I'm still finding this problem somewhat buggy, but I found a rough work around solution that I would like to share.The first thing, I've noticed that the my validation using the Get Count tool doesn't seem to work with SDE versions. The only result I get back is the count from the sde.DEFAULT version. I've implemented a small workaround to this in my code using a SearchCursor:import arcpy
indata = arcpy.GetParameter(0)#Some versioned data in ArcMap (say referencing my point dataset with 100 points).
arcpy.AddMessage("getCount gp tool count: "+str(arcpy.GetCount_management(indata)))
#This returns a value of 75 (the number of points in sde.DEFAULT)
i = 0
with arcpy.da.SearchCursor(indata, ["OBJECTID"]) as cursor:
for row in cursor:
i+=1
arcpy.AddMessage("search cursor count: "+str(i))
#This returns a value of 100 (the number of points in the versioned dataset)
This work around is a bit clunky, but allows me to validate the data properly. In the below code, I will state that I'm doing the GetCount_management tool, but in fact I'm using the search cursor. This will save a few lines.Solution 1: Using the changeVersion_management tool.So, as a refresher, my original object was to input the sde.DEFAULT dataset and a date into my script tool. I then wanted to change the version to a Historical Marker of the input date and return the number of features. However, whenever this would happen, the SDE version in ArcMap would change from sde.DEFAULT to today's date and time instead of what was input.The solution I've discovered was that the changeVersion_management tool was able to successfully change between Transactional Versions. Thus, I "reversed" the order of the script and I was able to get appropriate results.import arcpy
indata = arcpy.GetParameter(0)#A historical SDE version from two days ago
arcpy.AddMessage("Versioned data count: "+str(arcpy.GetCount_management(indata)))
#Correctly returns 100 points
arcpy.ChangeVersion_management(indata, "TRANSACTIONAL", "sde.DEFAULT", '#')
arcpy.AddMessage("Default version data count: "+str(arcpy.GetCount_management(indata)))
#Correctly returns 75 points
By having the user input the versioned data first, then changing the version to DEFAULT seems to work. However, this is very clunky and not user friendly, especially if the users isn't familiar with changing SDE versions.Solution 2: The other solution I've found involves manipulating the Historical Archive Layer (in ArcCatalog, right click on the layer, select properties, on the general tab, see the Archiving box at the bottom). This layer contains 2 time stamped fields that are updated when the data is added, deleted, or edited. I'm not 100% familiar yet with how this table works, when time stamps are updated, or when new records in the table are added. I'm also not sure if the Historical Markers query this table or not. By querying the date fields, I can access what I'm interested in (for now). This allows me to input the sde.DEFAULT data layer and a date, as I intended to do in the first place.import arcpy
arcpy.env.workspace = "blablabla"#my sde connection file location
indata = arcpy.GetParameter(0)#My sde.DEFAULT data layer
indate = arcpy.GetParameterAsText(1)#Using the date data type input (format: MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS AM)
sde_olddata = indata.datasetName+"_H" #access the archive layer. does it always end with "_H"? Mine appear to...
if arcpy.Exists(sde_olddata):#Make sure it exists
arcpy.AddMessage("the archive version exists!")
else:
arcpy.AddMessage("your data isn't archive enabled!")
#Convert the date to the correct format for SQL queries: (YYYY-MM-DD)
if " " in indate:
year = int(indate[indate.rfind("/")+1:indate.find(" ")])
else:
year = int(indate[indate.rfind("/")+1:])
day = int(indate[indate.find("/")+1:indate.rfind("/")])
month = int(indate[:indate.find("/")])
tstamp = str(year)+"-"+str(month)+"-"+str(day)
#Query the archived layer based on the input date
olddata = "in_memory\\oldData"
arcpy.Select_analysis(sde_olddata, olddata, "gdb_to_date >= timestamp '"+tstamp+"' AND gdb_from_date <= timestamp '"+tstamp+"'")
#Count up the number of rows
arcpy.AddMessage("Versioned data count: "+str(arcpy.GetCount_management(olddata)))
#Correctly returns 100 points
arcpy.AddMessage("Default version data count: "+str(arcpy.GetCount_management(indata)))
#Correctly returns 75 points
Summary: So, this second method seems to solve my initial problem in the best way. It is a clunky workaround (a far cry from the one-line command to change the SDE version), but gets the job done. For now this works, but may have to be refined in the future pending several things:1. How is the archived data layer maintained when adds/deletes/updates are performed?2. Do Historical Markers truly work by querying the timestamp fields of this layer?3. Do all archived layers end with "_H"4. Is the functionality of Historical Markers improved in ArcGIS 10.2?I hope this helps other who may be in my same situation. Also, if you have any other feedback/information on this problem, please let me know!!
