Arcpy.Buffer_Analysis Does Not Create Feature Class

Question

import arcpy
arcpy.env.workspace = r'c:\data'
fcs = str(raw_input('Please enter the layers you would like to buffer: '))
dist = str(raw_input('What would you like your buffer distance to be? '))
output = str(raw_input('Name your output: '))
for fc in fcs:
 if arcpy.Exists(fcs):
 arcpy.Buffer_analysis(inputs, output, dist)
if not arcpy.Exists(fcs):
 print "Feature class does not exist"

The above script executes but does not create the feature class I want. Where am I going wrong?

• Alex Tereshenkov: Debug your code to see what is the fc value is. You supply the inputs to the Buffer however, it should be fc. Indentation is wrong, arcpy.Buffer_analysis should be one level to the right.
• PolyGeo: Print the contents of each variable before you use them - I think you are assuming that they have a value different to what is actually being stored.
• recurvata: Any time you take a user entered string you should check the entry to make sure it's valid. For example, someone could enter 'abc' for dist. This would, obviously, be incorrect.

Answer 1

As indicated in the comments, you have a few issues. The first one I see is your enumerating through fcs. What do you expect to enter at the prompt? Your code will enumerate through each letter, which I expect is not what you want. For example, if you enter "fred, bob", the list will be: [f,r,e,d, , b,o,b].

Try:

arcpy.env.workspace = r'c:\data'
string_input = raw_input('Please enter the layers you would like to buffer: ')
fcs = map(str.strip, string_input.split(','))
dist = raw_input('What would you like your buffer distance to be? ')
output = raw_input('Name your output: ')
for fc in fcs:
 if arcpy.Exists(fc):
 arcpy.Buffer_analysis(fc, output, dist)
 if not arcpy.Exists(fc):
 print "Feature class does not exist"

Where you would enter a comma-delimited list for the layers to buffer. For example, "trees, shrubs, plants".

Warning: this is untested code, so there may be other issues. I am unsure what you want youroutput to be as all the inputs will go to the same output feature class.