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Attribute Transfer Tool Equivalency in ArcGIS Pro

RichardFairhurst

The Attribute Transfer Tool behavior in ArcGIS Pro is not equivalent to the behavior of this tool in ArcMap Desktop. The tool behavior is only equivalent when the user's clicks on a single feature for both the source and the transfer targets, in which case no dialogs appear in either program. However, if the user ever clicks on more than one feature for either the attribute transfer source feature or destination feature in ArcMap Desktop, a dialog listing the features by their layer Display tab expression that provides access to a list of feature attributes appears to allow the user to select the exact feature they want to use as the source or destination feature. Clicking on more than one feature can occur when a user clicks on the boundary between two adjacent features in feature classes that aren't designed to have actual overlapping features and can't be avoided in feature classes that are designed to have overlapping features. An example of the dialogs that appear in ArcMap Desktop when more than one feature is clicked for either an attribute transfer source feature or destination feature is shown below:

In ArcGIS Pro when the user clicks on more than one feature for the source or the target no dialogs appear and the tool always uses the feature with the lowest ObjectID to do the transfer. If the user didn't want to use the feature with the lowest ObjectID for either the source or the target, the tool behavior nonetheless does a transfer based on that rule and results in data corruption. The ArcGIS Pro version of the Attribute Transfer tool needs to provide an option for the user to choose the source or destination feature they want whenever they click on more than one feature that provides the same functionality that the ArcMap Desktop Attribute Transfer tool dialogs above provide.

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Status: Implemented

Comments

MikeVolz

If ESRI does not plan to provide equivalency with this tool (Optimal solution), what would a workaround workflow be to perform the same action as it is done in ArcMap?

RichardFairhurst

I also should mention that if multiple Attribute Transfer mappings have been set up that the number of dialogs that can appear for both the source and destination features can increase if the user cancels these dialogs to bring up another transfer mapped feature set. Pressing the escape key can also cycle through the available source features when a single source feature is clicked and the dialog doesn't appear, but this is not true when a single feature is clicked in the first available target layer.

This behavior can also occur when a feature class in the transfer mapping set up is used for multiple layers containing different definition queries which can lead to multiple dialogs appearing if the user cancels any of the dialogs and features in any of the other layers were clicked. The dialogs appear in the Table of Contents order of the available sources or destinations beginning with the top most layer and continuing to the lowest layer clicked that is used by the transfer set ups.

It may be difficult to replicate this behavior in a single dockable window, which is typically the favored approach for tools in Pro as opposed to using multiple dialogs, which is the favored approach in ArcMap desktop. However, in order for true equivalency to be achieved, these behaviors are additional requirements that the ArcGIS Pro version of the Attribute Transfer tool needs to provide.

Obviously as the complexity of the transfer set up configurations increase, the user must assume greater responsibility to understand the tools possible behaviors and spend more time controlling the selectable layer and editable layer settings to manage their edits, but without the behavior I described in my original post, the tool becomes next to impossible to use when multiple features are clicked in a single layer in ArcGIS Pro even with the absolutely simplest transfer set up configuration in place.

RichardFairhurst

@MichaelVolz I have not done a lot of experimentation to determine the best available options for overcoming this problem under the current ArcGIS Pro limitations. I can say none of the options appear to be worth the effort unless the tool is transferring the shape of the source feature to the target or the number of attributes being transferred is very large and difficult to transfer using standard manual value copy and paste operations between attribute tables.

I have found that the tool respects layer definition queries, so if a query can be written to ensure that the desired source or destination feature is available to be clicked and all other overlapping features are filtered out is a possible solution if the user is careful not to click the boundary of multiple features. This assumes the user anticipates that overlapping features would otherwise occur and can figure out a query that ensures only a single desired featured is clicked. The tool won't alert the user if they actually still had overlapping features exposed to the tool in their layer, so it is wise to first verify that only the desired features are clicked using the Explore tool first before doing any transfers.

Some suggested definition queries that may be useful for restricting the available source or destination features include setting the area or length of the features to be less than or greater than a certain size or setting the ObjectID to be above a certain value. Other query options would be specific to the data the user is working with. For example, in some cases setting the available features to be above a certain date in a date field or greater that a certian alphabetical value in a text field could work. The user still has the responsibility to verify that only the desired source or destination layers are selectable and only the desired destination layer is editable before doing the transfer and should avoid having more than one tranfer set up configured at a time.

If I discover any other options, I will post them here, since even if Esri adds equivalency to a future release of ArcGIS Pro they won't implement it in any of the other releases for users that are not ready to update their release.

MikeVolz

Richard:

Your thorough analysis is extremely helpful. Do you know if the Attribute Transfer Tool works on data consumed through a service (SaaS) in either ArcMap or Pro, as that is the general direction of industry?

My org has never used this tool in data consumed from a service, which is why I ask.

RichardFairhurst

@MichaelVolz I have not used services in any of my workflows and am retiring next week, so you will have to do the experimentation on that yourself.

WNye

I agree with @RichardFairhurst that this is a necessary update for the Transfer Attributes tool. Many organizations use this tool and commonly have situations where features are coincident with each other. Not having the ability to select between overlapping features makes the tool's use problematic and less efficient.

RichardFairhurst

Another important aspect of the dialog behavior in ArcMap is that when the user clicks an item in the list in the left-hand pane, the feature in the map flashes. This allows the user to visually confirm that they have selected the correct item in the list that they want the transfer to affect before they commit any change by hitting the OK button to proceed.

The current behavior of the ArcGIS Pro tool carries with it the strong potential for silently introducing data corruption and confusion rather than being reliable as one of the primary tools for correcting it, and for that reason is virtually worthless for replacing any of my ArcMap workflows that rely on this tool. Additionally, as it currently stands, ArcGIS Pro has no alternative editing workflow that can serve as a passable substitute for the Attribute Transfer tool provided in ArcMap.

RichardFairhurst

As an illustration of a common workflow I do with the ArcMap Attribute Transfer Tool, I need to reshape building permits which were originally created as overlapping shapes based on the underlying common lot, because at the time of intake the condo parcels did not exist. I need to resshape these permits to match the final condominium parcel.

In the picture below there are 10 overlapping permit shapes and each condo parcel overlaps a single common lot parcel within the same feature class. Without the ArcMap dialogs, this task would be nearly impossible, but with them it is easy to match up the legal descriptions contained in the permits to the desired condo lots.

The final permit shapes.

The ArcMap Transfer Attribute Tool dialogs are the key to this entire workflow which results in a dramatic increase in the resolution of my permit data and greatly enhances my ability to understand the arrangement of the permits that can lead to better analysis results and opportunities.

If I used the ArcGIS Pro Attribute Transfer Tool I would have to first filter out the common lots as source features, since they have the lowest object ID and would prevent me from selecting the condo lots as my source feature. I then would have to select every source feature in the order of the object IDs of the target features to match them up correctly rather than by the logical and natural arrangement of the legal descriptions of the source features. Being forced to know the order of the target features that ArcGIS Pro will pick in order to select my source features operates exactly backwards to the way I need it to work, which should naturally be driven by the source feature I choose, not the target feature it will force me to choose.

ArcMap does not require me to work through the features in the random order of the target permit Object IDs, nor does it require me to take any preliminary steps to filter out the source common lots with lower ObjectIDs before I can start editing. I can simply choose the desired condo parcel from the source dialog and the desired permit from the target dialog in whatever order makes the most sense to me (in this case the order of the condo lot numbers) rather than the arbitrary ObjectID order of the target permits.

It is typical in ArcMap for me to tackle workflows like this involving hundreds of overlapping features in my target feature class. The amount of forethought I would be forced engage in and the number of QC steps I would have to add to prevent errors to accomplish the same task in ArcGIS Pro seems intentionally designed to make my head hurt or to prevent me from even attempting to enhance and maintain my data in the way that I want it.

This workflow alone makes it impossible for me to justify taking advantage of any ArcGIS Pro enhancements that would block my data from being backward compatable with ArcMap, since none of the enhancements Esri has provided is as vital to my data's usefulness and integrity as this ArcMap Attribute Transfer Tool behavior.

RobBlash

Adding to this, two more things needed for equivalency:

A dedicated field mapping setting for the attribute transfer tool (apparently the current field mapping also impact copy/paste attributes)

Trace network (or map topology) connectivity being maintained when transferring geometry.

Jennifer_Cadkin

Implemented in ArcGIS Pro 3.5

https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/help/editing/transfer-attributes-between-features.htm

RichardFairhurst2

The help topic examples indicate that the source and target dialogs will now appear if there are at least two feature layers each with a feature at the location I clicked on my map. This is probably due to the field mapping for copy/paste and attribute transfers continuing to be merged together in Pro, which is different from ArcMap. Am I correct in assuming that the list order of the layers is controlled by the layer order in the Table of Contents?

The help does not illustrate what happens in the dialog when there is more than one feature in a single layer at the location I clicked. Am I correct in assuming that multiple features for that layer will appear in the list and not just the top feature? That should be illustrated and explained by the help.

Assuming multiple features for a layer are listed together as a set, are the features always ordered by their ObjectID/drawing order?

I also notice that unlike ArcMap, the Pro dialog does not provide access to the complete list of feature attributes. I frequently use that aspect of the dialog in ArcMap rather than just relying on the feature display value and was not expecting to see the full field list dropped. In it's absence, the help should point out the importance of setting up the layer Display expression as controlling the value that appears in the second column.

In ArcMap, the layers used and displayed in the dialogs by the Attribute Transfer tool are limited to layers that are marked as both Selectable and Visible Is all of that still true for Pro? If so, that behavior should be mentioned in the Transfer Attribute help.

I would appreciate clarification on these tool behaviors, since they all inform the user on what they should expect and what they may be able to do to optimize their map to meet the needs of their editing workflow to compensate for the differences between Pro and ArcMap.

Scott_Harris

Thanks for the feedback @RichardFairhurst2 . I'll try to address your questions/comments below.

The help topic examples indicate that the source and target dialogs will now appear if there are at least two feature layers each with a feature at the location I clicked on my map. This is probably due to the field mapping for copy/paste and attribute transfers continuing to be merged together in Pro, which is different from ArcMap.

The source and target pop-up windows will be available via the chip that appears on the map if there are overlapping features detected during the source click and/or the target click. The current help topic is correct about this.

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Am I correct in assuming that the list order of the layers is controlled by the layer order in the Table of Contents?

No. At 3.5, The list of features in the pop-ups didn't have a pattern to it. We fixed this in the next release, and it will be sorted by drawing order then by Display Expression.

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Am I correct in assuming that multiple features for that layer will appear in the list and not just the top feature? That should be illustrated and explained by the help.

Yes, this is illustrated in the help at 3.5,

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I also notice that unlike ArcMap, the Pro dialog does not provide access to the complete list of feature attributes. I frequently use that aspect of the dialog in ArcMap rather than just relying on the feature display value and was not expecting to see the full field list dropped. In it's absence, the help should point out the importance of setting up the layer Display expression as controlling the value that appears in the second column.

I agree. The doc will need to make this clear. We will fix this.

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In ArcMap, the layers used and displayed in the dialogs by the Attribute Transfer tool are limited to layers that are marked as both Selectable and Visible Is all of that still true for Pro? If so, that behavior should be mentioned in the Transfer Attribute help.

That behavior has not changed. Layers must be Selectable and Editable to work with Transfer Attributes in ArcGIS Pro. The doc will need to make this clear. We will fix this as well.

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Thanks again for the valuable feedback!

RobBlash

@Scott_Harris are there any plans to separate the attribute mapping for the attribute transfer tool from the “global” attribute mapping that exists across an ArcGIS Pro project? This tends to cause issues, especially because it is pre-populated with all fields in all layers in the project.

Copy/paste operations typically serve very different purposes than attribute transfers in my workflows. I almost always want all matching fields to come across in a copy/paste, whereas I typically want specific fields only to come across using attribute transfer.

Scott_Harris

Hey @RobBlash we are aware of that Idea, which I think most closely matches this one (at least some of the comments and/or merged ideas: https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-pro-ideas/multiple-field-mapping-scenarios-in-editor/idi-p/1004475 but do not have it in the product plan yet.

RichardFairhurst2

@Scott_Harris Thank you for your responses clarifying aspects about the tools' behaviors and the additions to the help you intend to address.

You said that layers must be Selectable and Editable. Both of those requirements should only apply to the target layer. The source layer only needs to be Selectable in ArcMap, not Editable. Please verify this is still true for the source layer in Pro. Many times in ArcMap my source layer for the Attribute Transfer is not editable, only my target layer.

You also did not indicate that a layer must be Visible. That is required in ArcMap. In ArcMap I often change the visibility of my layers rather than selectability to control the Attribute Transfer behavior. Also, any group layers containing the source or target layers must also be visible for Attribute Transfers to work in ArcMap. In ArcMap, full visibility is required so features are flashed when they are clicked and when a row in the dialogs is single clicked.

Is layer visibility and group layer container visibility still required for Attribute Transfers in Pro? Do features flash when clicked on the map or through single clicking an item in the dialog as part of Attribute Transfers in Pro?

Thanks again for responding to my comments and making this idea a reality at Pro 3.5.

RobBlash

Thanks @Scott_Harris, that's not quite what I'm after, but it's close. I've started a new idea. If you see fit to merge them that's fine with me. I think this would be very complimentary to the attribute transfer enhancements at 3.5, and would be another big step in the right direction to make ArcGIS Pro easier to use for the folks who spent years using ArcMap.

Create a separate Field Mapping for the attribute ... - Esri Community

Scott_Harris

@RichardFairhurst2

You said that layers must be Selectable and Editable. Both of those requirements should only apply to the target layer. The source layer only needs to be Selectable in ArcMap, not Editable. Please verify this is still true for the source layer in Pro.

Yes, this is still the case in Pro. Only the target needs to be editable. Source and target layers will both need to be selectable. I'll make sure this is clear in the documentation.

You also did not indicate that a layer must be Visible. That is required in ArcMap.

Yes, layers are required to be visible in Pro in order to work in the tool.

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Do features flash when clicked on the map or through single clicking an item in the dialog as part of Attribute Transfers in Pro?

Yes, exactly, the features flash in the map when you single click on them in the pop-ups.

Scott_Harris

@RobBlash Great! We like Ideas that have the requirements spelled out, but we can sometimes infer what is required based on all the feedback we get. Thanks for adding a new Idea with your specific requirements.

Melissa_B

Just encountered this feature update and noticed that even with the source and target specified in the mapping, after selecting a single source feature and then selecting a single target feature that overlaps with that selected source feature, the popup still comes up prompting to select what feature the transfer should occur to...Shouldn't that be a given? If I selected a source feature and then I select a single target feature whether it's overlapping with a source feature or not, shouldn't the transfer occur to the target automatically? Why bother setting up a field mapping between a source and target if it's always going to ask what I want to transfer to?

Jennifer_Cadkin

@Melissa_B

Thank you for this comment. Your comment, along with others we've received, has made us aware that it is not clear how Field Mapping works. Going forward, we will consider tool and dialog enhancements, as well as review the Help topic for clarity. In the meantime, let me try to explain what is happening.

Field Mapping is an Editor setting that defines how fields are mapped between the different combinations of source and target fields and is used by multiple tools including Copy Attributes/Paste Attributes, Transfer Attributes, and Copy/Paste Special. Fields between all combinations of source and target layers are auto matched by default but can be modified by users and saved with the map. All combinations of source and target layer field mappings are always 'active', regardless of what happens to be chosen in the Field Mapping dropdowns. Further, Transfer Attributes does not change its behavior based on what is in the Field Mapping dropdowns. It will access the source and target layer's field mapping, based on what user chooses as source and target at time of use, not what may or may not have been set by users in the Field Mapping dialog. Transfer Attributes only looks at the Field Mapping grid, not the source and targets dropdowns.

We are aware that this is an ArcMap equivalency issue impacting some users workflows and are considering that in our evaluation of the feedback.

If you would like to subscribe: Salesforce ENH-000132605

Help topics for your reference:

https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/help/editing/transfer-attributes-between-features.htm

https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/help/editing/configure-field-mapping.htm

Jennifer_Cadkin

One more note to add, there was a mistake in the Help that has been fixed at ArcGIS Pro 3.5.

ArcGIS Pro 3.4 Help step 6 Note is incorrect:

Help at ArcGIS Pro 3.5 has been updated to:

RobBlash

@JenniferCadkin thanks for the additional insight on the tool. I strongly believe that automatically filling the field mapping matrix with all column/layer combinations across a project is a huge source of the trouble that folks are having with the attribute transfer tool. Put bluntly, this is wildly different than the behavior in ArcMap, and seems to cause a lot of frustration from seasoned users. I also do not think this makes Pro any easier for novice users, because they are likely unaware of the potential pitfalls this introduces. Either way, there’s massive risk for data corruption for seasoned and novice users alike when everything is “on” by default for attribute transfers.

I’ll use this as a shameless opportunity to plug my idea for a separate field mapping for attribute transfers https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-pro-ideas/create-a-separate-field-mapping-for-the-attribute/idi-p/1617440/jump-to/first-unread-message

Thinking through it further, it may make more sense to confine field mapping to the attribute transfer tool alone (like it was in Arc Map) and only enable those mappings that are specifically turned on by the users. I also struggle to see the use case for field mapping in any other tools. For a copy/paste operation it’s intuitive for any common fields between the source and target to come across. IMO that’s expected in a “copy”.

For any data moving operations where you only want to carry across specific fields, or you want source.A column to populate target.B column, the append tool has pretty powerful field mapping capabilities to handle the process.

In short, I think the project-wide field mapping in Pro is trying to solve a problem that does not exist, with the added expense of introducing a whole host of other problems for tools such as attribute transfers

Scott_Harris

@RobBlash @Melissa_B

I'm sure you are aware, but I wanted to point this out to any others that are reading: If you don't want to accidentally transfer attributes from a source layer to itself you can clear the field mapping that exists for that layer as a target and a source:

Melissa_B

@Scott_Harris

I am aware of the field mapping - I set field mapping every time before using the Attribute Transfer tool. Even with it set to have a different feature class as the target, it still is overwriting source feature class feature data. Even with the mappings set up in Editor Settings, it's still asking me which feature from which feature class I'd like to transfer to. Is there another set of mappings outside of Editor Settings that is taking priority that I'm not aware of?

Scott_Harris

Hi @Melissa_B

If you clear the field mapping between the source layer and itself it should not being transferring attributes. However, I can see where you might be in a situation where you have a source feature overlapping the intended target feature. In that case, the new behavior of showing the chip for overlapping features would still show the chip asking you for the intended target of the overlapping features where you clicked. It comes down to editability.

The key step for that situation would be to turn off editability of the source layer since that's not the intended target and it will not be found by any target clicks of the transfer attributes tool. Source clicks are still allowed in that case.

For example, here my source is layerA and my target is layerB. If layerA has features that overlap features from layerB, as long as editability is turned off for layerA, I will only get the chip when there are overlapping features in layerB:

Melissa_B

@JenniferCadkin

So if "All combinations of source and target layer field mappings are always 'active', regardless of what happens to be chosen in the Field Mapping dropdowns", then why allow users to set field mappings at all? If the source-target mappings we're setting up are not the only mappings being honored, then the settings dialog should have a notice stating that behavior.

Per the documentation on configuring field mappings: "Field mapping is the process of matching attribute fields on a source feature layer to attribute fields on a target feature layer for the purpose of transferring attribute data between features...Click the Target drop-down arrow and choose the feature layer for the features to which attribute values are to be transferred...Click the Source drop-down arrow and choose the feature layer for the features from which attribute values are to be copied." To me, that implies a one direction relationship from source to target. The language needs to be changed to reflect that these mappings can go in any direction including from source to source.

"Further, Transfer Attributes does not change its behavior based on what is in the Field Mapping dropdowns." Then why does the Transfer Attributes editing tool have a direct link to the Field Mapping Editor Settings in the sandwich menu in the corner? Why direct users to set up a field mapping for the tool if the tool is not using the field mapping?

Am I just confused or something? I've been using ArcGIS Pro since 2017 and I've used this specific tool for workflows for over 4 years and I've only noticed these issues because of the popup introduced in 3.5. But it really seems to me like there should be more transparency in what is happening with this tool. I've read the documentation and I am not seeing anything that suggests that the target-source relationship is multi-directional or can also be source-source despite the mapping not being configured that way.

Melissa_B

@Scott_Harris

I performed testing on this tool and I have found that even ignoring the issue of overlapping features, if I have two feature classes, Test1 and Test2, and I set Test2 as the target and Test1 as the source with field mappings and then I click a feature from Test1(source) and then click another feature from Test1(source), the features are over-written with the data from the first click despite both features being part of the source feature class. The documentation seems to suggest that the only features that should change are the features in the target feature class.

Scott_Harris

Hi @Melissa_B did you clear the field mapping that exists between the source layer and itself like I suggested above?

Did you also try turning off editability of the source layer like I also suggested in my last comment to you?

I think doing both things will help in your daily work. There are open Ideas that may address these issues:

https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-pro-ideas/create-a-separate-field-mapping-for-the-attribute/idi-p/1617440/jump-to/first-unread-message

https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-pro-ideas/multiple-field-mapping-scenarios-in-editor/idi-p/1004475

Regarding the doc, agree, it needs to be clearer. Adjustments are in progress.

Melissa_B

@Scott_Harris

Yes, I clear the default field mapping before setting up the mappings I need every time I use the tool. As in my example with Test1 and Test2 above, it doesn't matter if you clear the mapping and set an explicit source and target, the tool still overwrites data between source feature class features.

As for turning off the editability, I realize that is an option and will use it going forward but it still seems like either the documentation needs to be made more clear, a notification needs to exist on the Field Mappings settings warning users that the relationship is multi-directional, or the tool needs to actually honor the field mappings users configure. As it is now with the way the documentation is worded and how the settings are presented as "source" and "target", it is misleading to users based on how the tool is actually operating.

Scott_Harris

Hi Melissa,

Regarding:

it doesn't matter if you clear the mapping and set an explicit source and target, the tool still overwrites data between source feature class features.

I can't reproduce this. Can you share steps/data with me? I'll direct message you with my contact info.