Shareholders' Equity, Reconciliation of Changes in Shareholders' Equity (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Nov. 02, 2019	Oct. 27, 2018	Jul. 31, 2018
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Balance	$ 33,775
Net (loss) income	(1,400)	$ (115)
Foreign currency translation adjustments	(214)	(127)
Balance	32,196
Common Stock [Member] \| Class A Common Stock [Member]
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Balance	32	30
Balance (Adjusted)		30
Net (loss) income	0	0
Foreign currency translation adjustments	0	0
Conversion of Class B common stock to Class A common stock		1
Issuance of stock under stock award plan		0
Share-based compensation expense	0	0
Distributions to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Balance	32	31
Common Stock [Member] \| Class A Common Stock [Member] \| ASU 2016-01 [Member]
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Cumulative effect of adoption of ASU 2016-01			$ 0
Common Stock [Member] \| Class B Common Stock [Member]
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Balance	12	14
Balance (Adjusted)		14
Net (loss) income	0	0
Foreign currency translation adjustments	0	0
Conversion of Class B common stock to Class A common stock		(1)
Issuance of stock under stock award plan		0
Share-based compensation expense	0	0
Distributions to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Balance	12	13
Common Stock [Member] \| Class B Common Stock [Member] \| ASU 2016-01 [Member]
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Cumulative effect of adoption of ASU 2016-01			0
Capital in Excess of Par Value [Member]
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Balance	16,964	17,558
Balance (Adjusted)		17,558
Net (loss) income	0	0
Foreign currency translation adjustments	0	0
Conversion of Class B common stock to Class A common stock		0
Issuance of stock under stock award plan		4
Share-based compensation expense	34	33
Distributions to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Balance	16,998	17,595
Capital in Excess of Par Value [Member] \| ASU 2016-01 [Member]
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Cumulative effect of adoption of ASU 2016-01			0
Retained Earnings [Member]
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Balance	18,687	20,973
Balance (Adjusted)		20,968
Net (loss) income	(1,527)	(120)
Foreign currency translation adjustments	0	0
Conversion of Class B common stock to Class A common stock		0
Issuance of stock under stock award plan		0
Share-based compensation expense	0	0
Distributions to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Balance	17,160	20,848
Retained Earnings [Member] \| ASU 2016-01 [Member]
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Cumulative effect of adoption of ASU 2016-01			(5)
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) [Member]
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Balance	(2,098)	(1,885)
Balance (Adjusted)		(1,880)
Net (loss) income	0	0
Foreign currency translation adjustments	(175)	(67)
Conversion of Class B common stock to Class A common stock		0
Issuance of stock under stock award plan		0
Share-based compensation expense	0	0
Distributions to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Balance	(2,273)	(1,947)
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) [Member] \| ASU 2016-01 [Member]
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Cumulative effect of adoption of ASU 2016-01			5
Treasury Stock [Member]
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Balance	(729)	(907)
Balance (Adjusted)		(907)
Net (loss) income	0	0
Foreign currency translation adjustments	0	0
Conversion of Class B common stock to Class A common stock		0
Issuance of stock under stock award plan		23
Share-based compensation expense	0	0
Distributions to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Balance	(729)	(884)
Treasury Stock [Member] \| ASU 2016-01 [Member]
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Cumulative effect of adoption of ASU 2016-01			0
Noncontrolling Interests [Member]
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Balance	907	664
Balance (Adjusted)		664
Net (loss) income	127	5
Foreign currency translation adjustments	(39)	(60)
Conversion of Class B common stock to Class A common stock		0
Issuance of stock under stock award plan		0
Share-based compensation expense	0	0
Distributions to noncontrolling interests	(6)	(4)
Purchase of additional noncontrolling interests	7
Balance	$ 996	$ 605
Noncontrolling Interests [Member] \| ASU 2016-01 [Member]
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Cumulative effect of adoption of ASU 2016-01			$ 0

ECOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT INC 10-Q