topic Re: Unable to update attribute alias of "Query Layers" in mxd using ArcPY in Python Questions

Unable to update attribute alias of "Query Layers" in mxd using ArcPY

Prasoonmaheshwari — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 11:22:44 GMT

I need to create a python script that can update attribute alias of "Query Layers" added in MXD.

arcpy.AlterField_management throws ERROR 001601: Failed to alter field alias. Failed to execute (AlterField).

Any Help or suggestions are appreciable!

Re: Unable to update attribute alias of "Query Layers" in mxd using ArcPY

DanPatterson_Retired — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 12:16:12 GMT

Is Query Layers a layer in a Geodatabase table?

http://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/tool-reference/data-management/alter-field-properties.htm

The error means that the alias is invalid and says to try another one

http://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/tool-reference/tool-errors-and-warnings/001001-010000/tool-errors-and-warnings-01601-01625-001601.htm

which may mean that the alias is a reserved word or it exists or a number of other reasons...

Try 'ABC' and see if that works as a test

Re: Unable to update attribute alias of "Query Layers" in mxd using ArcPY

XanderBakker — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 12:18:21 GMT

I wonder if Alter Field—Help | ArcGIS Desktop supports a Query Layer. Can you post you have tried?

Re: Unable to update attribute alias of "Query Layers" in mxd using ArcPY

Prasoonmaheshwari — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 12:24:31 GMT

Query Layer is a geodatabase view. I have already tried alias name like "XYZ"

Re: Unable to update attribute alias of "Query Layers" in mxd using ArcPY

DanPatterson_Retired — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 13:45:26 GMT

As in the help link...

This tool provides the ability to rename fields or rename field aliases for any geodatabase table or feature class.

I suspect you are going to have to go directly to Modify a query layer

Re: Unable to update attribute alias of "Query Layers" in mxd using ArcPY

JoshuaBixby — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 15:28:37 GMT

By "geodatabase view," I interpret that as a database view that has been registered with a geodatabase. Are you creating or working with a query layer defined against the geodatabase view above? Query layers work best for enterprise databases that are not geodatabases, so if you have already registered a view with the geodatabase, why load it into ArcMap using a query layer instead of a regular layer?

Re: Unable to update attribute alias of "Query Layers" in mxd using ArcPY

JamesMacKay3 — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 16:28:32 GMT

My experience has been there isn't much support for Query Layers in ArcPy. A while back I needed to build a GP tool that would update query layer definitions based on database name/schema changes between Dev, Test and Prod environments, but there doesn't seem to be any support for that kind of thing in ArcPy. (I'm not sure there's even a reliable way to distinguish between query layers and regular EGDB layers in a map document.) Ultimately ended up building the GP tool using ArcObjects, where there are interfaces like IQueryDescription.

Re: Unable to update attribute alias of "Query Layers" in mxd using ArcPY

drunneals_cgs — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 15:45:35 GMT

Anyone have any luck with doing this in Pro?