if/else statements in field calculator

[KathleenHoenke]

Is there a way to specify in an if/else statement "if fc begins with "PG", return 918? Does a * work for this? see below:

# Structure Class
Class = "StructureClass"
expression6 = "Reclass(!DAM_TYPE!)"
codeblock = def Reclass (fc):
    if fc ="PG*":
        return 918
    elif fc = "CB*":
        return 97
    elif fc = "VA*":
        return 98
    elif fc = "MV*":
        return 99
    elif fc = "OT*":
        return 917
    else:
        return None

arcpy.CalculateField_management(fc, Class, expression6, "PYTHON_9.3")

[DavidPike]

I think you need a regex for wildcard matches:
How to implement wildcards in Python (educative.io)

[JoeBorgione · Accepted solution]

A couple things about if statements in python:

if something = value:

will never work. 

if something == value:

is the way to do it.

I've never seen a wild card work in python, perhaps someone else can make it work for you. But this ought to get you going:

if fc.startswith('PG'):

I assume you have already defined the variable fc although you don't show it.

[DanPatterson · Accepted solution]

if fc[:2] == "PG":

slicing alternative... compare the first 2 characters and == is the equality check

[KathleenHoenke]

Thank you both! I feel as though I'm doing something foolish here and calling the wrong thing... - I greatly appreciate all of the help.

import arcpy

arcpy.env.workspace = r'F:\Analysis\InventoryWork\InventoryUpdateMay2020\New_Datasets_Schema.gdb'
#The NID plus SARP data path
fc = r'F:\Analysis\InventoryWork\InventoryUpdateMay2020\New_Datasets_Schema.gdb\NID2020_Schema'
Class = "StructureClass"
expression6 = "Reclass(!DAM_TYPE!)"
codeblock = def Reclass (fc):
    if fc[:2]=="PG":
        return 918
    elif fc[:2]=="CB":
        return 97
    elif fc[:2] == "VA":
        return 98
    elif fc[:2] == "MV":
        return 99
    elif fc[:2] == "OT":
        return 917
    else:
        return None

arcpy.CalculateField_management(fc, Class, expression6, "PYTHON_9.3")
  File "<string>", line 4
    codeblock = def Reclass (fc):
                  ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

[DanPatterson · Accepted solution]

your code block has to be enclosed in triple quotes """def..... to the end """

Calculate Field (Data Management)—ArcGIS Pro | Documentation

see the examples

[KathleenHoenke]

Thank you!