Exploring the default Python error message

By default, Python will generate an error message anytime it encounters a problem in your script. These error messages will not always be very informative to the end user running the script. However, it is valuable to take a look at these raw messages. In later recipes, we'll use Python error handling structures to get a cleaner look at the errors and respond as necessary.

Getting ready

In this recipe, we will create and run a script that intentionally contains error conditions. We will not include any geoprocessing or Python exception handling techniques in the script. We're intentionally doing this, because I want you to see the error information returned by Python.

How to do it…

Follow the steps below to see a raw Python error message that is generated when an error occurs while a tool is being executed in a script:

1. Open IDLE and create a new script.

2. Save the script to c:\ArcpyBook\Ch12\ErrorHandling.py.

3. Import the arcpy module:

   import arcpy

4. Set the...