parcels_" + towndir + ".txt", zipfile.ZIP_DEFLATED)
    zpfile.close()
    #Delete Uncompressed Files
    shutil.rmtree(outfolder)
    gp.AddMessage("All Done Processing" + " " + town)
del rows

Re: Trouble deleting feature layer

DanPatterson_Retired — Sun, 10 Jan 2016 06:32:52 GMT

a visual to code formatting as well Code Formatting... the basics++

Re: Trouble deleting feature layer

BobBistrais — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 15:13:07 GMT

The workspace was set in an earlier part of the code, which wasn't pasted here. This is the line:

workspace = 'C:\workspace\parcelsut'

Will also try the data access module search cursor.

Re: Trouble deleting feature layer

DanPatterson_Retired — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 15:18:30 GMT

you need this:

workspace = 'C:\workspace\parcelsut' to be in "raw" format

workspace = r'C:\workspace\parcelsut' or

workspace = 'C:/workspace/parcelsut' or

workspace = 'C:\\workspace\\parcelsut'

If that is indeed the issue and not a copy paste error

Re: Trouble deleting feature layer

BobBistrais — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 19:31:37 GMT

I've made modifications as suggested by everyone, but still having the same problem. In particular, I made the following changes:

Using arcpy.OverwriteOutput = 1 as suggested by Jake

Changed the rows with gp.SearchCursor to the arcpy.da.SearchCursor as suggested by Darren

Changed the workspace variable to raw format: workspace = r'C:\workspace\parcelsut as suggested by Dan

I tested the looping process by commenting out the conversion to KMZ. The looping/iteration works fine. So I uncommented the KML conversion again. Once again, the program will stop either when creating the feature layer, or when converting the feature layer to KMZ. It stops with a different town each time.

But the problem appears to be in the KMZ conversion. Is there any way to further diagnose why this is happening? Is there an alternate approach to converting to KMZ?

Re: Trouble deleting feature layer

DarrenWiens2 — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 19:38:59 GMT

What are the names of the towns that cause it to fail? In particular, are there any special characters, like an apostrophe? Or, is it a different town each time?

Re: Trouble deleting feature layer

DanPatterson_Retired — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 19:41:57 GMT

My coding preference is to NOT use try, except blocks so that I can get a useable error message...others like them, but I prefer to be stopped cold in a line and fix it. But...having said that, there are times that your logic seems to be deleting a layer that you are trying to use again in a makefeature layer? I am not following something. Could be a filename thing or a path thing, I would suggest printing full paths and change the names if necessary.

Re: Trouble deleting feature layer

BobBistrais — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 20:08:47 GMT

In this particular situation, we are not using the actual town names. Instead the "town name" is actually an alphanumeric code as a text item. Examples are AR021, HA007, PI063. There are no special characters or spaces in any of the names.

And it is a different town each time- a town that will cause the program to quit on one try will work just fine on another try (and vice versa). Again, no error messages, just stopping.

Re: Trouble deleting feature layer

BobBistrais — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 20:10:22 GMT

In an earlier version of the script I used Try blocks, but I have removed them in the current version (unless you see any that I didn't remove?).

I'll investigate the file/path names, but if you see anything in particular that looks suspicious, please let me know.