ArcPy – Solving ERROR 000210: Cannot Create Output in ArcPy

arcgis-10.2arcgis-desktoparcpyerror-000210in-memory

The ArcGIS for Desktop "ERROR 000210: Cannot create output" has been reported on this site a number of times but an in_memory workspace seems to have been implicated only once:

ERROR 000210: Cannot create output in_memory

which was in Getting 000210 Error trying to wirte output to in_memory workspace in ModelBuilder?

I have just encountered the same error message from ArcPy, using ArcGIS 10.2.2 for Desktop both in a Python script tool and from IDLE.

I have determined the cause and so I am asking a question in order to provide an answer to anyone who may encounter it in future.

What causes the error message below from ArcPy?

ExecuteError: ERROR 000210: Cannot create output in_memory\AND
Failed to execute (CopyFeatures)

Best Answer

Not wishing to detract from PolyGeo's excellent answer I wanted to know what other words can't be used for creating feature classes. To this end I wrote a simple script in python to try every alphanumeric combination and found some interesting results:

  • Names cannot start with a number
  • Dashes are not allowed

At the risk of putting the 'horse before the cart' I think it's worthwhile to review the results before disclosing the code:

- is a bad name
0 is a bad name
1 is a bad name
2 is a bad name
3 is a bad name
4 is a bad name
5 is a bad name
6 is a bad name
7 is a bad name
8 is a bad name
9 is a bad name
by is a bad name (copy)
in is a bad name (copy)
is is a bad name (copy)
or is a bad name (copy)
add is a bad name (copy)
and is a bad name (copy)
for is a bad name (copy)
not is a bad name (copy)
set is a bad name (copy)
drop is a bad name (copy)
from is a bad name (copy)
into is a bad name (copy)
like is a bad name (copy)
null is a bad name (copy)

It is interesting that feature classes can be created with 'bad' names using CreateFeatureClass but when using CopyFeatures certain names are not allowed; also, interestingly, names can start with underscores - perhaps then we should be prepending with underscore (for example: "in_memory\\_" + name) to 'sanitise' names before using.

The code:

import arcpy
inFC        = r'D:\Name\masked\for\anonymity.shp'
LogFileName ="d:\\Name\\masked\\for\\anonymity\\BadNameLog.txt"

def LogResults(input):
    arcpy.AddMessage(input)
    LogFile = open(LogFileName,'a')
    LogFile.write(input + "\n")
    LogFile.close() # flush and write

alphaRange=range(97,123)  # a to z
alphaRange.append(95)     # underscore
alphaRange.append(45)     # dash, found to be never valid
numericRange=range(48,58) # numbers

# add the range of numbers to the characters
alphaRange.extend(numericRange) 

# single character names
for a in alphaRange:
    outName = chr(a) 
    try:
        arcpy.CreateFeatureclass_management("in_memory",outName,"POINT")
        arcpy.Delete_management("IN_MEMORY\\" + outName) # clean up
    except:
        LogResults (outName + " is a bad name")
# at this point we determine that names can't start with numbers or a dash, so remake the list
# for the 2nd and subsequent characters to avoid starting with numbers or dash

startAlphaRange=range(97,123)  # a to z
alphaRange.append(95)          # underscore

# also, it is determined that dash is not valid, every name containing it
# comes back as bad so remake the list without the dash

# two character names
for a in startAlphaRange:
    for b in alphaRange:
        outName = chr(a) + chr(b)
        try:
            arcpy.CreateFeatureclass_management("in_memory",outName,"POINT")
            arcpy.Delete_management("IN_MEMORY\\" + outName) # clean up
            outName = outName.upper()
            arcpy.CreateFeatureclass_management("in_memory",outName,"POINT")
            arcpy.Delete_management("IN_MEMORY\\" + outName) # clean up
        except:
            LogResults (outName + " is a bad name (create)")
        outName = chr(a) + chr(b)
        try:
            arcpy.CopyFeatures_management(inFC,"in_memory\\" + outName)
            arcpy.Delete_management("IN_MEMORY\\" + outName) # clean up
            outName = outName.upper()
            arcpy.CopyFeatures_management(inFC,"in_memory\\" + outName)
            arcpy.Delete_management("IN_MEMORY\\" + outName) # clean up
        except:
            LogResults (outName + " is a bad name (copy)")
LogResults("End two character names")

# three character names
for a in startAlphaRange:
    for b in alphaRange:
        for c in alphaRange:
            outName = chr(a) + chr(b) + chr(c)
            try:
                arcpy.CreateFeatureclass_management("in_memory",outName,"POINT")
                arcpy.Delete_management("IN_MEMORY\\" + outName) # clean up
                outName = outName.upper()
                arcpy.CreateFeatureclass_management("in_memory",outName,"POINT")
                arcpy.Delete_management("IN_MEMORY\\" + outName) # clean up
            except:
                LogResults (outName + " is a bad name (create)")
            outName = chr(a) + chr(b) + chr(c)
            try:
                arcpy.CopyFeatures_management(inFC,"in_memory\\" + outName)
                arcpy.Delete_management("IN_MEMORY\\" + outName) # clean up
                outName = outName.upper()
                arcpy.CopyFeatures_management(inFC,"in_memory\\" + outName)
                arcpy.Delete_management("IN_MEMORY\\" + outName) # clean up
            except:
                LogResults (outName + " is a bad name (copy)")
LogResults("End three character names")

# four character names
for a in startAlphaRange:
    for b in alphaRange:
        for c in alphaRange:
            for d in alphaRange:
                outName = chr(a) + chr(b) + chr(c) + chr(d)
                try:
                    arcpy.CreateFeatureclass_management("in_memory",outName,"POINT")
                    arcpy.Delete_management("IN_MEMORY\\" + outName) # clean up
                    outName = outName.upper()
                    arcpy.CreateFeatureclass_management("in_memory",outName,"POINT")
                    arcpy.Delete_management("IN_MEMORY\\" + outName) # clean up
                except:
                    LogResults (outName + " is a bad name (create)")
                outName = chr(a) + chr(b) + chr(c) + chr(d)
                try:
                    arcpy.CopyFeatures_management(inFC,"in_memory\\" + outName)
                    arcpy.Delete_management("IN_MEMORY\\" + outName) # clean up
                    outName = outName.upper()
                    arcpy.CopyFeatures_management(inFC,"in_memory\\" + outName)
                    arcpy.Delete_management("IN_MEMORY\\" + outName) # clean up
                except:
                    LogResults (outName + " is a bad name (copy)")
LogResults("End four character names")

# five character names
for a in startAlphaRange:
    for b in alphaRange:
        for c in alphaRange:
            for d in alphaRange:
                for e in alphaRange:
                    outName = chr(a) + chr(b) + chr(c) + chr(d) + chr(e)
                    try:
                        arcpy.CreateFeatureclass_management("in_memory",outName,"POINT")
                        arcpy.Delete_management("IN_MEMORY\\" + outName) # clean up
                        outName = outName.upper()
                        arcpy.CreateFeatureclass_management("in_memory",outName,"POINT")
                        arcpy.Delete_management("IN_MEMORY\\" + outName) # clean up
                    except:
                        LogResults (outName + " is a bad name (create)")
                    outName = chr(a) + chr(b) + chr(c) + chr(d) + chr(e)
                    try:
                        arcpy.CopyFeatures_management(inFC,"in_memory\\" + outName)
                        arcpy.Delete_management("IN_MEMORY\\" + outName) # clean up
                        outName = outName.upper()
                        arcpy.CopyFeatures_management(inFC,"in_memory\\" + outName)
                        arcpy.Delete_management("IN_MEMORY\\" + outName) # clean up
                    except:
                        LogResults (outName + " is a bad name (copy)")
LogResults("End five character names")

# six character names
for a in startAlphaRange:
    for b in alphaRange:
        for c in alphaRange:
            for d in alphaRange:
                for e in alphaRange:
                    for f in alphaRange:
                        outName = chr(a) + chr(b) + chr(c) + chr(d) + chr(e) + chr(f)
                        try:
                            arcpy.CreateFeatureclass_management("in_memory",outName,"POINT")
                            arcpy.Delete_management("IN_MEMORY\\" + outName) # clean up
                            outName = outName.upper()
                            arcpy.CreateFeatureclass_management("in_memory",outName,"POINT")
                            arcpy.Delete_management("IN_MEMORY\\" + outName) # clean up
                        except:
                            LogResults (outName + " is a bad name (create)")
                        outName = chr(a) + chr(b) + chr(c) + chr(d) + chr(e) + chr(f)
                        try:
                            arcpy.CopyFeatures_management(inFC,"in_memory\\" + outName)
                            arcpy.Delete_management("IN_MEMORY\\" + outName) # clean up
                            outName = outName.upper()
                            arcpy.CopyFeatures_management(inFC,"in_memory\\" + outName)
                            arcpy.Delete_management("IN_MEMORY\\" + outName) # clean up
                        except:
                            LogResults (outName + " is a bad name (copy)")
LogResults("End six character names")

# seven character names
for a in startAlphaRange:
    for b in alphaRange:
        for c in alphaRange:
            for d in alphaRange:
                for e in alphaRange:
                    for f in alphaRange:
                        for g in alphaRange:
                            outName = chr(a) + chr(b) + chr(c) + chr(d) + chr(e) + chr(f) + chr(g)
                            try:
                                arcpy.CreateFeatureclass_management("in_memory",outName,"POINT")
                                arcpy.Delete_management("IN_MEMORY\\" + outName) # clean up
                                outName = outName.upper()
                                arcpy.CreateFeatureclass_management("in_memory",outName,"POINT")
                                arcpy.Delete_management("IN_MEMORY\\" + outName) # clean up
                            except:
                                LogResults (outName + " is a bad name (create)")
                            outName = chr(a) + chr(b) + chr(c) + chr(d) + chr(e) + chr(f) + chr(g)
                            try:
                                arcpy.CopyFeatures_management(inFC,"in_memory\\" + outName)
                                arcpy.Delete_management("IN_MEMORY\\" + outName) # clean up
                                outName = outName.upper()
                                arcpy.CopyFeatures_management(inFC,"in_memory\\" + outName)
                                arcpy.Delete_management("IN_MEMORY\\" + outName) # clean up
                            except:
                                LogResults (outName + " is a bad name (copy)")
LogResults("End seven character names")

The code incrementally tries every character combination (lower then upper) and logs the name when the operation fails; it will take a long time to run but in the end every plausible combination from one to seven characters will be tried. Note: I have not included punctuation or non-keyboard characters. Other language sets may have different words that are bad, based on the findings the bad words are SQL keywords and they're all English (aren't they?).

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