topic Proper arcpy.da.Editor use in Python Questions

Proper arcpy.da.Editor use

BlakeTerhune — Wed, 18 Feb 2015 00:32:35 GMT

I'm on ArcGIS 10.2.2 and trying to use arcpy.da.Editor and an InserCursor on a versioned feature class. The feature class was registered without the option to move edits to base and resides in a 10.0 SDE on Oracle 11g (will be 10.2.2 SDE soon).

I found this helpful post by Leslie Morgan that really details my same situation, but there are no code samples. I would like to know if any of you have used the Python Editor in a similar setup and what your code looks like. More specifically, can the Editor class be used in a with statement like the Esri help article says or do I still have to start and stop the operation and edit session like users say?

Re: Proper arcpy.da.Editor use

BlakeTerhune — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 17:56:39 GMT

Here is the basic way I'm using the Editor for now until I find a better way.

try:
    edit = arcpy.da.Editor(sdeconnection)
    print "edit created"
    edit.startEditing()
    print "edit started"
    edit.startOperation()
    print "operation started"
    # Perform edits
    with arcpy.da.InsertCursor(fc, fields) as fc_icursor:
        fc_icursor.insertRow(someNewRow)
    edit.stopOperation()
    print "operation stopped"
    edit.stopEditing(True)  ## Stop the edit session with True to save the changes
    print "edit stopped"
except Exception as err:
    print err
    if 'edit' in locals():
        if edit.isEditing:
            edit.stopOperation()
            print "operation stopped in except"
            edit.stopEditing(False)  ## Stop the edit session with False to abandon the changes
            print "edit stopped in except"
finally:
    # Cleanup
    arcpy.ClearWorkspaceCache_management()

Re: Proper arcpy.da.Editor use

BlakeTerhune — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 17:56:42 GMT

Revisiting this, I've simplified the code a little by creating the edit session outside the try...except so you don't have to check if it exists.

edit = arcpy.da.Editor(sdeconnection)
print "edit created"
try:
    edit.startEditing()
    print "edit started"
    edit.startOperation()
    print "operation started"
    # Perform edits
    with arcpy.da.InsertCursor(fc, fields) as fc_icursor:
        fc_icursor.insertRow(someNewRow)
    edit.stopOperation()
    print "operation stopped"
    edit.stopEditing(True)  ## Stop the edit session with True to save the changes
    print "edit stopped"
except Exception as err:
    print err
    if edit.isEditing:
        edit.stopOperation()
        print "operation stopped in except"
        edit.stopEditing(False)  ## Stop the edit session with False to abandon the changes
        print "edit stopped in except"
finally:
    # Cleanup
    arcpy.ClearWorkspaceCache_management()‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

Re: Proper arcpy.da.Editor use

Jack_Zhang — Sun, 05 Apr 2020 01:07:29 GMT

Thanks Blake, that's a lot better and clear than the example in ESRI's doc.

Re: Proper arcpy.da.Editor use

dbKlingdom — Thu, 22 Sep 2022 18:29:17 GMT

Does anyone have a an ArcPro 3.0 solution on this?? We are using the code above but running arcpy.da.UpdateCursor in stead of InsertCursor. In debug on the arcpy.da.UpdateCursorline we get the error "cannot update the table". Thx

Re: Proper arcpy.da.Editor use

Anonymous User — Thu, 22 Sep 2022 20:29:46 GMT

Did you set the right booleans for your data?:

Both are defaulted to True, and the second parameter is should be False if your data isnt versioned.

startEditing ({with_undo}, {multiuser_mode})

# Edit session is started without an undo/redo stack for versioned data # (for second argument, use False for unversioned data) edit.startEditing(False, True)

editor.htm

Re: Proper arcpy.da.Editor use

dbKlingdom — Thu, 22 Sep 2022 20:34:48 GMT

Yes we are trying to write to an SQL SDE database. We have set the edit to edit.startEditing(False, True). Thx

Re: Proper arcpy.da.Editor use

Bryan_krg — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 08:48:55 GMT

Try to simplify this further and just use the following.

workspace = "SDEconnection"

with arcpy.da.Editor(workspace):

# Do your editing here... that's it

See more here Editor—ArcGIS Pro | Documentation

Re: Proper arcpy.da.Editor use

MikeRatcliffe — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 18:41:54 GMT

Revitalizing this thread: because ArcGIS Pro 3.6 and Python 3.13

UPDATE: i figured it out. The edit object has to be created inside the try statement. code block corrected below. Also make sure you run as a geoprocess in the foreground, or you won't see the results.

I was troubleshooting re-appearance in Pro 3.6 of 'workspace already in transaction mode' I worked around successfully in Pro 3.5.x

I'm trying to update a date field to 'now' for all selected features in the active map, which I've set up to trigger each feature class's attribute rules. I finally got the 'workspace' changes dialed-in from the Pro 3.6 env, but I'm running into the old 'workspace already in transaction mode' issue.

This is being run as a Toolbox Script.

I tried 'edit.startEditing(False,False)' and 'edit.startEditing(False,True)' and get the same error.

import arcpy from datetime import datetime import os import sys from time import sleep now = datetime.now() username = os.environ.get('USERNAME') nversion = "dbo." + username lyrsource = r"C:\Gisdata\Projects\ArcGIS_Pro\Projects\TraditionalEditingTesting\SQLServer-androtest-MWWSSB(TestDB).sde\mwwssb.dbo.wserviceconnection" androtemp_sde = arcpy.Describe(lyrsource).workspace aprx = arcpy.mp.ArcGISProject("CURRENT") m = aprx.activeMap newline = '\n' def execute(): if m: feature_layers = m.listLayers() has_selection = False selected_layers = [] for lyr in feature_layers: if lyr.isFeatureLayer: selection_set = lyr.getSelectionSet() if selection_set: selected_layers.append(lyr.name) has_selection = True if not has_selection: arcpy.AddError("No selected features detected.") sys.exit(0) else: if has_selection: arcpy.AddMessage("Selections found in:" + newline + f"{newline.join(selected_layers)}") arcpy.AddMessage(newline) for lyr in m.listLayers(): if lyr.isFeatureLayer and lyr.getSelectionSet(): try: edit = arcpy.da.Editor(androtemp_sde, multiuser_mode=True, version=nversion) edit.startEditing() edit.startOperation() # with edit: cursor = arcpy.da.UpdateCursor(lyr, 'DART') for row in cursor: row[0] = now cursor.updateRow(row) sleep(0.5) del cursor del row arcpy.AddMessage(f"{lyr.name} Updated.") edit.stopOperation() edit.stopEditing(True) except Exception as e: arcpy.AddError(f"Error updating {lyr.name}: {e}") if edit.isEditing: edit.stopOperation() arcpy.AddError("operation stopped in exception") edit.stopEditing(False) ## Stop the edit session with False to abandon the changes arcpy.AddError("edit stopped in exception") finally: # Cleanup arcpy.ClearWorkspaceCache_management() return else: arcpy.AddError("No active map.") sys.exit(0) execute()