Windows with Python 2.x and ArcGIS Desktop (no longer maintained)

Important

The Python team sunset Python 2.x on January 1, 2020 and the last release of Python 2.7 was in April 2020. The last release of ArcGIS Desktop (a.k.a. ArcMap) was in December 2021 and ESRI stopped selling new licenses in July 2024. We cannot continue developing MGET for Python 2.x and ArcGIS Desktop now that they have been discontinued. MGET 0.8a79 is the last release of MGET for Python 2.x and ArcGIS Desktop.

We are currently in the process of porting MGET to Python 3.x and ArcGIS Pro and we urge you to try it instead. However, as of this writing in September 2024, not all of MGET had been ported yet, and we recognize that users may want access to that missing functionality. If you wish to continue using MGET 0.8a79 for Python 2.x and ArcGIS Desktop, follow installation instructions below.

Prerequisites

  • 32-bit or 64-bit x86 processor (ARM is not currently supported)

  • Microsoft Windows XP SP2 or later, or Windows Server 2003 or later

  • ArcGIS Desktop 9.1 – 10.8.2

Optional software

These are required to run certain parts of MGET. You can wait to install them later if desired. MGET will report detailed error messages when missing optional software is needed. Be sure to shut down all ArcGIS programs before installing them.

  • ArcGIS Spatial Analyst extension. This is required by a number of MGET tools produce rasters. If your ArcGIS license includes this extension but you did not install it, you can re-run the ArcGIS setup program to add it to your installation.

  • MATLAB Component Runtime (MCR) version 7.7 (free; download here) or the full version of MATLAB R2007b (not free). Either one is OK. These are required for front detection, larval dispersal simulation, and certain interpolation tools. You must install these specific versions; others will not work. Multiple versions can be installed at the same time, so if you use a different version of MATLAB for your own work, you can continue to do so, providing you install MCR 7.7 or MATLAB R2007b for MGET’s use.

  • R statistics program versions 2.5 – 4.1.13. MGET 0.8 is only available as a 32-bit program and therefore will not be compatible with R 4.2.0 or later, because starting with 4.2.0, R is only released as a 64-bit program. If you need to use an MGET 0.8 tool that accesses R, we recomend R 4.1.13.

  • NOAA CoastWatch Utilities, version 3.2 or later. These are required if you want to use any of the MGET tools that process CoastWatch data. In the CoastWatch Utilities setup, be sure to you enable the Command line tools option.

Step 1: Close all ArcGIS applications

Close all instances of ArcCatalog, ArcMap, ArcGlobe, etc.

Step 2: If you have ArcGIS 10.1 and earlier, install the latest ArcGIS service pack (optional)

You can skip this step if you have ArcGIS 10.2 or later. If you do have ArcGIS 10.1 or earlier, installing the service pack will improve the reliability and performance of the MGET tools that require ArcGIS.

  1. Start ArcGIS Administrator (if you have ArcGIS 10.0 and later) or Desktop Administrator (if you have ArcGIS 9.3.1 and earlier).

  2. In the pane on the right side, note the service pack number that appears right after the words “ArcGIS Service Pack”.

  3. Close the Administrator.

  4. Open ESRI’s Patches and Service Packs web page.

  5. Find the most recent Service Pack for your version of ArcGIS. If the most recent service pack is newer than the one you have installed (or you don’t have one installed), download and install it.

Step 3: Install the pywin32 Python package

MGET requires that the pywin32 Python package be installed for your version of Python. Pywin32 is also known as the Python Extensions for Windows. You must install the version of pywin32 that matches the version of Python that you will be using for MGET. Typically this is the version of Python that ArcGIS installed for you. If you have ArcGIS 10.1 or later, this is Python 2.7. To download pywin32 for Python 2.7:

If you have ArcGIS 10.0 or earlier, you have Python 2.6 or earlier. You must download this from a different location:

  • Go to https://sourceforge.net/projects/pywin32/files/pywin32/

  • Search back through the builds, starting with Build 221, until you find a file that ends in .win32-pyX.Y.exe, where X.Y is your Python version:

    • ArcGIS Desktop 10.0: Python 2.6

    • ArcGIS Desktop 9.1, 9.3, 9.3.1: Python 2.5

    • ArcGIS Desktop 9.2: Python 2.4

    Download and install that file.

Step 4: If you already have MGET installed, uninstall it

  1. Bring up the list of installed programs:

    • Windows XP and Server 2003: Start Control Panel, click Add or Remove Programs

    • Windows Vista and Server 2008: Start Control Panel, switch to Classic View, and click Programs and Features

    • Windows 7, Server 2008 R2: Start Control Panel, view by small icons, and click Programs and Features

    • Windows 10: Click Start, click Settings (gear icon), and click Apps

  2. Uninstall the program named Python X.Y GeoEco-Z or Python X.Y Marine Geospatial Ecology Tools Z, where X.Y is your Python version number (e.g. 2.7) and Z is an MGET version number (e.g. 0.8a75).

Step 5: Download and install MGET 0.8a79

Download and install the appropriate MGET setup program from the table below. The installation program is very simple. Unless you have multiple copies of Python installed on your machine (which is rare) the setup program has no options. You can just click Next until it completes.

MGET 0.8a79, released 8 September 2023

Python

Compatible with

Download

2.4 x86

ArcGIS Desktop 9.2

MGET-0.8a79.win32-py2.4.exe

2.5 x86

ArcGIS Desktop 9.1, 9.3, 9.3.1

MGET-0.8a79.win32-py2.5.exe

2.6 x86

ArcGIS Desktop 10.0

MGET-0.8a79.win32-py2.6.exe

2.7 x86

ArcGIS Desktop 10.1-10.8.2

MGET-0.8a79.win32-py2.7.exe

Step 6: Add MGET to your default ArcToolbox window

The MGET setup program does this automatically for the user that installed MGET. But other users must add the toolbox manually. This is usually necessary on classroom computers and similar machines that are accessed by multiple users.

To manually add the toolbox for your user account:

  1. Close all ArcGIS applications (ArcMap, ArcCatalog, ArcGlobe, etc.).

  2. Start ArcCatalog.

  3. If the ArcToolbox window is not visible, click the red ArcToolbox button to bring it up

  4. If you don’t see Marine Geospatial Ecology Tools listed in the ArcToolbox window, right click on ArcToolbox and select Add Toolbox.

  5. Navigate to C:\Program Files\GeoEco\ArcGISToolbox and add the toolbox you see there. You should now see MGET in the ArcToolbox window.

  6. Close ArcCatalog.

From now on, MGET will appear in the ArcToolbox window of ArcCatalog and all new ArcMap documents (.mxd files).

For existing ArcMap documents, you must add the toolbox manually within ArcMap for that document: Start ArcMap, open the document, and follow steps 4-6 above. This is necessary because each ArcMap document maintains a customized ArcToolbox list. The list is initialized to a copy of ArcCatalog’s list whenever a new map is created, but exists independently from that point forward.

Note

Because MGET 0.8 is only available for 32-bit Python, even when running on a 64-bit processor, MGET 0.8 will only work with ArcGIS Desktop (i.e., the 32-bit ArcMap and ArcCatalog applications). It will not work with ArcGIS 64-Bit Background Geoprocessing. When you run MGET tools, be sure to run them in foreground mode.