esri_storage class provides ESRI-based file storage for datasets. It uses the
ESRI Geoprocessing framework, interfacing via Python, to provide access to ESRI storage
objects. Consequently, ArcGIS v9.x is required to utilize this storage class. Any 9.x version
of ArcGIS should work fine, although it is recommended that you read through our instructions
for installing Opus along with ArcGIS here
http://trondheim.cs.washington.edu/cgi-bin/trac.cgi/wiki/PythonAndArcGIS.
The constructor of this class takes a storage_location in its arguments. This
can be one of several different types of paths. It can be a standard directory path (e.g.
'c:/temp'), a path to a personal or file geodatabase (e.g. 'c:/temp/mydb.mdb' or 'c:/temp/mydb.gdb'), or
it can be a path to an ArcSDE database connection (e.g. 'Database Connections/your_db_conn.sde').
In the case that you use an ArcSDE path, that connection must already exist in ArcCatalog with the
proper connection information.
The esri_storage class will read the attributes of any file type that ESRI normally provides
access to within ArcGIS. This includes the attribute tables of shapefiles, standalone
dbf files, feature classes in geodatabases, and tables within geodatabases.
The esri_storage class will write dbf tables or tables within a geodatabase. If the
constructor were given a regular file path, dbf tables will be written. In this case, in order
to conform with dbf standards, long column names will be truncated and renamed to be unique. In the
case of geodatabase tables, tables will be written with the full column and table names intact.
For additional information about specific methods in the esri_storage class, see the python
module itself for docstrings that document specifics about the methods and arguments.