book

Programming ArcGIS 10.1 with Python Cookbook

Name: Programming ArcGIS 10.1 with Python Cookbook
Author: Eric Pimpler
ISBN: 9781849694445

by Eric Pimpler

February 2013

Intermediate to advanced

304 pages

6h 45m

English

Packt Publishing

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Programming ArcGIS 10.1 with Python Cookbook
Table of Contents
Programming ArcGIS 10.1 with Python Cookbook
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Support files, eBooks, discount offers and moreWhy Subscribe?Free Access for Packt account holders
Preface
What this book covers
What you need for this book
Who this book is for

Conventions
Reader feedback
Customer support
Downloading the example codeErrataPiracyQuestions
1. Fundamentals of the Python Language for ArcGIS
Using IDLE for Python script developmentThe Python shell windowThe Python script windowEditing existing Python scriptsExecuting scripts from IDLE
Python language fundamentals
Commenting codeImporting modulesVariablesBuilt-in datatypesStringsString manipulationNumbersListsTuplesDictionariesClasses and objectsStatementsDecision support statementsLooping statementsTry statementswith statementsFile I/O
Summary
2. Writing Basic Geoprocessing Scripts with ArcPy
Introduction
Using the ArcGIS Python window
Getting readyHow to do it…
Accessing ArcPy with Python
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Executing tools from a script
How to do it…How it works…There's more…
Using ArcGIS Desktop help
Getting readyHow to do it...How it works...
Using variables to store data
Getting readyHow to do it...How it works...
Accessing ArcPy modules with Python
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
3. Managing Map Documents and Layers
Introduction
Referencing the current map document
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works
Referencing map documents on a disk
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Accessing a data frame
Getting readyHow to do it...How it works...
Getting a list of layers in a map document
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…There's more…
Restricting the list of layers
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Changing the map extent
Getting readyHow to do it...How it works...
Getting a list of tables
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Adding layers to a map document
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…There's more…
Inserting layers into a map document
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…There's more…
Updating layer symbology
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…There's more...
Updating layer properties
Getting readyHow to do it…
4. Finding and Fixing Broken Data Links
Introduction
Finding broken data sources in your map document and layer files
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…There's more…
Fixing broken data sources with MapDocument.findAndReplaceWorkspacePaths()
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…There's more…
Fixing broken data sources with MapDocument.replaceWorkspaces()
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Fixing individual Layer and Table objects with replaceDataSource()
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…There's more…
Finding all broken data sources in all map documents in a folder
Getting readyHow to do it...How it works...
5. Automating Map Production and Printing
Introduction
Creating a list of layout elements
Getting ready...How to do it…How it works…
Assigning a unique name to layout elements
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…There's more…
Restricting the layout elements returned by ListLayoutElements()
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works...
Updating layout element properties
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works...
Getting a list of available printers
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works...
Printing maps with PrintMap()
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works...
Exporting a map to a PDF file
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Exporting a map to an image file
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Creating a map book with PDFDocumentCreate() and PDFDocumentOpen()
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works...There's more…
6. Executing Geoprocessing Tools from Scripts
Introduction
Finding geoprocessing tools
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Retrieving a toolbox alias
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Executing geoprocessing tools from a script
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…There's more...
Using the output of a tool as an input to another tool
Getting readyHow to do it...How it works...
Setting environment variables and examining tool messages
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
7. Creating Custom Geoprocessing Tools
Introduction
Creating a custom geoprocessing tool
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…There's more...
8. Querying and Selecting Data
Introduction
Constructing proper attribute query syntax
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Creating feature layers and table views
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works...There's more...
Selecting features and rows with the Select Layer by Attribute tool
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Selecting features with the Select by Location tool
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Combining a spatial and attribute query with the Select by Location tool
Getting readyHow to do it...How it works...
9. Using the ArcPy Data Access Module to Select, Insert, and Update Geographic Data and Tables
Introduction
Retrieving features from a feature class with a SearchCursor
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Filtering records with a where clause
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Improving cursor performance with geometry tokens
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Inserting rows with InsertCursor
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Updating rows with an UpdateCursor
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Deleting rows with an UpdateCursor
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Inserting and updating rows inside an edit session
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Reading geometry from a feature class
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
10. Listing and Describing GIS Data
Introduction
Getting a list of feature classes in a workspace
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…There's more…
Restricting the list of feature classes returned with a wildcard
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Restricting the list of feature classes returned with a feature type.
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…There's more...
Getting a list of fields in a feature class or table
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Using the Describe() function to return descriptive information about a feature class
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Using the Describe() function to return descriptive information about an image
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Returning workspace information with the Describe() function
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
11. Customizing the ArcGIS Interface with Add-Ins
Introduction
Downloading and installing the Python Add-In wizard
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Creating a button add-in
Getting readyHow to do it...How it works...
Installing and testing an add-in
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Creating a tool add-in
Getting readyHow to do it...How it works...There's more…
12. Error Handling and Troubleshooting
Introduction
Exploring the default Python error message
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Adding Python exception handling structures (try/except/finally)
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…There's more…
Retrieving tool messages with GetMessages()
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Filtering tool messages by severity level
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Testing for and responding to specific error messages
Getting ready…How to do it…How it works…
Returning individual messages with GetMessage()
Getting readyHow to do it...How it works...
A. Automating Python Scripts
Introduction
Running Python scripts from the command line
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Using sys.argv[ ] to capture command-line input
Getting readyHow to do it...How it works...
Adding Python scripts to batch files
Getting readyHow to do it...How it works...There's more...
Scheduling batch files to run at prescribed times
Getting readyHow to do it...How it works...
B. Five Things Every GIS Programmer Should Know How to Do with Python
Introduction
Reading data from a delimited text file
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…There's more...
Sending e-mails
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…
Retrieving files from an FTP server
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…There's more…
Creating ZIP files
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…There's more…
Reading XML files
Getting readyHow to do it…How it works…There's more…
Index

Content preview from Programming ArcGIS 10.1 with Python Cookbook

Using the Describe() function to return descriptive information about a feature class

All datasets contain information that is descriptive in nature. For example, a feature class has a name, shape type, spatial reference, and so on. This information can be valuable to your scripts when you seek specific information before continuing with further processing in the script. For example, you might want to perform a buffer only on polyline feature classes instead of points or polygons. Using the Describe() function you can obtain basic descriptive information about any dataset. You can think of this information as metadata.

Getting ready

The Describe() function provides you with the ability to get basic information about datasets. These datasets could ...

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Programming ArcGIS 10.1 with Python Cookbook

by Eric Pimpler

Using the Describe() function to return descriptive information about a feature class

Getting ready

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.