domains bug - exports code not desciption (and yes I checked the environment setting to use Desciption)

Question

So, I think this bug has been around for many years. Curious it was never fixed.  I called support and reproduced it.  Domain codes are exported when exporting data to a table or a Shapefile.  Yes, even when the Environment setting to transfer Domain Descriptions is checked.  This is true:

In ArcMap 10.8.2 and in Pro 3.3.2.  From both SDE (SQL enterprise geodatabase) as well as from file GDB from both ArcMap and Pro. Anyone else having this issue?  And I also tried copy and pasting from the attribute table out of both, into Excel.  All of the above, fail.  Only code is exported.  Bug?  Esri team, this is important and affects nearly every customer.  Support had no workaround or solution.

(update: bug is still in 3.4.3 in May 2025...)

FranziskaSumpf · Answer

Same problem in AGP 3.6.2 using the Export Table GP Tool, fgdb to fgdb. Works neither in GUI nor in Python (stand-alone script)

JGIS · Answer

I've been having the same problem in arcgis pro 3.2.2 when trying to export to gpkg. Curiously, only one field out of the four that use domains is affected with this problem (all of them are text). When exporting to shapefile however, I have no issues.

Kevin_MacLeod · Answer

Still have this bug. It's a severe bug. At Pro 3.4.3. What I meant was, export to SHP does not work. Shapefile.  Domains do not transfer descriptions to Shapefile or to Table.

The only workaround was Table to Excel GP tool. Curiously, this tool and this one only, transfers domains, and obeys the Environment setting. I wrote a model to join back by GUID and recalculate in the model all the descriptions.  A rather tedious workaround to create but once it's done it works fine. I repro'd this while on phone w Support. Perhaps it's some combination of our data, database, and Arc version.  Hopefully they can figure it out.  Is anyone else in the same boat?

It's curious why Preserve GUIDs and Transfer field domain descriptions are not enabled by default. Kind of like how unique layer IDs are not On by default. I would think more folks would want all these On by default; than the opposite.