SearchCursor sql_clause not working

[mmann1123]

I am working with searchcursors for a .shp file with arcpy 3.0-py39. I am unable to get the searchcursor's sql clause to do frankly anything. Regardless of my clause I get the same result (all rows printed to screen, unordered).

For instance both of these provide the same response:

for row in arcpy.da.SearchCursor(in_table="Crashes_in_DC",
              field_names="Tot_PedBik",
              sql_clause=('TOP 3', None)):
        print(f" {row[0]}" )

for row in arcpy.da.SearchCursor(in_table="Crashes_in_DC",
              field_names="Tot_PedBik",
              sql_clause=(None, 'ORDER BY Tot_PedBik DESC')):
        print(f" {row[0]}" )

[dgiersz_cuyahoga · Accepted solution]

I don't think you can use either of those SQL queries against a shapefile (see Example 5a & 6): https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/arcpy/data-access/searchcursor-class.htm

May have better luck using the where_clause with shapefiles.

[mmann1123]

Ok I will try that.

[mmann1123]

They could at least throw a warning my way though...