Rename multiple feature classes using ArcGIS API for Python

Summary

In ArcGIS Pro, the General toolset contains tools to perform general data management operations on a geodatabase table or feature class. These modifications can be made by running a Python script in ArcGIS Pro. This article provides the workflow to rename multiple feature classes (as shown in the Catalog pane below) using ArcGIS API for Python.

Procedure

1. Start ArcGIS Pro and open the project.
2. To open the Python window, on the top ribbon, click Analysis, click the Python drop-down list arrow and select Python Window.

3. Specify the following script in the Python window.
   1. Import the necessary modules.

import arcpy

2. Specify the workspace with the file geodatabase folder path.

arcpy.env.workspace = r"<gdbFolderPath>"

3. Specify the ArcPy function to apply the changes to all the feature class names and aliases. In this example, the <separator> specifies the separator to use when splitting the string. The <maxSplit> specifies the index number of the part to split in relation to the separator, -1 represents 'all occurrences'. The <addToFeatureClassName> is named as Test_.

for fc in arcpy.ListFeatureClasses() + arcpy.ListTables():
    name = fc.split("<separator>")[<maxSplit>]
    new_name = "<addToFeatureClassName>" + name
    try:
        arcpy.management.Rename(fc, new_name)
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Could not rename {fc} to {new_name}: {e}")

The code block below demonstrates the full working script.

import arcpy
arcpy.env.workspace = r"C:\Users\ISC-DT27\Documents\Article work\29660\LabelMapFeatures\Portland Labels.gdb"
for fc in arcpy.ListFeatureClasses() + arcpy.ListTables():
    name = fc.split(" ")[-1]
    new_name = "Test_" + name
    try:
        arcpy.management.Rename(fc, new_name)
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Could not rename {fc} to {new_name}: {e}")

The image below shows the updated feature class names using Python in ArcGIS Pro.