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arcpy.ExcelToTable field name length limitation for in_memory output

MaximeDemers

I found out there is a limitation of 10 characters for field names if you output arcpy.ExcelToTable() to a "in_memory" table.

Why? Is it because dbf format is used?

I dont have this limitation when I use "in_memory" with other tools such arcpy.CopyFeatures_management().

arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>ExcelToTable_conversion<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="string token">"C:\\temp\\input.xlsx"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"in_memory\table"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="line-numbers-rows"><SPAN>‍</SPAN></SPAN>

Is there a way to use get rid of this limitation with arcpy.ExcelToTable() and "in_memory"?

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Accepted answers

MaximeDemers

It appears there is not that limitation when using arcpy.TableToTable_conversion() instead of arcpy.ExcelToTable() but .xlsx is not supported. You will have to use .xls or other formats.

arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>TableToTable_conversion<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="string token">"c:\\temp\\input.xls"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"in_memory"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"table"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>‍‍‍<SPAN class="line-numbers-rows"><SPAN>‍</SPAN></SPAN>

All comments

DanPatterson_Retired

Try adding a ValidateFieldName to your workflow to see what it returns since it validates it against the workspace and not the source. So for geodatabase, it would be longer, but in_memory or folder, there is no recommendation, but a shapefile would definitely have a limitation... see this also

http://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/arcpy/get-started/working-with-geodatabases.htm

MaximeDemers

arcpy<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>TableToTable_conversion<SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="string token">"c:\\temp\\input.xls"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"in_memory"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"table"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>‍‍‍<SPAN class="line-numbers-rows"><SPAN>‍</SPAN></SPAN>

DanPatterson_Retired

If the table is going out to a geodatabase table, but not a dbase table I would assume from the help

http://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/tool-reference/conversion/table-to-table.htm

curtvprice

I really try to avoid long field names unless I absolutely need them, because if the dataset has to go through shapefile at some point (say to export to another software system) your field names will get truncated.

Geoprocessing considerations for shapefile output—Help | ArcGIS Desktop

MaximeDemers

Good advice, but I prefer to avoid shapefiles, JSON is a better format for sharing data between systems, especially over the net because it's a one file format and can be manipulated by almost every programming language directly.

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