"Group layers" by name and merge them with arcpy

[JohannaKollin]

I don´t use python that often and I´m kind of new to it. I have a lot af layers in a single folder and I need to merge all the layers that starts and ends with the same character. I´ve done it manually before but it takes too much time to select the layers one by one through the merge tool and I have tried to use python to do it semiautomated, with Listfeatureclasses and wildcards and then continue to merge them, but it was also timeconsuming. It also seems like a waste of time to do it "my way" every time there are new updates.

I have tried to find a solution to my problem online and I searched through forums, but I´ve found nothing yet (maybe I´m searching for the wrong things). Below is a printscreen of a small part of my folder, so there are many more layers starting with other characters than e and h. Can I somehow with python  group them and merge those that have the same filetype and characters (not middle characters)?

If this question already exist with an answer please let me know

[JakeSkinner · Accepted solution]

Hi Johanna,

Here is a sample that may work:

import arcpy
from arcpy import env
env.workspace = r"E:\Temp\Python\Data.gdb"

#create list of feature clases
fcList = [fc for fc in arcpy.ListFeatureClasses("*")]

char = []

#append unique first and last character groupings
for fc in fcList:
        if fc[0] + "_*_" + fc[-1] not in char:
                char.append(fc[0] + "_*_" + fc[-1])

#merge results
for wildCard in char:
        name = wildCard.split("_*_")[0] + wildCard.split("_*_")[-1] + "_merge"
        newfcList = [fc for fc in arcpy.ListFeatureClasses(wildCard)]
        arcpy.Merge_management(newfcList, name)

[JohannaKollin]

Thank you so much, this worked!