Accessing Map Document Properties via arcpy.mapping

MikeMacRae — Mon, 09 May 2011 17:48:51 GMT

Hey folks,

I am trying to access the Map Document properties through the arcpy.mapping.MapDocuments module.

My issue is, I lose the original information in the fields in the Map Document properties window (File --> Map Document properties...) I am trying to read and write the "Author" of the map. I have set a script to loop through a series of mxd's, make some changes and then SaveACopy to a 9.3 version. Everytime it saves the copy, I lose all the Map Document Properties (ie Author, Title, Summary, etc) In the saved document, those fields turn blank.

I have attempted to try to write to those fields to populate the information I want, but I'm at a wall. When the script opens the mxd's through the loop, I set it to print the mxd.author. That works fine. It prints the authors name, but when I open the mxd after the script has finished, this field is blank. I'm not sure if it gets lost when I use the "SaveACopy" method. Any suggestions?

# Import arcpy module
import arcpy
import os
import glob

folderPath = r"\\Chip\FolderRedirections\John.Doe\Desktop\Test"
    for filename in glob.glob(os.path.join(folderPath, "*.mxd")):
        print "Editing", filename
        mxd = arcpy.mapping.MapDocument(filename)
        # This print statement works. I get the return value of mxd.author
        print mxd.author
    
        mxd.saveACopy(filename + "_93.mxd", '9.3') 
        del mxd

       #After I SaveACopy, I lose the "author" properties information in the new mxd

Re: Accessing Map Document Properties via arcpy.mapping

MikeMacRae — Fri, 13 May 2011 14:32:57 GMT

Apparently this is a bug in the "Save A Copy" function. I contacted ESRI and now they are waiting to hear from Redlands.

I would suggest using "Save a Copy" tosave your .mxd's first off, and then reopen those copies and process on them.

Thanks,
Mike

topic Accessing Map Document Properties via arcpy.mapping in Python Questions

Accessing Map Document Properties via arcpy.mapping

Re: Accessing Map Document Properties via arcpy.mapping