topic Re: import arcpy tramples datetime import in Python Questions

import arcpy tramples datetime import

FredSpataro — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 13:55:52 GMT

I've never seen anything that states arcpy should/must be imported first in order to not override other system modules. I only skimmed this document but didn't see anything specific, although their examples tend to imply it. However if you do a import-from on datetime BEFORE importing arcpy, then you're datetime import will be destroyed:

>>> from datetime import datetime
>>> datetime.now()
datetime.datetime(2016, 7, 14, 12, 10, 12, 433000)
>>> import arcpy
>>> datetime.now()
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
AttributeError: 'module' object has no attribute 'now'
>>>

Either import datetime after arcpy or use the import-from-as syntax and give datetime an alias.

Re: import arcpy tramples datetime import

ClintonDow1 — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 15:07:10 GMT

Which version of ArcGIS/Python are you experiencing this in?

Re: import arcpy tramples datetime import

FredSpataro — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 15:27:06 GMT

I see it on all the ones I've tried so far:

32 bit 10.3.1

64 bit 10.3.1

32 bit 10.4

Haven't tired any others.

Re: import arcpy tramples datetime import

ClintonDow1 — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 15:29:37 GMT

Thanks. I'll test and submit a bug report.

Re: import arcpy tramples datetime import

FredSpataro — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 15:45:32 GMT

Great, thanks. At the very least, note it in the document about importing Arcpy. There's always the chance of namespace/module collision but I've never seen one like this.

Re: import arcpy tramples datetime import

ClintonDow1 — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 13:55:55 GMT

As a workaround you can use:

import datetime
datetime.datetime.now()
import arcpy
datetime.datetime.now()

Or alternatively:

from datetime import datetime as dt
dt.now()
import arcpy
dt.now()

We'll still look into the actual bug as well

Re: import arcpy tramples datetime import

FredSpataro — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 15:49:28 GMT

Thanks, I've started making arcpy the first import and using the second option, safe aliases, a standard.

Re: import arcpy tramples datetime import

LoganPugh — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 23:32:39 GMT

Clinton Dow‌ has this been resolved in any released version of ArcGIS? Or is there a Nimbus # associated with it yet? I'm also running into this at 10.4.1, though it is easy enough to work around.

Re: import arcpy tramples datetime import

ClintonDow1 — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 22:21:57 GMT

Currently its logged on our internal version control system as a bug, but lower priority due to the workaround. I'll bring it up again at the next Python meeting. I figure it could be fairly problematic if arcpy is used mid-stream in a script that imports other complex packages.

Re: import arcpy tramples datetime import

JoshuaBixby — Sat, 26 Aug 2017 15:37:49 GMT

While you are talking about datetime, maybe just mention that math, sys, and time also get clobbered when importing arcpy. I can understand arcpy importing arcgis, but I can't think of any other packages I work with that re-import base packages into the global namespace.

Re: import arcpy tramples datetime import

DanPatterson_Retired — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 13:55:57 GMT

People had better scrounge around in their __init__.py files.

Perhaps the import should check for the existence in the namespace at least or use names that are unlikely to occur.

c:\\arcpro\\resources\\arcpy\\arcpy\\__init__.py....

import arcpy.time as time  # ????

#how about, _time or thyme or time_ or about‍‍‍_ or tImE‍‍‍‍‍

Re: import arcpy tramples datetime import

ClintonDow1 — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 13:56:00 GMT

import time, math, sys
from datetime import datetime
map(id, [time, math, sys, datetime])
[48738160, 57747920, 47497264, 1699354320]
import arcpy
map(id, [time, math, sys, datetime])
[48738160, 57747920, 47497264, 57866672]‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

The only ID that changes is datetime, so I'm not sure if that's actually the case. But we can look further into it as well.

Re: import arcpy tramples datetime import

StephenKaranja — Sun, 28 Jun 2020 22:00:23 GMT

Clinton Dow‌ Was this bug resolved and at what ArcGIS version? It would be great to know. I just ran into it on ArcGIS 10.4.1 and lost a few hours trying to figure out what was happening.

Re: import arcpy tramples datetime import

DanPatterson — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 13:56:03 GMT

# ---- python 3.10, arcpy 2.6 beta 2
import time, math, sys
from datetime import datetime
list(map(id, [time, math, sys, datetime]))
[1908941284840, 1908942659400, 1908930535160, 1381901040]

import arcpy
list(map(id, [time, math, sys, datetime]))
[1908941284840, 1908942659400, 1908930535160, 1381901040]

# ---- looks good‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

Re: import arcpy tramples datetime import

StephenKaranja — Sat, 04 Jul 2020 00:03:01 GMT

Thanks for the info! Would you know at what version of ArcGIS this bug was fixed? In any case, I'll endeavor to upgrade to the latest version.

Re: import arcpy tramples datetime import

DanPatterson — Sat, 04 Jul 2020 01:04:40 GMT

Not sure, but I think shortly after it was discovered. I don't remember it being an issue for a few years

Re: import arcpy tramples datetime import

DamonPettitt — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 01:55:42 GMT

I just experienced this issue on ArcGIS Pro 2.5.2 (i.e. Python v 3). I only discovered it after getting the "now()" error and then manually moving my "from datetime import datetime" statement until i figure out it was the arcpy import that was clobbering it. So maybe not fixed, unless i'm doing something wrong?

Re: import arcpy tramples datetime import

DanPatterson — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 13:56:05 GMT

hmmmm. I always import arcpy last

from datetime import datetime

n = datetime.now()

n
datetime.datetime(2020, 9, 17, 22, 7, 43, 827042)

import arcpy

n1 = datetime.now()

n1
datetime.datetime(2020, 9, 17, 22, 8, 0, 770167)‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

Re: import arcpy tramples datetime import

DamonPettitt — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 02:10:13 GMT

So slight wrinkle. It doesn't have the issue when you're using the interactive python window in Pro, but it DOES have the issue when using in a standalone script. I'm using the propy.bat to run the script from a windows scheduled task.

Re: import arcpy tramples datetime import

DanPatterson — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 02:22:51 GMT

As a suggestion, I rarely import arcpy If I need something from the arcpy stable, I usually narrow down the import to the area that I need. The folder structure can be found in your install base folder

C:\arc_pro\Resources\ArcPy\arcpy where arc_pro is my install folder.

Some things like the arcgis module and the arcgisscripting module can be found in site-packages

C:\arc_pro\bin\Python\envs\arcgispro-py3\Lib\site-packages\arcgisscripting

So a blanket import of arcpy isn't recommended unless you need to access a wide variety of things from it.