Describe().SpatialReference.Name with period in file name

[DanWakefield1]

Hello,

I'm running ArcGIS 9.3.1 and I have a shapefile with a period in the name, such as "Test.2.shp", which I can not use Describe to get the projection for. When I try to use gp.Describe('Test.2.shp').SpatialReference.Name, I get the error "RuntimeError: DescribeData: Method SpatialReference does not exist."

Here is my code:

import arcgisscripting, sys

gp = arcgisscripting.create(9.3)
gp.SetProduct("ArcInfo")
gp.workspace = 'D:/Temp'

print 'Test1.shp Name: '+gp.Describe('Test1.shp').Name
print 'Test.2.shp Name: '+gp.Describe('Test.2.shp').Name

print 'Test1 Prj: '+gp.Describe('Test1.shp').SpatialReference.Name
print 'Test.2 Prj: '+gp.Describe('Test.2.shp').SpatialReference.Name

And this is the result from the command line:

Test1.shp Name: Test1.shp
Test.2.shp Name: Test.2.shp
Test1 Prj: NAD_1983_StatePlane_Illinois_East_FIPS_1201
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "D:\Temp\test.py", line 11, in <module>
    print 'Test.2 Prj: '+gp.Describe('Test.2.shp').SpatialReference.Name
RuntimeError: DescribeData: Method SpatialReference does not exist

Both Test1.shp and Test.2.shp have the same projection. Am I doing something wrong, or does anyone have a suggestion for me? I'd prefer not to have to rename the files.

Thanks,
Dan

[ChrisSnyder]

Generally speaking:

1) Only name GIS datasets using letters, numbers, or an "_".
2) Always start the name (database names, rasters, featureclasses, field names too!, etc.) with a letter (not a number or an underscore).
3) Avoid spaces and special characters (such as a ".", "&", "#", etc.).
4) If you can help it, keep names <= 10 characters. There are many exceptions of course, but...

I have followed these four basic rules for 12 years, and have never gone wrong. Sorry, but I think you will have to rename your shapefile to get this to work (maybe reformat to a FGDB, and the "." may be supported in that format?).

[ChrisSnyder]

Did you try making a feature layer from the unfortunately-named shapefile and then try the describe on that?

For example:

fc = r"C:\temp\test.badname.shp"
gp.MakeFeatureLayer(fc,"fl")
dscObj = gp.describe("fl")
srObj = dscObj.spatialreference
print srObj.name

[DanWakefield1]

Chris,

Thanks for the help. I tried making the the shapefile into a layer,

gp.MakeFeatureLayer('D:/Temp/Test.2.shp','t2')

and received this:

ERROR 000732: Input Features: Dataset D:/Temp/Test.2.shp does not exist or is not supported

I think my best bet is going to be to rename the offending files.

Thanks for the help,
Dan

[ChrisSnyder]

Hmm...

Another option (assuming this works), would be to temporarily rename the shapefile (use the Rename tool), use the describe, and then rename it back.

Yet another option: There is a .prj file that accompanies the .shp (assuming there is a defined projection). Instead of using the describe method directly, maybe just have Python look for/read the .prj file. The prj string can then be loaded into a SR object using the "loadFromString" method.