Latest Contributions by curtvprice

There has to be some way to determine if the MXD you are connected to is valid that will at least respect the "try" block instead of completely bombing python. Couldn't agree more. The only other approach I would suggest is quite kludgy - find some content in the 10.1 file that is unique to 10.1, open the file as a string, and look for it. I sure hope Chris or someone else has a better idea! The better, pythonic solution would be to the mxd object not fail in such an ugly way when it finds unexpected data! ... View more

Chris- As you describe, it makes connection to the 10.1 MXD just fine, it's once you try to list the layers that the script crashes. Please define "crash". Does ArcMap die? ... View more

I geographical terms, I think of the saddle point as a mountain pass like in the second picture in the link. From that point, the surface curves up in one direction and down in another.   You may want to look at the Curvature tool. Comparing that value with some other measures (slope for example) may help you isolate the area you're interested in. ... View more

I would like to be able to identify saddle points in my grid. Have you tried the Curvature tool? The hydrology tools (Flow Accumulation) may also be get you where you need to go. ... View more

I'm using ArcGIS 10.0 and arcpy.mapping.ListLayers to iterate through the layers in a list of MXDs. my problem is that someon has saved a 10.1 mxd somewhere in the list of MXDs I'm working through. I'd be fine with just skipping that file, but how do I determine what version a MXD file is from Python? Does opening a 10.1 mxd generate an error, as I would expect? In that case the truly Pythonic way is to try it and then ask for forgiveness: for mxdPath in mxdList:     try:         mxd = arcpy.mapping.MapDocument(mxdPath)         ## < do your stuff >     except:         print "Could not open the map document: \"%s\"" % mxdPath ... View more

What is needed to run a Python script as a scheduled task on a server that currently only has ArcSDE 10 and Python 2.6 installed on it?  Since the ArcSDE command "sdelocator" is no longer available starting with ArcSDE 10, I created a model on my ArcGIS 10 desktop PC and exported it to a python script to rebuild my ArcSDE-based locators.  When I try to manually run the script on the ArcSDE server, I get the "ImportError: No module named arcpy" message.  The solution (according to the help information) is to add a Desktop10.pth file containing references (paths) to the Desktop10.0\arcpy and Desktop10.0\bin folders into the C:\python26\Lib\site-packages folder but in order to access the arcpy and bin folders, it seems that will I also need to install Desktop 10 on my ArcSDE server in order to access these folders.  My infrastructure guys are concerned about having to load all this extra software on our main GIS data server just to run a script. If you have ArcGIS Server installed on the SDE server, it should have arcpy in its install folder. ... View more

I have a point shapefile with 365 (daily for 1 year) data columns.  I need to run an IDW for each column, 365 in total.  I have done this as a batch process in the past.  Is there any way to get the Z-value field and Output raster entries in the batch to fill sequentially?  Or any other way to do this?  I played with Model Builder a bit, but couldn't find an option there either. If you have ArcGIS 10, Model Builder is definitely the way to do this.  You can use the For iterator (1...365) and use your for variable (%k%) in the input field "D%k%" output dataset name: "out%k%". Batch is an older technique from 9x that can be helpful, but IMHO the 10x Model Builder iteration is generally a more effective way to do such things. ... View more

I wasn't even aware of curly quotes and not sure how I even typed them. Beware the curse of the curly quotes (in Microsoft Word): http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/msoffice/turn-off-words-smart-quotes/1547 If you're not using an IDE (like IDLE or PythonWin) to edit your Python code, I highly recommend it --  because of the requirement for fanatically accurate indentation! ... View more

I'm still getting syntax errors during the 'set the text property of the text element equal to the value from the fields' portion of the code. - You need to indent all statements inside the loop (have you run through the Python tutorial at Python.org?) - As I mentioned, avoid the curly quotes, your options are straight single and double quotes. for row in rows:     RtNumElem.text = row.getValue("RTNUM")          CoElem.text = row.getValue("County")     LocElem.text = row.getValue(�??Location�?�)     (...) ... View more

You cannot use mxd.save() while the target map document is open unless you call this from within the mxd using the "current" parameter for the path. Matt - you mean the mxd object was created from the currently open map document, right? mxd = arcpy.mapping.MapDocument("CURRENT") .... mxd.save() ... View more

Here are few things to look for: 1. Make sure you are using only normal quotes. I see some back and forward quotes in your code, which would definitely break things. 2. SearchCursor can't use a wild card, it has to specifically name a layer or table view 3. The query expression in your search cursor is not complete, you need the whole expression, for example: where = "RTNUM = '{}'".format(RtNum) rows = arcpy.SearchCursor(lyr, "RTNUM = ", "","","","") row = rows.next() Hope this helps... ... View more

I am trying to build a model that will apply a definition query to two layers, run a tool, and then reset the deinition query with my next variable until it reaches the end of my list. Any ideas? I don't think you need to set a definition query - most tools honor the selected set of a layer and only process selected features. Passing the inputs through the Select Layer by Attribute tool before you run the tool can probably do what you want. (If the inputs are feature classes, not layers, you will have to create layers using Make Feature Layer.) You also may be able to use the iteration tools (for example, Iterate Features) to generate the values needed for your query strings. ... View more

No. The tools works fine from arc toolbox. Just not in modelbuilder. Check your results tab to see if the arguments are the same. ... View more