Is there a way to reference parameters in an ArcGIS Pro Python Toolbox by name, instead of by numeric index / positional argument?
I built a data entry tool in a Python Toolbox that has over 100 parameters. If I need to add, remove, or reorder any of these, it becomes a massive undertaking to edit every entry in updateParameters(), updateMessages(), and execute().
Update: I've deleted my attempt, because it's bad, and only user2856's accepted answer should be on record.
Don't use a global. Just create a dictionary whenever you need to access parameters, e.g. in updateParameters, updateMessages, execute, etc:
parameters = {p.name: p for p in parameters}
e.g.
def updateParameters(self, parameters):
parameters = {p.name: p for p in parameters}
etc...
def updateMessages(self, parameters):
parameters = {p.name: p for p in parameters}
etc...
def execute(self, parameters, messages):
parameters = {p.name: p for p in parameters}
etc...
Another option is to create a namedtuple (could be a good ArcGIS Pro Idea) so you can access by index (backwards compatibility) as well as name.
from collections import namedtuple
etc...
def execute(self, parameters, messages):
parameters = namedtuple('Parameters', (p.name for p in parameters))(*parameters)
# do something with parameters[0] or parameters.some_name
etc...
There's an ArcGIS Idea to change the parameters type from a list to a NamedTuple that you can support.
parameters = {p.name: p for p in parameters} in any of those Tool methods, you are only redefining the local parameters variable inside that method, not overwriting the parameters variable that ArcGIS passed in to that method. Instead you could do my_parameter_dict = {p.name: p for p in parameters} and then work with the my_parameter_dict instead of the parameters list. Yes it creates the dict every single time, but the performance cost of doing so is negligible.