Python loop with address locator

Question

I was given a list of addresses without any zip codes, and I'm trying to write a python snippet that will loop through a set of possible zip codes and make a set of geocoded shapefiles that I will later merge.

My address table is essentially laid out like this: ("Project_" fields are the possible zip codes)

Address City Project_1 Project_2 ... Project_42 
123 Main Street Birmingham 78954 78953 ... 78961

My python snippet looks like this:

import arcpy 
from arcpy import env 
env.workspace = "N:\Reference\GIS\State\Project\Address Locator" 
geocoder = env.workspace + "\State_Addresses_Create_Addr" 
for y in range(1,43): 
 zippo = "Projects_" + str(y) 
 outfile = '"N:\Project_Geocode_Results_'+ str(y) + '"' 
 fncgeo = '"Street Apartment VISIBLE NONE; ZIP ' + zippo + ' VISIBLE"' 
 arcpy.GeocodeAddresses_geocoding("Geocode_Table", geocoder, fncgeo, outfile) 

When I try to run the snippet outside of a loop (i.e., based on a single field), the geocode works fine. When I run it as written above, I get:

ERROR 000010: Geocode addresses failed. Failed to execute (Geocode Addresses).

Does anyone have any ideas as to why the geocode won't work in a loop?

• Jason Miller: One other thing that might be contributing to the problem is the backslash character... for simplicity I always use the forward slash in paths, even though in Windows it doesn't look right... anywhere there is a back slash, change it to a forward slash...

Answer 1

I think the extra double quote is the issue in the outfile and fncgeo variable. Try this:

import arcpy 
from arcpy import env 
env.workspace = "N:\Reference\GIS\State\Project\Address Locator" 
geocoder = env.workspace + "\State_Addresses_Create_Addr" 
for y in range(1,43): 
 zippo = "Projects_" + str(y) 
 outfile = r'N:\Project_Geocode_Results_{0}.shp'.format(y) 
 fncgeo = 'Street Apartment VISIBLE NONE; ZIP {0} VISIBLE'.format(zippo) 
 arcpy.GeocodeAddresses_geocoding("Geocode_Table", geocoder, fncgeo, outfile) 

• Jon Boyette: Thanks! Your suggestion made the loop work; only problem now is that the background server is throwing an exception on the third or fourth loop every time. It won't run in the foreground either--crashes after three or four loops. But your fix definitely got the loop going--thanks!
• crmackey: I am not sure why you are getting that error, especially after it completes a few iterations of the loop. Are the few outputs that do get created correct? Maybe you could add a time.sleep(5) after the geocode. Not sure if that would help or not but could be worth a try.
• Jon Boyette: Thanks again! As you suggested, I added time.sleep(5) to the end of the loop, and it looped all the way to the end of the range. I guess Arc just needed its beauty rest.
• crmackey: Wow, that is funny. I cannot believe that worked. I'm glad you're up and running now.