topic Re: find text element in MXD with wildcard? in Python Questions

find text element in MXD with wildcard?

JaredPilbeam2 — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 15:53:44 GMT

I have a working script that searches for a text element in an MXD and replaces it with new text. I'm using it to update the "print date: mo./day/year". But, this method is sort of limited in that it only finds that exact string. In my map document folder, the dates of these maps differ from each other. So, how can I make the script replace an open-ended string?

I've tried:

oldText = "Print Date: "‍‍

and

oldText = "Print Date: *"‍‍

As the script is here, "oldText = Print Date: 9.6.2016" will be replaced with "newText = Print Date: 11/13/2018". But, dates on other maps could be anything. If I could replace the old with dynamic text date that would be even better.

arcpy.env.workspace = Workspace = r"path\to\TestFolder"
Output = r"path\to\TestFolder2"
oldText = "Print Date: 9.6.2016"
oldList = oldText.split(', ')
newText = "Print Date: 11/13/2018"
newList = newText.split(', ')

# list the mxds of the workspace folder
for mxdname in arcpy.ListFiles("*.mxd"):
    print "checking document: {}".format(mxdname)
# set the variable
    mxd = arcpy.mapping.MapDocument(Workspace + "\\" + mxdname)
# replace elements that occur in the map document
    for elm in arcpy.mapping.ListLayoutElements(mxd, "TEXT_ELEMENT"):
        counter = 0
        for text in oldList:
            if text in elm.text:
                elm.text = elm.text.replace(text, newList[counter])
                print '{} changed'.format(elm.text)
                counter = counter + 1
            else:
                counter = counter + 1

    for elm in arcpy.mapping.ListLayoutElements(mxd, ""):
        counter = 0
        for text in oldList:
            if text in mxd.title:
                mxd.title = elm.text.replace(text, newList[counter])
                counter = counter + 1
            else:
                counter = counter + 1
# move the mxd.saveACopy outside of the if loop so a copy is saved even it does not meet the condition of the if loops
    mxd.save() #(os.path.join(Output + "\\" + mxdname))
# do not include this delete statement inside the above loop or it will delete the mxd object inside the loop. Make sure to dedent.
del mxd‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

Re: find text element in MXD with wildcard?

DanPatterson_Retired — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 15:53:47 GMT

perhaps, it could be handled in a similar fashion

oldText = "Print Date: 9.6.2016"

newdate = "12.12.2018"

if "Print Date" in oldText:
    new_fixed = "{}: {}".format(oldText.split(":")[0], newdate)
    

new_fixed

'Print Date: 12.12.2018'‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

Re: find text element in MXD with wildcard?

RandyBurton — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 15:53:49 GMT

I place a "revision" at the bottom of my maps using dynamic text. The format is easy to figure out:

Rev: <dyn type="date" format="yyMMdd"/><dyn type="time" format="HHmm"/>‍‍‍‍‍‍

Working with dynamic text

Another method I like to use is naming the text boxes when you create them. This helps in finding a specific one and makes it easy to replace text. Set the 'Element Name' on 'Size and Position' tab in Desktop version.

for elm in arcpy.mapping.ListLayoutElements(mxd,"TEXT_ELEMENT"):
    if elm.name == "PrintDate": # text element named 'PrintDate'
        elm.text = "Print date: {}".format(someDate)
        # elm.text = "Print date: <dyn type=\"date\" format=\"\"/>"‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

Re: find text element in MXD with wildcard?

JaredPilbeam2 — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 14:41:30 GMT

Randy,

Are you aware of a way to name the text boxes with Arcpy? That's a good idea. Sad thing is I'd have to retroactively do that at this point.

Re: find text element in MXD with wildcard?

JaredPilbeam2 — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 15:37:08 GMT

Dan,

I like that approach. The thing is, "oldText" could be "Print Date:", "Plot Date:", "Plot date", etc... I wasn't the originator of the maps. I've only been updating them.

So, with that, could I create a list with all these possibilities? I'm basically wondering how to formulate that.

Re: find text element in MXD with wildcard?

RandyBurton — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 15:53:52 GMT

Using Dan's example, try the comparison with just "DATE" and use .upper():

if "DATE" in oldText.upper():
    new_fixed = "{}: {}".format(oldText.split(":")[0], newdate)‍‍‍

Re: find text element in MXD with wildcard?

RandyBurton — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 15:53:55 GMT

You could process all your MXDs in a directory using os.walk or similar. If you only wanted to rename textboxes with the word "Date" in the text, you could use something like:

import arcpy, glob, os

path = r"C:\Directory\to\search"

os.chdir(path)
for file in glob.glob("*.mxd"):
    print "Processing: {}".format(file)

    mxd = arcpy.mapping.MapDocument(file)
    
    for elm in arcpy.mapping.ListLayoutElements(mxd,"TEXT_ELEMENT"):
        if "DATE" in elm.text.upper():
            elm.name = 'DateBox'
        print elm.text, elm.name

    mxd.save() # or mxd.saveACopy('newname')
    del mxd‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

This assumes that only one box will contain the word "Date". To take this further, you could check for other text and name the box accordingly (if a dictionary key is found in the text, set the name to the paired value, for example).

Re: find text element in MXD with wildcard?

XanderBakker — Wed, 28 Nov 2018 13:35:13 GMT

I always name the element for easy access using arcpy.mapping.ListLayoutElement...

Re: find text element in MXD with wildcard?

JaredPilbeam2 — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 15:53:57 GMT

Randy,

Thanks for that. I tried your script verbatim (besides the path variable) and for some reason it won't save (nothing's open, tried saveACopy('test'), unindented, quit python, restarted, etc...). But, as far as the printout goes, it doesn't look like it changed the date because it's showing the same old date.

Using yours and Dan's help from before, I put together this script:

import arcpy, os
from arcpy import env

arcpy.env.workspace = ws = r"\\gisfile\GISmaps\AtlasMaps\ATLAS_MAPS_18\Test Folder"
oldText = "Print Date:9.23.2016"
newdate = "Print date: <dyn type=\"date\" format=\"\"/>" #i want the date text dynamic

# list the mxds of the workspace folder
for mxdname in arcpy.ListFiles("*.mxd"):
    print "checking document: {}".format(mxdname)

    mxd = arcpy.mapping.MapDocument(ws + "\\" + mxdname)
    for elm in arcpy.mapping.ListLayoutElements(mxd, "TEXT_ELEMENT"):
        if "Print Date" in oldText.upper():
            new_fixed = "{}: {}".format(oldText.split(":")[0], newdate)
            print "+++date changed+++"

mxd.save()
del mxd
‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

However, it doesn't print the second statement or change the text in the MXD. I'm guessing it might have to do with the contents of the text box? This is the actual text box I've been testing on with all it's contents as it is in the MXD. As I said before this "Print Date..." line will have different content in different MXDs; where I'm eventually headed. Also, I've never named any elements in any of the maps. So, I don't see how I'd use this to access the text.

Re: find text element in MXD with wildcard?

RandyBurton — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 15:54:00 GMT

I just took a quick look at your code. You need to make at least one change. For the comparison, it can help to convert case, so that it does not prevent a match. You can either convert your oldText to upper case for comparison, or remove the .upper() and do a case sensitive match:

# change:
       if "Print Date" in oldText.upper():

# to:
       if "PRINT DATE" in oldText.upper():

# or:
       if "Print Date" in oldText:‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

Re: find text element in MXD with wildcard?

RandyBurton — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 15:54:03 GMT

Actually, my previous look was too quick. At line 13 in your latest code, you are starting to loop through the text elements in your map. You need to look at the text of each element, that is elm.text. I suspect that you do not want to compare the text to oldText which doesn't change - then every text element would be changed. You mentioned earlier that you had some variations in the text ('Print Date', 'Print date', 'Plot date', etc.). You may want to just use the upper case 'DATE' for comparison, possibly with a space ' DATE' if one will always be there.

    for elm in arcpy.mapping.ListLayoutElements(mxd, "TEXT_ELEMENT"):
        if "PRINT DATE" in elm.text.upper(): #check text in elm
            elm.text = newdate # change to dynamic date
            # if you want to name the text box as 'PrintDate'
            elm.name = 'PrintDate' 
            print "+++date changed+++"‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

Hope this helps.

Re: find text element in MXD with wildcard?

DanPatterson_Retired — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 15:54:06 GMT

oldText = "Print Date: 9.6.2016"

newdate = "12.12.2018"

if "PRINT DATE" in oldText.upper():
    print("{} {}".format(oldText.split(":")[0], newdate))
    
Print Date 12.12.2018‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

Re: find text element in MXD with wildcard?

JaredPilbeam2 — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 15:54:08 GMT

Randy,

Thanks, these did work but they replaced everything in the text box with "Print date: 11/28/2018".

newdate = "Print date: <dyn type=\"date\" format=\"\"/>"‍

        if " DATE" in elm.text.upper():
            elm.text = newdate‍‍

        if "PRINT DATE" in elm.text.upper():
            elm.text = newdate‍‍

Re: find text element in MXD with wildcard?

RandyBurton — Wed, 28 Nov 2018 20:09:37 GMT

these did work but they replaced everything in the text box with "Print date: 11/28/2018"

The map will display today's date using the dynamic text format, however if you look at the properties of the text box, you should see the newdate formula ( Print date: <dyn type="date" format=""/> ) as the text value. Is this not the case?

Re: find text element in MXD with wildcard?

JaredPilbeam2 — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 15:54:11 GMT

I also just tried name the text box, and then changing the text to the "newdate". But this changed the whole text box too.

    for elm in arcpy.mapping.ListLayoutElements(mxd, "TEXT_ELEMENT"):
        if "PRINT DATE" in elm.text.upper():
            elm.name = 'PrintDate'
            if  elm.name == 'PrintDate': #the name of the text element
                elm.text = newdate
                print "+++date changed+++"‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

from this:

to this:

"Print date: 11/28/2018"

Almost there, but I'm trying to avoid changing the rest of the text in the text box!

EDIT: Yes, to answer your latest post, it did exactly what you're pointing out. The problem is that the rest of the text in that same box is gone after the change.

Re: find text element in MXD with wildcard?

RandyBurton — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 15:54:14 GMT

There are a couple of ways that you can go. If all the date text contains the address info, you could replace the entire contents with the similar contents that include dynamic text for the date.

If the print date line is separated by new line codes \n, you can split your old text, replace the part with the print date and rejoin the text. It appears that your text might follow this pattern. If so, you can try something like this:

import arcpy, glob, os

path = r"C:\Directory\with\mxds"

os.chdir(path)
for file in glob.glob("*.mxd"):
    print "Processing: {}".format(file)

    mxd = arcpy.mapping.MapDocument(file)
    
    for elm in arcpy.mapping.ListLayoutElements(mxd,"TEXT_ELEMENT"):
        if ' DATE' in elm.text.upper():
            txt = elm.text.split('\n')
            for i, t in enumerate(txt):
                if ' DATE' in t.upper():
                    # txt = "Print date: <dyn type=\"date\" format=\"\"/>"
                    # format date with periods, no leading zero in month
                    txt[i] = "Print date: <dyn type=\"date\" format=\"M.dd.yyyy\"/>"
            elm.text = '\n'.join(txt)
            elm.name = 'DateBox'
        print elm.text, elm.name

    mxd.save()
    del mxd‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

If the date text that you want replaced is on the same line with other text ( such as: Print Date: 11/28/2018 By: JP ) then you may need to consider an alternative like regular expressions if a pattern in the text cannot be found. There is a discussion on stackoverflow ( Extracting date from a string in Python ) that would be of interest if you need another option.

Re: find text element in MXD with wildcard?

JaredPilbeam2 — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 17:24:53 GMT

Randy,

Thanks for that. I have actually attempted to just replace the whole text box with text including the new dynamic date. It worked, but the text was really hard to read. And using your latest script it's doing the same thing:

Re: find text element in MXD with wildcard?

RandyBurton — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 22:13:20 GMT

When you look at the text box's properties, are there changes to the font, font size or centering?

Re: find text element in MXD with wildcard?

JaredPilbeam2 — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 15:54:16 GMT

Here's the properties of the text box above. The address line is not where it should be. So, in the script I put another \n after the dynamic date (see below). That didn't change anything.

    for elm in arcpy.mapping.ListLayoutElements(mxd,"TEXT_ELEMENT"):
        if ' DATE' in elm.text.upper():
            txt = elm.text.split("\n")
            for i, t in enumerate(txt):
                if ' DATE' in t.upper():
                    txt[i] = "Print date: <dyn type=\"date\" format=\"\"/>\n"
##                    format date with periods, no leading zero in month
##                    txt = "Print date: <dyn type=\"date\" format=\"M.dd.yyyy\"/>"
            elm.text = '\n'.join(txt)
            elm.name = 'DateBox'
        print elm.text, elm.name‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

Re: find text element in MXD with wildcard?

RandyBurton — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 15:54:19 GMT

You are on the right track to add the new line character in the print date line of your code. It appears that other new lines are missing in the text block which is probably why things are a bit jumbled when displayed. You can do a couple of things: compose the text as a long line with newlines included (see line 9 below) or join shorter lines together with the new line character (lines 1-7). Hope this helps.

>>> txtBlock = [
    'U.S. House of Representatives',
    'Prepared by the Will County GIS Division',
    'Print date: <dyn type=\"date\" format=\"\"/>',
    '302 N. Chicago St. Joliet, Il 60432'
    ]
>>> newTxt = "\n".join(txtBlock)
>>> newTxt
'U.S. House of Representatives\nPrepared by the Will County GIS Division\nPrint date: <dyn type="date" format=""/>\n302 N. Chicago St. Joliet, Il 60432'
>>> print newTxt
U.S. House of Representatives
Prepared by the Will County GIS Division
Print date: <dyn type="date" format=""/>
302 N. Chicago St. Joliet, Il 60432
>>> ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍