topic Re: Label Expression Bug in Python Questions

Label Expression Bug

MarkPaulson — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 11:16:51 GMT

I have used the following example from the help file substitution my own fields:

def FindLabel ( [Parcel_No], [Owner_Name] ):   if  [Parcel_No]  >= 0:     return "<CLR red='255'><FNT size = '14'>" + unicode( [Owner_Name]) + "</FNT></CLR>"   else:     return [Owner_Name]

The label shows in my feature class as:
<CLR red='255'><FNT size = '14'>Doe, John & Linda</FNT></CLR>

not in the color red. It shows correctly in the verify box in the expression verification. Also, why do I have to use unicode([FIELD_NAME]) to avoid an error?

Re: Label Expression Bug

KenBuja — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 08:47:37 GMT

The ampersand (&) and angle bracket (<) are special characters and will interfere with the formatting tags. You have to replace them with code similar to this:

Function FindLabel ([LABELFIELD])
  NewString = Replace([LABELFIELD],"&","&amp;")  
  FindLabel = "<ITA>" & NewString & "</ITA>"
End Function

See the help page on formatting tags

Re: Label Expression Bug

MarkPaulson — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 08:47:40 GMT

The ampersand (&) and angle bracket (<) are special characters and will interfere with the formatting tags. You have to replace them with code similar to this:
Function FindLabel ([LABELFIELD])
  NewString = Replace([LABELFIELD],"&","&amp;")  
  FindLabel = "<ITA>" & NewString & "</ITA>"
End Function
See the help page on formatting tags

Read that many times, but that is VBA which I know even less about than Python 🙂

tried the following:

def FindLabel ( [Owner_Name] ):
  test =  [Owner_Name].replace( '&', '&amp')
  return "<CLR red='255'>" + test + "</CLR>"

But now get:
<CLR red='255'>Mr &amp Mrs John Doe</CLR>

Re: Label Expression Bug

KenBuja — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 18:20:31 GMT

You need the ";" after the &amp

Re: Label Expression Bug

MarkPaulson — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 19:49:21 GMT

You need the ";" after the &amp

thanks for you help. I tried the ";" after the &amp and get a syntax error. If I put it after the ")" it labels but still the "&amp" in the name.

Re: Label Expression Bug

MarkPaulson — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 21:44:32 GMT

thanks for you help. I tried the ";" after the &amp and get a syntax error. If I put it after the ")" it labels but still the "&amp" in the name.

I'm an idiot! Finally put the ";" inside the quote and it worked! It's the little things that get you.

Re: Label Expression Bug

MarkPaulson — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 08:47:43 GMT

I finally got my labeling to work as I wanted: screen shot attached. Below is the code that made it work. I discovered that that having nulls in a field caused lots of problem so I just filled with dummy text. Anyway, if some one could look at the code and maybe suggest a more elegant approach I would appreciate the effort. Thanks in advance.

def FindLabel ( [Owner_Name], [Owner_St], [Parcel_No], [Owner_City], [Owner_State], [Property_ID] ):
  parcelNo = "<BOL>" + "Parcel No.: " + "</BOL>" + [Parcel_No] 
  propertyID =  propertyID = "<BOL>" + "Property ID: " + "</BOL>" + [Property_ID] 
  ownerTemp = [Owner_Name].title()
  ownerName =  "<BOL>" + "Owner: " + "</BOL>" + ownerTemp.replace( '&', '&amp;')
  streetAdd = "<BOL>" + "Address: " + "</BOL>" +  [Owner_St].title()
  ownerCity = "<BOL><CLR black = '0'>" +"Address: "+ "</CLR></BOL>" +  [Owner_City].title() 
  LF= '\n'
  strResult = parcelNo+  LF+ propertyID + LF +  ownerName +  LF +  streetAdd + LF + ownerCity + ", "+ [Owner_State] 
  return strResult

Re: Label Expression Bug

KenBuja — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 14:52:11 GMT

it worked! It's the little things that get you.

That's good to hear. Don't forget to click the check mark to signify your original question was answered.

What is the issue you're running into with the null fields? You can check for nulls and skip them if necessary.