Use a SQL expression inside a Python or Arcade field calculation?

[Bud]

ArcGIS Pro 3.1.1

• Mobile geodatabase,
• File geodatabase,
• Or enterprise geodatabase that is registered as versioned; option to move edits to base (SQL field calculations not supported on versioned data):
  
  

For cases where we would rather use SQL than Python or Arcade, is there a way to generate a value using a SQL expression -- that would be returned back to the Field Calculator geoprocessing tool?

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For example, if I already have a complex SQL CASE expression written from a different use case, I don't want to re-write it in Python or Arcade. I'd rather just use the SQL as-is instead, to save time and avoid mistakes.

I'm aware that it's possible to create a SQL database view, join it to the FC attribute table, and do a field calculation to bring in the joined field value. But that's pretty cumbersome for a one-off calculation. So I'm wondering if there's a way to use the SQL expression directly in a Python or Arcade field calculation instead.

Related ideas:

• Virtual Attributes (ad hoc)
• Mobile Geodatabase — Calculate field using SQL
• Mobile geodatabase query layers
• File Geodatabase — Calculate field using SQL
• File geodatabase query layers
• Use SQL for field calculations on versioned data (option to move edits to base)

[DannyMcVey]

Interestingly, SQL is an option when using the field calculator on a hosted feature service.

For file geodatabase feature classes, I'd recommend taking a look at the "where_clause" and "sql_clause" parameters on the UpdateCursor. This might enable your desired workflow.

[BlakeTerhune]

You could use ArcSDESQLExecute to query your data, format into a dictionary, then use an update cursor or calculate field to update the values by looking them up in your dictionary.