Toolbox properties : the *.atbx revisited

[DanPatterson]

I prefer the custom toolboxes since you can screen grab the tool properties dialog.  Gathering the text information is a bit of a drag, so I have included the script that allows you to do this easily and/or incorporate it into your own toolboxes.

Start with a toolbox, its toolset(s) and tools.

Here is a tool with its input parameter.  This one is to document *.atbx toolboxes.

The results of the tool are sent to the messages which can be copies to the clipboard and pasted in your text processor etcetera.

Here is the sample output in a text processor.

Now in custom toolboxes, you fill in the parameters in a dialog.  You can follow the various options below

Here is a sample tool.

The general parameters are shown below.

Code executation can be embedded or stored in a location relative to the toolbox itself.  That can be in the same folder or in another folder relative to the toolbox.

You can provide validation within the dialog, making it easier to keep your code less cluttered or if your validation is simple or non-existent.

Similarly, you can specify an environment variables within the dialog.

============================

Now if I run the atbx info tool, you get the following results.

atbx info
=====================
Tool Path

C:\arcpro_npg\arcpro_36\npg_36\npg_36.atbx\atbxInfo
=====================
Parameters

toolbox path     C:\arcpro_npg\arcpro_36\npg_36\npg_36.atbx
=====================
Messages

Start Time: June 16, 2026 9:00:03 PM

--------
Running ... C:\arcpro_npg\arcpro_36\scripts_npg_36\atbx_info.py
--------

----
Toolbox : C:\arcpro_npg\arcpro_36\npg_36\npg_36.atbx
----

Property     Value
------------------
alias        npg36
--Tool                     Toolset
  FeatureVerticesToPoints  Featureclass tools
  atbxInfo                 Toolbox properties
  fcToGeo                  Featureclass tools
  fcTonpz                  NumPy tools
  npzTofc                  NumPy tools

Tools and Properties
--Tool : FeatureVerticesToPoints
--Toolset : Featureclass tools
  type  : ScriptTool
  displayname  : feature vertices to points
  script_file  : C:\arcpro_npg\arcpro_36\scripts_npg_36\feature_vertices_to_points.py
  description  : Convert poly* features to vertices.
  product_code  : 100
--Parameters
  name : point_type
  display name : point type
  direction : Input
  data type : String
  parameter type : Required
  enabled : True
  category : None
  symbology : None
  multi-value : False

Tools and Properties
--Tool : atbxInfo
--Toolset : Toolbox properties
  type  : ScriptTool
  displayname  : atbx info
  script_file  : C:\arcpro_npg\arcpro_36\scripts_npg_36\atbx_info.py
  description  : acquire toolbox info
  product_code  : 100
--Parameters
  name : toolbox_path
  display name : toolbox path
  direction : Input
  data type : File
  parameter type : Required
  enabled : True
  category : None
  symbology : None
  multi-value : False

Tools and Properties
--Tool : fcToGeo
--Toolset : Featureclass tools
  type  : ScriptTool
  displayname  : featureclass to Geo
  script_file  : C:\arcpro_npg\arcpro_36\scripts_npg_36\featureclass_to_Geo.py
  description  : Convert a featureclass to a Geo array.
  product_code  : 100
--Parameters
  name : input_features
  display name : input features
  direction : Input
  data type : Feature Layer
  parameter type : Required
  enabled : True
  category : None
  symbology : None
  multi-value : False

Tools and Properties
--Tool : fcTonpz
--Toolset : NumPy tools
  type  : ScriptTool
  displayname  : featureclass to npz
  script_file  : C:\arcpro_npg\arcpro_36\scripts_npg_36\featureclass_to_npz.py
  description  : Convert a featureclass to a numpy *.npz file.
  product_code  : 100
--Parameters
  name : npz_filename
  display name : npz filename
  direction : Input
  data type : String
  parameter type : Required
  enabled : True
  category : None
  symbology : None
  multi-value : False

Tools and Properties
--Tool : npzTofc
--Toolset : NumPy tools
  type  : ScriptTool
  displayname  : npz to featureclass
  script_file  : C:\arcpro_npg\arcpro_36\scripts_npg_36\npz_to_featureclass.py
  description  : Convert a numpy *.npz file to a featureclass.
  product_code  : 100
--Parameters
  name : output_fc
  display name : output featureclass
  direction : Output
  data type : Feature Class
  parameter type : Required
  enabled : True
  category : None
  symbology : None
  multi-value : False
Succeeded at June 16, 2026 9:00:04 PM (Elapsed Time: 0.68 seconds)

Here is the code

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
"""
@author: dan_patterson
"""

import sys
import arcpy
from arcgisscripting._arcgisscripting import _utbx

pth_ = arcpy.GetParameterAsText(0)  # the path to the toolbox
script = sys.argv[0]  # print this should you need to locate the script

def toolbox_info(t_box):
    """Return toolbox information.

    Parameters
    ----------
    t_box : toolbox in *.atbx format

    Example
    -------
    t_box = "C:/temp/npGeom_32.atbx"
    """
    def _hdr_(hdr_n):
        """Format the header."""
        return "{{:<{}s}}".format(hdr_n) + "  {!s:<}"

    t_box = t_box.replace("\\", "/")
    t_props = _utbx.getToolboxProps(t_box, "*")
    t_keys = sorted(list(t_props.keys()))
    hdr_n = max([len(i) for i in t_keys])
    frmt0 = _hdr_(hdr_n)
    msg = frmt0.format("Property", "Value") + "\n" + ("-")*(hdr_n + 7)
    z0 = ['name', 'display name', 'direction', 'data type', 'parameter type',
          'enabled', 'category', 'symbology', 'multi-value']
    keys0 = [i for i in t_keys if i != 'tools']
    keys1 = 'tools' if 'tools' in t_keys else None
    
    for k in keys0:  # toolbox properties
        v = t_props[k]
        msg += "\n" + frmt0.format(k, v)
        if keys1:  # `tool` properties
            v = t_props[keys1]
            v_keys = sorted(list(v.keys()))
            hdr_1 = max([len(i) for i in v_keys])
            frmt1 = _hdr_(hdr_1)
            msg += "\n" + frmt1.format("--Tool", "  Toolset")
            for k1 in v_keys:
                v1 = v[k1]
                msg += "\n  " + frmt1.format(k1, v1)
            for k1 in v_keys:
                pth = "{}/{}".format(t_box, k1)
                t_0 = _utbx.getToolProps(pth, '*')
                tool_keys = list(t_0.keys())
                msg += "\n\nTools and Properties"
                msg += "\n--Tool : {!s:<}\n--Toolset : {!s:}\n".format(k1, v[k1])
                for k2 in tool_keys:
                    if k2 != 'params':
                        msg += "  {!s:}  : {!s}\n".format(k2, t_0[k2])
                    elif k2 == 'params':
                        for i in t_0['params']:
                            z1 = [str(j) if j != '' else 'None'
                                  for j in [i.name, i.displayName, i.direction,
                                  i.datatype, i.parameterType, i.enabled,
                                  i.category, i.symbology, i.multiValue]
                                  ]
                        msg += "--Parameters\n"
                        txt = "\n".join(["  {!s:<} : {!s:}".format(*j)
                                         for j in list(zip(z0, z1))])
                        # msg += "parameter"
                        msg += txt
                    else:
                        msg += "unknown"
        return msg

# -------

msg = toolbox_info(pth_)  # -- run

out_ = "\n--------\nRunning ... {}\n--------\n".format(script)
out_ += "\n----\nToolbox : {}\n----\n".format(pth_)
arcpy.AddMessage(out_)
arcpy.AddMessage(msg)

# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# __main__ .... code section
if __name__ == "__main__":
    # print the script source name.
    print('\n{} in source script... {}'.format(__name__, script))
    # parameters here

So between screen grabs and the atbx info tool, your documentation is complete.