Creating the First Python Script

With the Python environment configured to fit our needs, we can now create and execute ArcPy scripts. To ease into the creation of Python scripts, this chapter will use ArcGIS ModelBuilder to model a simple analysis, and export it as a Python script. ModelBuilder is very useful for creating Python scripts. It has an operational and a visual component, and all models can be outputted as Python scripts, where they can be further customized.

This chapter we will cover the following topics:

• Modeling a simple analysis using ModelBuilder
• Exporting the model out to a Python script
• Windows file paths versus Pythonic file paths
• String formatting methods