AveryDB

Running

To use, you need to have Python 2.7 (2.6 will probably work) and PyGTK installed. Use the PyGTK all-in-one installer from http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/GNOME/binaries/win32/pygtk/2.24/

A portable version (doesn't require python and pygtk to be installed) is planned.

Run the file averydb.py

• NOTE: arcmap only supports NUMERIC fields for numbers, so if you use real or integer for a field, it will not load.

About

The utility focuses on allowing you to join tables of data stored in separate files and outputting a customized result.
Fields can be easily renamed, reordered, created, removed, altered, and perform any calculations for the output value.
Not least of all, it does everything in one go, so if you're working with large amounts of data you don't have to start one modification, wait for it to end, and start the next. You configure the entire process, from original input files to the final version of the output. Since it's meant to work with multiple formats, you can ignore the joining functionality and just use it as a file conversion tool (which gives you convenient fine tuning control over the conversion).

Formats

Right now it lets you input, combine, and output csv, dbf, and sqlite.

Joining

You can do left joins (keep all target records) or inner joins (only keep matching records).

Field Calculations

Values from input files are referenced by !filealias.fieldname! These values can be used in single line statements like:

!values.LAND_HSTD! + !values.LAND_NON_H!

Or they can be passed to a custom function like:

propertyfrompropid(!Parcels.propid!)

All functions are stored in python files in the fieldcalcs directory. Each file in that directory acts as a library of functions that can be called within the program. To call my_calc() from mylib.py you would do:

mylib.my_calc(!whateverfile.andfield!)

Clicking the "calc" button on the right end of the central toolbar, you can open the calculator window, which will display all the available inputs and libraries/functions.

Double click a function to add it to the value, then double click an input field and it will be inserted in the function call.
Highlight text and double click a function to wrap the function call around the selected text.
When you save a field value in the calculator window the results are immediately shown in the sample output of the main window. If there is an error in your function, the field value will show as "!error!" and the error message will be printed to the console window. You can select libraries from the dropdown list, or type the name of any fieldcalcs or python builtin library, to load a list of its functions. You can click "Library" to open the fieldcalcs directory, where the the library files are stored, in your system's file browser.

From the calculator window you can click the plus button next to the library entry to launch a built-in function editor.

Pressing tab will insert tabs, but these are converted to spaces when saved. Existing code is displayed with spaces, but you can mix tabs in when editing it since they'll all be converted. If you use an external editor to edit a library file, click the Reload Function button in the function editor window to load the changes. If there are syntax errors, it will not load and the error will be printed in the console window. In the calculator window,

Keyboard Shortcuts

The field editing area has the following shortcuts:

• Delete - remove selected fields
• Alt + Up/Down - move selected fields
• Ctrl + n - add a field before the first selected, or at the end if no records are selected (the list of fields must have focus)

Other Options

• Restrict one-to-many joins - By default, if a record joins to multiple records, it will create multiple output records. If you want one record from your input file to create one record in the output, check the box under the list of joins. Check this if you are working with shapefiles, where the dbf file must have the matching records at a specific index.
• Replace Target - Check this to rename the target file to targetfilename.old and have the output written to its old spot.
• Default output location - Under File > Options you can set the default location to write output files. This will be used when the output filename is just a name and no slashes denoting a path.

Credits

This uses the dbfpy library for reading and writing dbf files. http://dbfpy.sourceforge.net/

All other code, unless otherwise noted, by Chad [Avery] Spratt.