[GIS] How to add data to a newly created folder using arcpy

arcgis-10.1arcpyerror-000732

I'm writing a script to create a new folder and then copy a feature class to a shapefile and add the shapefile in the new folder. The folder gets created but the script is failing on the feature class to shapefile conversion line with an error of:

ExecuteError: Failed to execute. Parameters are not valid.
ERROR 000732: Output Folder: Dataset Zoning_ does not exist or is not supported
Failed to execute (FeatureClassToShapefile).

My code so far is: 

import arcpy, os, datetime
from arcpy import env

# Set Workspace
env.workspace = "C:/GIS_Work"

inputFile = arcpy.GetParameterAsText(0)
outputFile = arcpy.GetParameterAsText(1)

# Create folder with today's date
#dt = str(datetime.datetime.now())

# Set local variables
out_folder_path = "C:/GIS_Work/PropertyAppraiser"
out_name = "Zoning_"

# Execute CreateFolder
arcpy.CreateFolder_management(out_folder_path, out_name)

# Execute Export Feature Class to Shapefile
arcpy.FeatureClassToShapefile_conversion(inputFile, out_name)

Is there something I need to do to the folder to make it able to receive files? I couldn't see anything in the ArcGIS Help that would suggest this, but since the folder is getting created the portion of the error that says "does not exist" wouldn't apply, I would think.

Best Answer

I decided to scrap arcpy for the create folder portion of the script and use os.makedirs instead. That worked much easier for me. My new code is:

import arcpy, os, datetime
from arcpy import env

# Set Workspace
env.workspace = "C:/GIS_Work"

inputFile = arcpy.GetParameterAsText(0)
outputFile = arcpy.GetParameterAsText(1)

# Create folder with today's date
dt = str(datetime.date.today())

newpath = r'C:\GIS_Work\PropertyAppraiser\Zoning_'+dt
if not os.path.exists(newpath): os.makedirs(newpath)

# Execute Export Feature Class to Shapefile
arcpy.FeatureClassToShapefile_conversion(inputFile, newpath)
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