topic Re: how can i work around path names in arcpy having spaces in them, if i can? in Python Questions

how can i work around path names in arcpy having spaces in them, if i can?

ronancorrigan — Fri, 08 Feb 2019 16:32:00 GMT

I'm trying to create an arcpy tool for one of the teams, and I have everything working. But when I redirect the path names to be where their data is saved and where they want the outputs to go to, I get errors like ERROR:00732 or ERROR:00210 and its because of the folder directories having spaces in their names. is there a work around for this? as getting the team to rename all their folders to exclude spaces isn't an easy sell

thanks lads and lasses

Re: how can i work around path names in arcpy having spaces in them, if i can?

DanPatterson_Retired — Sun, 12 Dec 2021 05:41:21 GMT

pth = "c:\the path\with\a\space\in\its\name"

print(pth)
c:      he path\with\space\in\its
ame

pth = r"c:\the path\with\a\space\in\its\name"

print(pth)
c:\the path\with\a\space\in\its\name‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

it isn't just spaces, any of a number of letters that follow the \ cause problems...

I have identified a few.

note the little 'r' before the path name? that is called 'raw' encoding.

it is one of just many options.

since they won't get the smarts you will have to ensure that you do it for them

Re: how can i work around path names in arcpy having spaces in them, if i can?

DanPatterson_Retired — Fri, 08 Feb 2019 16:41:51 GMT

Re: how can i work around path names in arcpy having spaces in them, if i can?

JoshuaBixby — Sun, 12 Dec 2021 05:41:24 GMT

I agree with Dan that spaces, commas, period, etc... in path names isn't a great idea, it raises the risk that some program will get tripped up when working with files and folders. That said, many of those characters are not forbidden in ArcGIS paths. If you start working with Python's os.path module and using raw strings, you should be fine:

>>> import arcpy
>>> path = r"C:\tmp\folder with spaces\user.me space"
>>> path
'C:\\tmp\\folder with spaces\\user.me space'
>>> arcpy.Exists(path)
True
>>> res = arcpy.CreateFileGDB_management(path, "fgdb")
>>> arcpy.CreateTable_management(res, "tbl")
<Result 'C:\\tmp\\folder with spaces\\user.me space\\fgdb.gdb\\tbl'>
>>> ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

Re: how can i work around path names in arcpy having spaces in them, if i can?

DanPatterson_Retired — Fri, 08 Feb 2019 17:36:54 GMT

we failed to add the multiplatform solution... /

path = "C:/tmp/folder with spaces/user.me space"

Re: how can i work around path names in arcpy having spaces in them, if i can?

ronancorrigan — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 09:04:16 GMT

I have been using double quotes the whole time but I still get an error

below is an example fo what i'm doing;

arcpy.CopyRows_management(excelscript, r"{}\Testsheet.csv".format(location))
pfc_temp = r"{}\Testsheet.csv".format(location)

where location is a folder parameter. if I just set location to the folder in question directly it still comes up with the same error

Re: how can i work around path names in arcpy having spaces in them, if i can?

DanPatterson_Retired — Sun, 12 Dec 2021 05:41:26 GMT

Ronan, it isn't just double quotes. It has to be 'raw' string encoded... ie with the 'r' in front.

The big problem right now, I suspect is that the path string gets corrupted from the get-go.

any folder that begins with a variety of characters is going to be messed up unless it is raw encoded.. or avoided by fixing your folders or using Herculean effort to correct them.

Did you read the link in my second post?

Filenames and file paths in Python

And to show that it works... change your folder for testing and/or to move you along

location = "C:\Junk"
r"{}\Testsheet.csv".format(location)

'C:\\Junk\\Testsheet.csv'

location = "C:\Junk and space"
r"{}\Testsheet.csv".format(location)

'C:\\Junk and space\\Testsheet.csv'‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

Re: how can i work around path names in arcpy having spaces in them, if i can?

JoshuaBixby — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 16:31:53 GMT

I agree with Dan's comments. Additionally, it helps to paste the exact error and traceback. I am also suspect of your location variable, what is stored in it?