CreateUniqueName

Summary

Creates a unique name in the specified workspace by appending a number to the input name. This number is increased until the name is unique. If no workspace is specified, the current workspace is used.

Syntax

CreateUniqueName (base_name, {workspace})

Parameter	Explanation	Data Type
base_name	The base name used to create the unique name.	String
workspace	The workspace used for creation of the unique name.	String

Return Value

Data Type	Explanation
String	The unique name with a number appended to make it unique in the workspace. The number starts at 0 and is incremented until it is unique.

Code sample

CreateUniqueName example

Creates a unique name for use with the Buffer and Clip tools.

import arcpy

# Set workspace
arcpy.env.workspace = "c:/data"

# Create a unique name for the Buffer tool's derived output.
unique_name = arcpy.CreateUniqueName("temp.shp")

# Use unique name for Buffer Tool output dataset name
arcpy.Buffer_analysis("roads.shp", unique_name, "100 feet")

# Clip output from Buffer tool with County Boundary to obtain buffered roads
#  in county.
arcpy.Clip_analysis(unique_name, "county.shp", "clipped_roads.shp")