An overview of ArcPy functions

ArcPy provides a number of functions to better support workflows using Python.

In addition to the functions listed in this topic, all geoprocessing tools can be accessed as ArcPy functions; see Using tools in Python for more information. Additional functions can be found in other ArcPy modules, including the following:

• Charts module (arcpy.charts)
• Data Access module (arcpy.da)
• Geocoding module (arcpy.geocoding)
• Image Analysis module (arcpy.ia)
• Mapping module (arcpy.mp)
• Metadata module (arcpy.metadata)
• Network Analyst modules (arcpy.nax and arcpy.na)
• Sharing module (arcpy.sharing)
• Spatial Analyst module (arcpy.sa)
• Workflow Manager (Classic) module (arcpy.wmx)

Learn more about using functions in Python

ArcGIS Online / Portal functions

Function	Description
ClearCredentials	The ClearCredentials function removes ArcGIS Server credential information from a client machine to disable access to secured services.
GetActivePortalURL	Returns the URL of the active portal.
GetPortalDescription	GetPortalDescription is used to return the view of the portal as seen by the current user, anonymous or logged in. It includes information such as the name, logo, featured items, and supported protocols (HTTP versus HTTPS) for this portal. If the user is not logged in, this call will return the default view of the portal. If the user is logged in, the view of the returned portal will be specific to the organization to which the user belongs. The default view of the portal is dependent on the culture of the user, which is obtained from the user's profile.
GetPortalInfo	The GetPortalInfo function returns a dictionary that contains information on available portals.
GetSigninToken	Returns token information when signed in to ArcGIS.com or a local portal.
ImportCredentials	The ImportCredentials function imports credentials from a GIS Server connection file for ArcGIS Server nontoken-based secured services.
ListPortalURLs	The ListPortalURLs function returns a list of available portal URLs.
SignInToPortal	The SignInToPortal function allows you to sign in to a portal.

Cursor functions

Function	Description
InsertCursor	Inserts rows into a feature class, shapefile, or table. InsertCursor returns an enumeration object that hands out Row objects.
SearchCursor	The SearchCursor function establishes a read-only cursor on a feature class or table. SearchCursor can be used to iterate through Row objects and extract field values. The search can optionally be limited by a where clause or by field and optionally sorted.
UpdateCursor	The UpdateCursor function creates a cursor that allows you to update or delete rows on the specified feature class, shapefile, or table. The cursor places a lock on the data that will remain until either the script completes or the update cursor object is deleted.

Data store functions

Function	Description
AddDataStoreItem	Registers a folder or database with an ArcGIS Server site.
ListDataStoreItems	Returns a list of the folders or databases registered with an ArcGIS Server site.
RemoveDataStoreItem	Unregisters a folder or database from an ArcGIS Server site.
ValidateDataStoreItem	Validates whether a folder or database has been successfully registered with an ArcGIS Server site.

Describing data functions

Function
Describe	The Describe function returns a Describe object with multiple properties, such as data type, fields, indexes, and many others. Its properties are dynamic, meaning that depending on what data type is described, different describe properties will be available for use.

Environment functions

Function	Description
ClearEnvironment	Resets a specific environment setting to its default.
GetSystemEnvironment	Gets the specified system environment variable value, such as "TEMP".
ListEnvironments	Returns a list of geoprocessing environment names.
ResetEnvironments	Resets all environment settings to their default settings.

Field functions

Function	Description
AddFieldDelimiters	Adds field delimiters to a field name to allow for use in SQL expressions.
ParseFieldName	Parses a fully qualified field name into its components (database, owner name, table name, and field name) depending on the workspace. ParseFieldName returns a string that includes the parsed table name and contains the database, owner, table, and field names, separated by commas. The workspace must be a personal, file, or enterprise geodatabase.
ValidateFieldName	Takes a string (field name) and a workspace path and returns a valid field name based on name restrictions in the output geodatabase. All invalid characters in the input string will be replaced with an underscore (_). The field name restrictions depend on the specific database used (Structured Query Language [SQL] or Oracle).

General functions

Function	Description
AlterAliasName	Updates the alias name for a table or feature class.
Command	Executes a geoprocessing tool as a single string.
CreateObject	Creates geoprocessing objects. The extra arguments can be used to specify additional requirements for the object creation such as the number of columns in the ValueTable object.
CreateRandomValueGenerator	Creates a new random number generator.
ListPrinterNames	Returns a list of available printers on the local computer.
Usage	Returns the syntax for the specified tool or function.

General data functions

Function	Description
CreateScratchName	Creates a unique scratch path name for the specified data type. If no workspace is given the current workspace is used.
CreateUniqueName	Creates a unique name in the specified workspace by appending a number to the input name. This number is increased until the name is unique. If no workspace is specified, the current workspace is used.
Exists	Determines the existence of the specified data object. This function tests for the existence of various data types including feature classes, tables, datasets, shapefiles, workspaces, layers, and files. The function returns a Boolean indicating whether the element exists.
ParseTableName	Parses a table name into its components (database, owner, table) depending on the workspace. ParseTableName returns a string containing the parsed table name, with the database name, owner name, and table name, separated by commas. This workspace must be a personal, file, or enterprise geodatabase.
TestSchemaLock	Tests if a schema lock can be acquired for a feature class, table, or feature dataset. Tools that alter schema will require a schema lock to be placed on the input data. The Add Field tool is an example of such a tool. If the tool requires a schema lock and is unable to aquire one at the time of execution, an appropriate error message is returned. Scripts that use such tools should test if a schema lock can be acquired on the input data. The TestSchemaLock function will not actually apply a schema lock on the input data, but will return a Boolean.
ValidateTableName	Takes a table name and a workspace path and returns a valid table name for the workspace. An underscore "_" will replace any invalid character found in the table name and will honor the name restrictions for the workspace. The table name restrictions depend on the specific RDBMS used.

Geodatabase administration functions

Function	Description
AcceptConnections	Allows an administrator to enable or disable the ability of nonadministrative users to make connections to an enterprise geodatabase.
DisconnectUser	Allows an administrator to disconnect users who are currently connected to an enterprise geodatabase.
ListUsers	Returns a list of named tuples containing information for users who are connected to an enterprise geodatabase.

Geometry functions

Function	Description
AsShape	Converts Esri JSON or GeoJSON geometry to ArcPy geometry, and Esri JSON feature sets to ArcPy feature sets. GeoJSON is a geospatial data interchange format for encoding geographic data structures.
FromCoordString	Converts a coordinate system notation string to a PointGeometry object in WGS84 coordinates.
FromGeohash	Converts a geohash string to an Extent object in WGS 1984 coordinates that represents the corresponding bounding box in the geohash grid.
FromWKB	Create a new geometry object from a well-known binary (WKB) string stored in a bytearray.
FromWKT	Create a new Geometry object from a well-known text (WKT) string.

Licensing and installation functions

Function	Description
CheckExtension	Checks to see if a license is available to be checked out for a specific type of extension.
CheckInExtension	Returns the license to the License Manager so other applications can use it.
CheckOutExtension	Retrieves the license from the License Manager.
CheckProduct	Checks to see if the requested license is available.
GetInstallInfo	The GetInstallInfo function returns a dictionary that contains information on the installation.
ListInstallations	The ListInstallations function returns a list of installation types (server, desktop, engine, arcgispro).
ProductInfo	Returns the current product license.

Listing data functions

Function	Description
ListDatasets	Returns a list of datasets in the current workspace. Search conditions can be specified for the dataset name and dataset type to limit the list that is returned.
ListFeatureClasses	Returns a list of the feature classes in the current workspace, limited by name, feature type, and optional feature dataset.
ListFields	Returns a list of fields in a feature class, shapefile, or table in a specified dataset. The returned list can be limited with search criteria for name and field type and will contain field objects.
ListFiles	Returns a list of files in the current workspace.
ListIndexes	Returns a list of the indexes in a feature class, shapefile, or table in a specified dataset.
ListRasters	Returns a list of the rasters in the current workspace.
ListTables	Returns a list of tables in the current workspace.
ListVersions	Lists the versions the connected user has permission to use.
ListWorkspaces	Returns a list of workspaces in the current workspace.

Logging functions

Function	Description
GetLogHistory	Determines whether history logging is active.
GetLogMetadata	Determines whether geoprocessing operations are written to dataset metadata.
SetLogHistory	Controls whether information about the execution of geoprocessing tools is written to an external log file.
SetLogMetadata	Controls whether geoprocessing tool input and output datasets' metadata is updated to include the tool name, parameters, when the tool was run, and other information.

Message and error handling functions

Function	Description
AddError	Adds an error message (severity of 2) to the messages of a script tool or Python toolbox tool.
AddIDMessage	Allows you to use system messages with a script tool.
AddMessage	Adds a custom informative message (severity of 0) to the messages of a script tool or Python toolbox tool.
AddReturnMessage	Sets the return message of a script tool as an output message by index.
AddWarning	Adds a custom warning message (severity of 1) to the messages of a script tool or Python toolbox tool.
GetIDMessage	Get the string of the error or warning ID message.
GetMaxSeverity	Gets the maximum severity returned from the last executed tool.
GetMessage	Returns a geoprocessing tool message by its index position.
GetMessageCount	Returns a numeric count of all the returned messages from the last executed command.
GetMessages	Returns the geoprocessing messages from a tool by a specified severity level.
GetReturnCode	Return the message error code by index.
GetSeverity	Gets the severity code (0, 1, 2) of the specified message by index.
GetSeverityLevel	Returns the severity level. The severity level is used to control how geoprocessing tools throw exceptions.
SetSeverityLevel	Used to control how geoprocessing tools throw exceptions.

Parameter functions

Function	Description
CopyParameter	Copies the specified parameter by index to another parameter in the script tool. The specified parameters must be of the same data type.
GetArgumentCount	Returns the number of arguments passed to the script.
GetParameter	From the parameter list, select the desired parameter by its index value. The parameter is returned as an object.
GetParameterAsText	Gets the specified parameter as a text string by its index position from the list of parameters.
GetParameterCount	Returns a count of the parameter values for the specified tool. If the tool is contained in a custom toolbox, use ImportToolbox to access the custom tool.
GetParameterInfo	Returns a list of parameter objects for a given tool and is commonly used in a script tool's ToolValidator class.
GetParameterValue	For a specified tool name, returns the default value of the desired parameter.
SetParameter	Sets a specified parameter property by index using an object. This function is used to pass objects from a script to a script tool. If you need to pass a string, use the SetParameterAsText function.
SetParameterAsText	Gets the specified parameter as a text string by its index position from the list of parameters.
SetParameterSymbology	Sets the symbology properties of the specified output parameter of a script tool.

Progress dialog functions

Function	Description
ResetProgressor	Resets the progressor to its initial state.
SetProgressor	Establishes a progressor object to support progress information to be displayed in the Geoprocessing pane. The appearance of the progressor can be controlled by choosing either the default progressor or the step progressor.
SetProgressorLabel	Updates the progressor label in the Geoprocessing pane.
SetProgressorPosition	Updates the progressor status bar in the Geoprocessing pane.

Publishing functions

Function	Description
CreateGeocodeSDDraft	The function converts a locator into a Service Definition Draft (.sddraft) file, which can be used to create a service definition for publishing a geocode service.
CreateGPSDDraft	The function converts Result objects and result files (.rlt) into Service Definition Draft (.sddraft) files.
CreateImageSDDraft	The CreateImageSDDraft function is the first step to automating the publishing of a mosaic dataset or raster dataset as an Image Service using ArcPy. The output created from the CreateImageSDDraft is a Service Definition Draft (.sddraft) file, which is a combination of a mosaic dataset in the geodatabase or a raster dataset, information about the server, and a set of service properties. This service definition draft can be staged as service definition then uploaded to a specified ArcGIS server as an image service.

Raster functions

Function	Description
GetImageEXIFProperties	Returns EXIF header information from a geotagged image.
NumpyArrayToRaster	Converts a NumPy array to a raster.
RasterToNumPyArray	Converts a raster to a NumPy array.

Spatial reference and transformation functions

Function	Description
GenerateOptimalCoordinateSystem	Generates a SpatialReference object with a custom projected coordinate system optimal for the specified extent and intended purpose of your map or analysis.
ListSpatialReferences	Returns a list of available spatial reference names for use as an argument to the SpatialReference class.
ListTransformations	Returns a list of valid transformation methods. An extent can be used to narrow the list of valid transformation methods for a specific geographic area.

Tool and toolbox functions

Function	Description
AddToolbox	Imports the specified toolbox into ArcPy, allowing for access to the toolbox's associated tools.
DecryptPYT	Decrypt an encrypted Python toolbox file.
EncryptPYT	Encrypts a Python toolbox file.
ImportToolbox	Imports the specified toolbox into ArcPy, allowing for access to the toolbox's associated tools.
IsSynchronous	Determines if a tool is running synchronous or asynchronous. When a tool is synchronous, the results are automatically returned, but no other action may be taken until the tool has completed. All non-server tools are synchronous. Server tools may be asynchronous, meaning that once the tool has been submitted to the server, other functionality can be run without waiting, and the results must be explicitly requested from the server.
ListToolboxes	Returns a list of toolboxes.
ListTools	Returns a list of geoprocessing tools.
RemoveToolbox	Removes the specified toolbox, either by specifying its path or referencing its alias. Removes the specified toolbox from the current geoprocessing session. Server toolboxes can also be removed using a semicolon delimiter.