Finding existing symbology in geodatabase

Question

Hello all, I'm looking for a way to view the existing symbology for feature classes in a geodatabase that I've received. When opening in ArcGIS pro, I only see default symbols under the symbology menu. However, I'm expecting to find different icons for the feature classes based on screenshots of the geodatabase in an application.

Is there somewhere else I should be looking to find existing symbology as part of a geodatabase?

Brian_Wilson · Answer

The layer files are lyrx for ArcGIS Pro and they are already in JSON format. They are not even compressed or minified, you can just open them in a text editor.

I don't know of any way to import them from anything else. What do you have in mind?

There's a .net SDK for ArcGIS Pro that theoretically would let you process layer files. Personally I shy away from C# these days.

Lenny · Answer

Thank you @Brian_Wilson. Doing a quick search, it looks like these files should be expected in .lyrx format, is that correct? Is it possible to have symbology referenced/defined in a JSON file? If so, is there a way to import that into ArcGIS Pro?

Brian_Wilson · Answer

A geodatabase just has data in it. To get the symbology the sender would have to package it with the data for example in a layer package or a map package.

Since you already have the data they should be able to make just a layer file (or files) that references the data to avoid resending everything.