Programming ArcGIS with Python Cookbook, Second Edition

Fixing broken data sources with MapDocument.findAndReplaceWorkspacePaths()

The MapDocument.findAndReplaceWorkspacePaths() method is used to perform global find and replace workspace paths for all the layers and tables in a map document. You can also replace the paths to multiple workspace types at once. For example, you might pass personal and file geodatabase workspace types at the same time.

Getting ready

We need to cover some definitions before examining the methods used to fix datasets. You'll see these terms used frequently when discussing the methods used to fix broken data sources, so you'll need to understand what they mean in this context. A workspace is simply a container for data. This can be a folder (in the case of shapefiles), personal ...