topic Re: Toolboxes in Python Questions

Toolboxes

daveDurkin — Tue, 05 May 2015 21:53:07 GMT

Could someone give me some help on getting a toolbox into ARC Desktop 10.2. I have tried many times without success and get various error messages. I simply want to get the following tools into my application so that I can run them on some existing features

http://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=e19b53170e004e46827b8129d6ef9bfe

It is my first time attempting to add custom tools so please feel free to start at a basic level from first principles! I haven't found the online help particularly understandable / useful.

Many thanks......Dave

Re: Toolboxes

DanPatterson_Retired — Tue, 05 May 2015 21:57:41 GMT

Can I assume that you have gotten past the step of adding a toolbox to arctoolbox?

Re: Toolboxes

SepheFox — Tue, 05 May 2015 22:00:11 GMT

Right click in your workspace in Catalog, and select new toolbox. Right click the toolbox and select add script. Give the script a name, and generally select relative paths and click next., navigate to your script location and click next. Now you have to add parameters if you need them. Does your tool have user defined parameters? If not, you can just click finish. If you do I will tell you how to add those after you reply.

Re: Toolboxes

DanPatterson_Retired — Tue, 05 May 2015 22:05:20 GMT

Seph...the toolbox already exists, it just needs to be added to arctoolbox

Re: Toolboxes

SepheFox — Tue, 05 May 2015 22:06:43 GMT

Oh sorry, I'm half asleep today, I swear!

Re: Toolboxes

daveDurkin — Tue, 05 May 2015 22:11:34 GMT

Thanks Sephe and Dan

Dan - I added the toolbox (I thought), I got the error message that the scripts didn't exist - I suspect I have added it wrongly. I did get a dialogue box with sensible parameters to add.

Seph - I tried adding the script, I assumed it would sort its own parameters out - it didn't and I got a dialogue with no parameters.

Thanks both

Re: Toolboxes

SepheFox — Tue, 05 May 2015 22:12:14 GMT

So, I downloaded the toolbox from the link, unzipped it to a location on my C drive, and then in the catalog window in ArcMap, I was able to navigate to the scripts no problem. They opened up a dialog as expected when I double-clicked, but I didn't try running them. What happens when you follow that procedure Dave?

Re: Toolboxes

SepheFox — Tue, 05 May 2015 22:13:50 GMT

Following the procedure I outlined in my latest comment, the scripts did indeed have parameters ready to enter in the dialog. Sorry, I didn't mean to confuse things with my first answer--it was sort of off track.

Re: Toolboxes

SepheFox — Tue, 05 May 2015 22:15:22 GMT

PS. I nabbed the tool for myself because it looks handy!

Re: Toolboxes

daveDurkin — Tue, 05 May 2015 22:18:19 GMT

Thanks Seph

I added the toolbox in the way you describe - should I have added the 'points along the line' and 'points along the polygon' as well / instead of - are they the scripts?

Re: Toolboxes

SepheFox — Tue, 05 May 2015 22:18:23 GMT

I was also able to add the toolbox to ArcToolbox by right clicking in the ArcToolbox window, selecting Add Toolbox, and then navigating to the correct location and selecting it. It still opened just fine. Where are you saving the files when you unzip them?

Re: Toolboxes

SepheFox — Tue, 05 May 2015 22:20:13 GMT

If you added the toolbox in that way, you should be able to select either script tool within it and open them. To answer your question though, the scripts are the two python scripts that were in the zip. All of them need to be unzipped to the same location.

Re: Toolboxes

DanPatterson_Retired — Tue, 05 May 2015 22:21:29 GMT

make sure you unzip everything in the same folder as shown in the link. the structure of the toolbox and the scripts must be maintained, otherwise you will have to re-establish them. I suspect that the toolbox and scripts work properly since it has been around for a while with no problems reported so far.

Re: Toolboxes

daveDurkin — Tue, 05 May 2015 22:34:57 GMT

Dan / Sephe

Thank you both - that has fixed it.

I unzipped it to a file on my 'I drive' then moved all three components to my C drive. That didn't work. When I unzipped it straight to my C: drive - that worked!

Much appreciated

Dave