ERROR 000539: Error running expression

Question

I am trying to calculate my End_Streets field within two joined tables. I want to remove the redundant SECONDARYN value from the STREETS field.

" & ".join(!IntersectAndEnds2.Streets!.split(" & ").remove(!StreetSplit2.SECONDARYN!))

Here is a portion of my table:

Joined Table

Here is the error I am receiving when I run the expression in the field calculator.

enter image description here

Error typed out:

ERROR 000539: Error running expression: " & ".join(u"ACORN CT & LARAN RD".split(" & ").remove(u"ACORN CT"))
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "", line1, in TypeError Failed to execute (CalculateField)

• Midavalo: To confirm, you're wanting to remove the value in SECONDARYN from STREETS? So ACORN CT & LARAN RD becomes LARAN RD?
• Midavalo: Are you trying to modify field in a joined table?

Answer 1

You are trying to join a List.remove (returned from .split()), but a List.remove doesn't return anything, so you'd have to remove the item from the list and then join, or if you want to do it inline, I think this would work to exclude what you don't want:

" & ".join(i for i in !IntersectAndEnds2.Streets!.split(" & ") if i <> !StreetSplit2.SECONDARYN!)

• Dan Jurgella: And actually my answer doesn't quite work because arcmap thinks the != is a field rather than "not equal".
• Midavalo: change it to <>
• Dan Jurgella: Thanks. I actually didn't know that Python accepted that.
• Midavalo: See docs.python.org/release/2.5.2/lib/comparisons.html - <> is obsolescent however in this case it works as the ! is signifying something else to arcgis
• hherrmann: I have been struggling with this for two days because I'm not a python person. This worked flawlessly. Thank you so much!

Answer 2

If I understand what you're asking, you want to remove the "ACORN CT & " from "ACORN CT & LARAN RD", leaving just "LARAN RD".

Try this expression

!STREETS!.replace("{} & ".format( !SECONDARYN! ), '').replace(" & {}".format( !SECONDARYN! ), '')

which will leave just "LARAN RD".

I am concerned that you are trying to update a joined table. Your table in the screenshot is called StreetSplit2 but in your expression it looks like the Streets field is in another table called IntersectAndEnds2. You can't update a joined table using the field calculator, you'd need to calculate that field in the actual table (and if necessary perform the join in the other direction).

• Richard Fairhurst: I don't think this would not for the case where the SECONDARYN field value is the last road in the list.
• Midavalo: @RichardFairhurst nice spot, have updated around that.
• Richard Fairhurst: It also would not work for the case where there is no cross street and only the road itself is listed, which can occur for her data since it includes cul-de-sac, stub and dead end points.