Arcpy – Adding Folder Connection in ArcMap Catalog Window Using Python

arcgis-10.1arcgis-desktoparcpypython-2.7

I have created a set of general scripting tools for map automation, etc. In one of my tools a geodatabase is created in the workspace folder the script points to. Just out of curiosity, is there any way I can add a folder connection in the ArcMap catalog window once the GDB is created so the user doesn't have to manually create one (assuming they haven't already done so), or is that out of ArcPy's scope?

Best Answer

No it is not possible to add "Folder Connections" using Arcpy.

Folder Connections are stored in the ArcCatalog.gx file, which is typically located at

 c:\Users\*username*\AppData\Roaming\ESRI\*Desktopverion*\ArcCatalog\ArcCatalog.gx

This is a binary file, so forget about editing it.

The only thing you could possibly do is to create the Folder Connections you want on one PC, copy the ArcCatalog.gx file to a common location, and then have your script replace the local PC copy of ArcCatalog.gx file with the common one.

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A couple of ideas for you. First, try and assign your workspace to an object:

env.workspace = r"C:\temp"
Dir = env.workspace

Then you can use the os module such as the os.path.join() function to manipulate your paths:

os.path.join(Dir, ...)

Second, I would consider using Mosaic To New Raster (Data Management) rather than Mosaic (Data Management). In most cases, this function leads to a cleaner script.

For example:

import arcpy, os
from arcpy import env

env.workspace = r"C:\temp"
Dir = env.workspace

# Get raster list
inputs = arcpy.ListRasters()

# Set name
mosaic_name = "mosaic.tif"

# Run the Mosaic tool
arcpy.MosaicToNewRaster_management(inputs, Dir, mosaic_name, "", "", "", 1)

[GIS] Modelbuilder Workspaces: Defaults to a folder, would like it to be a geodatabase

Quick and dirty way of achieving this is to first make "Contour Output" a managed output (i.e., it will be generated in any case as long as you have default/scratch workspace) or save this into a folder location and use Copy Features tool with the inline variables as you used in your "Contour Output". Obviously this one has an extra step but as I said it is quick and dirty. I have not tried it yet but proper way of doing this could be adding a "Calculate Value" tool where there is Describe function (by workspaceType in Workspace properties) which produces a path for your data (whether folder or GDB) and you can feed this into "Contour" output.

Best Answer

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