Using file opened by GUI in python?

Question

I have these lines of code:

import tkFileDialog, arcpy, arcpy.da, numpy as np, Tkinter
import arcpy.mapping as mapping
fc = tkFileDialog.askopenfilename(filetypes=[('shapefiles','*.shp')],title='Choose a Shapefile')
print 'fc = {0}'.format(fc)
desc = arcpy.Describe(fc)
#Find the number of rows(alternatives) and print it!
number_of_rows = arcpy.GetCount_management(fc)
R = int(number_of_rows.getOutput(0))
print R
#Find the number of columns(criterias) and print it!
C = len(arcpy.ListFields(fc))
print C

It creates a GUI where i can browse and open a shapefile. This shapefile is an ArcMap shapefile with a layer and an attribute table. With this algorithm i get this error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
 File "C:\Users\Th\Desktop\Python Scripting\Σμαραγδάς Αθανάσιος Διπλωματική\Python Codes\Python_Codes\Script1.py", line 8, in <module>
 number_of_rows = arcpy.GetCount_management(fc)
 File "C:\Program Files\ArcGIS\Desktop10.1\arcpy\arcpy\management.py", line 13613, in GetCount
raise e
ExecuteError: ERROR 000229: Cannot open C:/Users/Th/Desktop/waterways.shp
Failed to execute (GetCount).

How can i solve this? I can access the file with the line below and do the same work with it, but i want to create a GUI so that i can open any file i want to by browsing.

fc = "C:/Users/Th/Desktop/waterways.shp"

I am trying to open the file with the GUI and then use it for any reason i want.But after it prints the directory of the file(as the algorithm demands), i get the error above.

• JamesLeversha: Does it work when you manually add it?
• Thanos Smar: Yes it does work perfectly. @JamesLeversha
• Ben S Nadler: I have worked with tkFileDialog and did not have a problem. What does the print 'fc = {0}'.format(fc) output?
• JamesLeversha: Also do a print desc after desc = arcpy.Describe(fc) to see if a describe object is getting created. Maybe try and set the workspace variable in the code, arcpy.env.workspace = fc = tkFileDialog.askopenfilename(filetypes=[('shapefiles','*.shp')],title='Choose a Shapefile')
• Thanos Smar: fc = {0}'.format(fc) prints the path of fc: fc = C:/Users/Th/Desktop/waterways.shp @BenSNadler

Answer 1

As commented by @PauloRaposo:

[This m]ight be an Esri bug ... See this on Error 000229, about background processing being enabled: http://support.esri.com/technical-article/000012177. Your code works just fine for me in a Python console using one of my own shapefiles.