Using variable from arcpy.GetParameterAsText() as part of output path?

Question

I´m trying to use a variable as part of the output path of a shutil command. Unfortunately I couldn´t work it out how to do it. Can anybody help?

import arcpy
import shutil
Name = arcpy.GetParameterAsText(0)
shutil.copyfile("C:\\test.txt", "C:\\%Name%.txt")

This question here is similar, but was never answered: Using ArcGIS ModelBuilder to perform In-line variable substitution for input data path?

score 9 · Accepted Answer · edited Jul 20 '12 at 14:07

9

import arcpy
import shutil


outbasename=arcpy.GetParameterAsText(0)
#outfilename=r"C:\" + outbasename + ".txt"  # Original with typo
outfilename = "C:\\" + str(outbasename) + ".txt"
shutil.copyfile("C:\\test.txt",outfilename)

this is how I would do it in arcpy in a script tool

edited Jul 20 '12 at 14:07

Michael Markieta

5,411
5
36
65

answered Jul 20 '12 at 13:15

mhoran_psprep

1,001
1
6
9

Thanks, unfortunately I´m getting an error message: <type 'exceptions.IOError'>: [Errno 22] invalid mode ('wb') or filename: 'C:\" + outbasename.txt' – Martin Jul 20 '12 at 13:28
that's what i get for trying to code on a machine without python – mhoran_psprep Jul 20 '12 at 13:32
1

You may not have permission to write to that location. IOError usually occur when Python has trouble completing a task that requires writing to the disk. – Michael Markieta Jul 20 '12 at 13:34
I´m trying to run the script from ArcGIS 10 with Python 2.6. It´s my computer and I´m administrator, so writing permissions shouldn´t be the problem. Any other idea ? – Martin Jul 20 '12 at 13:41
3

" escapes the second ". You will need to replace the line with this text.... outfilename = "C:\\" + str(outbasename) + ".txt" – Michael Markieta Jul 20 '12 at 13:45
2

An alternative is to use string substitution. outfilename="C:\\%s.txt" % (outbasename) The %s means that a string is substituted at that location from the tuple that follows (in this case containing only the variable outbasename, which will be coerced to a string). – blord-castillo Jul 20 '12 at 14:23

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 20 '12 at 16:07

Have a look at the os.path namespace for common pathname manipulations. I would also parameterize the input file and output locations instead of hardcoding them but of course that's up to you.

I would do something like this:

import arcpy, os, shutil
inputfile = arcpy.GetParameterAsText(0)
ext = os.path.splitext(inputfile)[1] # returns file extension, e.g. ".txt"
outbasename = arcpy.GetParameterAsText(1)
outfolder = arcpy.GetParameterAsText(2)
outfilename = os.path.join(outfolder, outbasename + ext)
shutil.copyfile(inputfile, outfilename)

Using variable from arcpy.GetParameterAsText() as part of output path?

2 Answers2