Latest Contributions by VishalShah2

So I'm working on a custom tool that generates KMZs for reports to go out ot various different departments. One thing that we do is turn certain fields off not to show every attribute in the table. Thus, I settled on using MakeFeatureLayer_management tool to create a new feature layer with only the fields I want shown in the report. Here is what my code looks like: visibleFields = ["Field1", "Field2", "Field3", "Field4", "Field4"] field_info = arcpy.Describe('Input Feature Layer').fieldInfo for index in xrange(0, field_info.count):     if field_info.getfieldname(index) not in visibleFields:         field_info.setvisible(index,"HIDDEN") arcpy.MakeFeatureLayer_management('Input Feature Layer','Output Feature Layer',"","",field_info) arcpy.RefreshTOC() arcpy.RefreshActiveView()‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ When I run this in the python module in ArcMap, the output feature layer is automatically added to the Table of Contents. But when I run this in my custom tool, the output feature layer isn't added to the Table of Contents and my custom tool spits out an error because the tool cannot progress as the output feature layer does not exist in the Table of Contents and cannot be referred on. So how would I be able to add the newly created feature layer to the table of contents in the script when the feature layer is created in program memory? ... View more

So I've been doing some research into this but have gotten conflicting outputs on whether or not it is possible to turn fields on and off using python in custom tools. I am working on a custom tool that generates KMZs on a state by state level for different departments within the company, but we do not let them see all the attributes within each feature class, thus turning some fields off before we use Map to KML tool. Since I am currently trying to automate this process, I want the custom tool to first turn the fields I do not want shown in the report off before the tool gets to the actual execution in regards to generating the KMZs. One such discussion I looked at was this on titled Turn fields off by script. While Wayne's solution seemed to work for the OP, there were parts of that solution I did not understand. Is there an easier way to approach this or if someone can help break down Wayne's solution, that would be appreciated. I look forward to seeing the ideas everyone has for this.  For reference, here's what the solution to the other discussion: import arcpy from arcpy import env arcpy.env.overwriteOutput = True arcpy.env.addOutputsToMap = False mxd = arcpy.mapping.MapDocument('CURRENT') df = arcpy.mapping.ListDataFrames(mxd, '*')[0] LayerNeedsFieldsTurnedOff = arcpy.mapping.ListLayers(mxd, 'your target layer name', df)[0] # fill in your desired fields to remain visible desiredFields = ['fieldname0', 'fieldname1', 'fieldname2', 'etc'] field_info = arcpy.Describe(LayerNeedsFieldsTurnedOff).fieldInfo for i in range(field_info.count):     if field_info.getfieldname(i) not in desiredFields:         field_info.setvisible(i, 'HIDDEN') arcpy.MakeFeatureLayer_management(LayerNeedsFieldsTurnedOff, 'temp_layer', '', '', field_info) refLyr = arcpy.mapping.Layer('temp_layer') # rename the ref layer the same as your target layer refLyr.name = 'your target layer name'  arcpy.ApplySymbologyFromLayer_management(refLyr, LayerNeedsFieldsTurnedOff) arcpy.mapping.UpdateLayer(df, LayerNeedsFieldsTurnedOff, refLyr, False) mxd.save()  print 'cleaning up-' if arcpy.Exists('temp_layer'):     print '\'temp_layer\' still in memory...deleting now...' arcpy.Delete_management('temp_layer') print 'deleting obj refs...' del mxd,LayerNeedsFieldsTurnedOff, refLyr print 'done.' ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ ... View more