Latest Contributions by JoshuaBixby

I am not sure why you are getting an error when you print the Unicode with the invalid character.  Understanding there is an invalid character, printing the string from Python 2.7 shouldn't cause an error since the bug was fixed.  That said, it would be nice if Esri's error handling was cleaner. ... View more

What version of ArcGIS and Python are you using?  The known Python issue you reference affected Python 2.5 and 2.6, which the last version to ship with one of those versions was ArcGIS 10.0.  I am able to print the error message without encoding changes and no crashes in ArcGIS 10.3. That said, it is odd that the error message returns an invalid Unicode character. ... View more

Unfortunately with Esri, I have reached a point of seeing is believing, regardless of what the documentation or staffers say.  That said, your question is addressed in more detail in the online documentation:  Compatibility of ArcGIS 10.3 for Server with earlier versions. ... View more

My guess, that table you reference simply has outdated information.  Do you have a link? If you look at the ArcGIS for Desktop - Microsoft SQL Server database requirements for ArcGIS 10.3 web page, you will see that SQL Server 2014 is supported.  I thought I came across a similar ArcGIS for Server page, but I can't find it now.  Also, a GeoNet discussion (Microsoft SQL Server 2014 and ArcGIS 10.2.2) from this past November has an Esri staffer commenting that SQL Server 2014 support starts at ArcGIS 10.3. ... View more

Xander Bakker wrote: In addition a few comments on your code: ... it is better to use a "with" statement for you cursor, this will clear it from memory after the cursor finishes ... As much as I have advocated for using with statements with ArcPy Data Access (arcpy.da) cursors, I have come to find those cursors don't quite work as advertised when using with statements.  I agree the ArcGIS Help/Documentation strongly implies what you state is how the software works: Search Cursor - Data Access module: Search cursors can be iterated using a For loop. Search cursors also support With statements; using a With statement will guarantee close and release of database locks and reset iteration. Closing and releasing database locks are guaranteed!!  Those are pretty strong words.  Unfortunately, they oversimplify the situation enough that I argue they wrong.  I haven't gone through every type of data source, but I do know that using with statements on shapefiles leaves one lock behind while feature classes in file geodatabases leave two locks behind.  The locks can be removed by explicitly deleting the cursor object, but the documentation doesn't necessarily imply that and none of the examples in the documentation show it. I have submitted a bug to Esri to either correct the cursors or update the documentation.  Of course, I don't hold my breath on them doing anything about it because any end-user confusion doesn't cost them anything, you already bought the software! BUG-000083762: In each cursor documentation, specify the type of lock being closed and released, as a shared lock is still present in the geodatabase after the 'with' statement executes. ‌ ... View more

Since the SQL Server 2014 question has been answered, I will just point out the latest release of ArcGIS for Server is 10.3. ... View more

One could argue this is a bug, but even if it is a bug, there is a low probability it will be addressed.  The issue appears to be cleaning up the ArcSDE application server connections, and the ArcSDE application server no longer exists at ArcGIS 10.3.  Sure, ArcGIS 10.3 clients can connect to existing ArcSDE application servers (I think), but Esri won't put a high priority or much resources into addressing an issue with arcpy.DisconnectUser when the issue is dealing with retired functionality. The SDE command line tools also don't exist at 10.3, but if older versions of them are working for you, I would say that seems like the best path forward.  Regarding Plink, why not just install the SDE command line tools on the machine the database maintenance script is running on.  That way, you wouldn't have to use Plink and remote into another machine. Since the ArcSDE application server is dead, I would suggest you start considering changes to your architecture in the coming year or so.  In the meantime, goes with whatever works for you because getting potential bugs fixed for retired functionality is an uphill battle. ... View more

See the following:  Will the ArcGIS for Home Use Program will include ArcGIS Pro? Although the answer seems to be yes, I am not sure whether that applies with the prerelease versions of ArcGIS Pro, which is where we are still at today. ... View more

I wouldn't go as far as saying you can only use one cursor at a time.  There are several factors that affect how and whether multiple cursors will work together on a data set.  The types of locks that the cursors require are one factor.  The order of which cursors are opened first can be a factor.  The backend data storage format is another factor.  When it comes to using multiple cursors to access spatial data, having the data in an enterprise DBMS makes a big difference. ... View more

If you install 64-bit Background Geoprocessing, background processing in ArcGIS Desktop only uses the 64-bit version.  Now, you can disable background processing and keep everything in-process, which would be 32-bit, but you can't do 32-bit background processing when the 64-bit product is installed. Installing the 64-bit Background Geoprocessing won't change ad-hoc Python code in the interactive Python window, that will still run 32-bit.  That said, since ArcGIS Desktop is compiled to be Large Address Aware, it seems 4 GB of address space is available on 64-bit Windows instead of the regular 2 GB. If you wrap your code into a Python Toolbox and run it as a tool, I am not sure whether that executes in the background as 64-bit or would still be in-process and 32-bit.  I know I have tinkered with this before, but my memory fails me at the moment. For me, the most straightforward way to use 64-bit Python and ArcPy is to develop the code and execute it outside of ArcGIS Desktop, a standalone script some might say.   I develop in PyCharm usually, so I just configure PyCharm to use the 64-bit Python interpreter and ArcPy instead of the 32-bit.  When I install 64-bit Background Geoprocessing, it usually automatically updates the IDLE (Python GUI) shortcut in All Programs to use 64-bit instead of 32-bit. ... View more

Bigger picture, you don't need to be using both search cursors and update cursors since both cursors are open on the same FC.  You can iterate over an update cursor without updating any values, in effect using it like a search cursor.  Usually you wouldn't want to do that because it creates more locks and may have a bit more overhead in terms of performance.  In this case, since you are going to open update cursors on the FC already, just work with update cursors. Furthermore, you should be able to restructure the code to do everything with a single update cursor.  Instead of creating a new update cursor each time, since your insertFD lists aren't doing anything anyways, you can just reset the cursor and iterate over it again.  Resetting a cursor and reusing it is much more efficient and clean in terms of locks than recreating new cursors every time. ... View more

Since you are using a search cursor and update cursor against the FC at the same time, and the search cursor creates the first set of locks, it may be causing an issue since the update cursor will want to generate more locks.  Not sure, just thinking aloud. One thing to try, put a del rows statement at the bottom of your try statement (indented to the same level as your search cursor statement).  Deleting the search cursor explicitly will more cleanly remove the locks before you move onto the next FC.  In theory, reassigning the rows variable to a new search cursor object should release the locks on the earlier search cursor, but that may not be happening cleanly. ... View more

Regarding your use of the older/original UpdateCursor, you are using incorrect syntax.  You are getting lucky, if one wants to call it that, because there is a bug in the UpdateCursor where passing a Python list instead of a text-based where_clause causes the where_clause to be ignored.  In effect, using cursor = arcpy.UpdateCursor(fc) generates the same cursor for you. The fact that switching everything to the Data Access cursors meant the code didn't work at all, not even the first FC, is telling you something is wrong with the code even for the first FC.  What exactly happened when you use arcpy.da UpdateCursors?  Does it run and nothing happens?  An error code is generated? ... View more

By stall out, what exactly do you mean?  Does it stop running and hang?  Does it complete but not update what you expect?  Does it stop running and generate an error? ... View more

Which version of ArcGIS Desktop are you using?  Does ListVersions in the ArcPy Data Access (arcpy.da) not work for you?  Or, do you want to only work with a subset of all versions?  Or yet, do you not know how to iterate over a list? ... View more