ArcGIS Help ListBookmarks example 3 not working

[MatthewStarry]

Please refer to the ArcGIS Help document for the ListBookmarks (arcpy.mapping) function, example 3.  Example 3 shows code that is supposed to convert each bookmark in a map document to a feature.

I cannot get this code to output polygons of bookmark extents in a mxd. I set the output feature class.  I created a template feature class with a "Name" attribute (text, 50) with the same spatial reference as the dataframe of the mxd that contains the bookmarks. The code runs without error and creates the output feature class, however, it does not contain any records.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to get this code to work? I'm using ArcGIS 10.2.1.

import arcpy, os  # The map with the bookmarks mxd = arcpy.mapping.MapDocument(r"C:\Project\Counties.mxd")  # The output feature class to be created - # This feature class will store the bookmarks as features outFC = r'C:\Project\Counties.gdb\Bookmarks'  # A template feature class that contains the attribute schema # Including a "Name" field to store the bookmark name template = r'C:\Project\Counties.gdb\Template'  if arcpy.Exists(outFC):     arcpy.Delete_management(outFC) arcpy.CreateFeatureclass_management(os.path.dirname(outFC),                                     os.path.basename(outFC),                                      "POLYGON", template,                                      spatial_reference=template)  cur = arcpy.da.InsertCursor(outFC, ["SHAPE@", "Name"]) array = arcpy.Array() for bkmk in arcpy.mapping.ListBookmarks(mxd):     array.add(arcpy.Point(bkmk.extent.XMin, bkmk.extent.YMin))     array.add(arcpy.Point(bkmk.extent.XMin, bkmk.extent.YMax))     array.add(arcpy.Point(bkmk.extent.XMax, bkmk.extent.YMax))     array.add(arcpy.Point(bkmk.extent.XMax, bkmk.extent.YMin))     # To close the polygon, add the first point again     array.add(arcpy.Point(bkmk.extent.XMin, bkmk.extent.YMin))     cur.insertRow([arcpy.Polygon(array), bkmk.name])     array.removeAll()

[MatthewStarry · Accepted solution]

I set the output to a shapefile and it worked.

[MichaelVolz]

Can you show the modified code to create a shapefile from the bookmarks?

[JakeSkinner]

Hi Michael,

You will just need to update the outFC variable.  Ex:

outFC = r'C:\Project\Bookmarks.shp'

[MatthewStarry]

I didn't really modify the code. I just set the output feature class to a shapefile instead of a feature class in a FGDB.

import arcpy, os

# The map with the bookmarks
mxd = arcpy.mapping.MapDocument(r"C:\Project\Counties.mxd")

# The output feature class to be created -
# This feature class will store the bookmarks as features
outFC = r'C:\Project\Counties_Bookmarks.shp'

# A template feature class that contains the attribute schema
# Including a "Name" field to store the bookmark name
template = r'C:\Project\Counties.gdb\Template'

if arcpy.Exists(outFC):
    arcpy.Delete_management(outFC)
arcpy.CreateFeatureclass_management(os.path.dirname(outFC),
                                    os.path.basename(outFC), 
                                    "POLYGON", template, 
                                    spatial_reference=template)

cur = arcpy.da.InsertCursor(outFC, ["SHAPE@", "Name"])
array = arcpy.Array()
for bkmk in arcpy.mapping.ListBookmarks(mxd):
    array.add(arcpy.Point(bkmk.extent.XMin, bkmk.extent.YMin))
    array.add(arcpy.Point(bkmk.extent.XMin, bkmk.extent.YMax))
    array.add(arcpy.Point(bkmk.extent.XMax, bkmk.extent.YMax))
    array.add(arcpy.Point(bkmk.extent.XMax, bkmk.extent.YMin))
    # To close the polygon, add the first point again
    array.add(arcpy.Point(bkmk.extent.XMin, bkmk.extent.YMin))
    cur.insertRow([arcpy.Polygon(array), bkmk.name])
    array.removeAll()

[MichaelVolz]

Jake:

Any idea why the original code would not work against a file geodatabase?

[JakeSkinner]

Cannot say for sure; it looks like this may be a bug.

[MichaelVolz]

Jake:

Have you confirmed that this python script run with a file geodatabase, modified for your specific environment, does not work in your environment?

[KyleSchaper]

I can get this code to work when the output is a shape.  My issue is that I have my data frame rotated 3.5 degrees for a better display area.  When the bookmark polys are created, the x,y pairs don't take into account this rotation (see attachment).  How can I add this rotation factor in the python code so that my extent rectangles are a true representation of what is being displayed in the data frame?

[IanMurray]

Yes that can be done.

I'd take a look at this

so it would be something like

df = arcpy.mapping.ListDataFrames(mxd, "#Yourmapdocumentnamehere")
df.rotation = 3.5

Hope this helps!