FAQ: Changes in List methods for Python with ArcGIS 9.3

Article ID:	34873
Software:	ArcGIS - ArcEditor 9.3, 9.3.1 ArcGIS - ArcInfo 9.3, 9.3.1 ArcGIS - ArcView 9.3, 9.3.1
Platforms:	Windows XP

Question

Changes in List methods for Python with ArcGIS 9.3

Answer

In ArcGIS 9.3, the Geoprocessing Programming Model changed the way List methods produced results. In ArcGIS 9.2, they were outputted as enumerations, where the properties of Next and Reset were needed to iterate through the list.

ArcGIS 9.3 now produces Python Lists that do not require Next and Reset. Below is an example of the differences.

Using Next() and Reset() with List methods produces an error only if the script uses the 9.3 version of the arcgisscripting module.
Current scripts that utilize the 9.2 version are not effected.

These changes effect the following methods:

ListFields()
ListIndexes()
ListDatasets()
ListFeatureClasses()
ListRasters()
ListTables()
ListWorkspaces()
ListEnvironments()
ListToolboxes()
ListTools()
ListInstallations()

ArcGIS 9.2 ListFeatureClasses:

import arcgisscripting

gp = arcgisscripting.create()



gp.workspace = r"D:\Data"



fcS = gp.ListFeatureClasses()

fc = fcS.Next()



while fc:

    print fc

    fc = fcS.Next()

ArcGIS 9.3 ListFeatureClasses:

import arcgisscripting

gp = arcgisscripting.create(9.3)



gp.workspace = r"D:\Data"



fcS = gp.ListFeatureClasses()



for fc in fcS:

    print fc

Created: 5/22/2008
Last Modified: 10/5/2009