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Can you use FGDC metadata in ArcGIS Pro or not?

AllenDailey1

Could anyone provide some clarification on the following issue? I'm trying to develop metadata guidance for my colleagues in my organization, but I don't know what to tell them about FGDC format in Pro.

In the ArcGIS Pro documentation online, the article "Create FGDC CSDGM metadata" describes how to edit or create FGDC metadata in Pro. Yet, in the same article, there is the warning, "The ArcGIS platform only works with metadata in the ArcGIS metadata format. If you have metadata content stored in the FGDC CSDGM XML format, it can't be used directly in ArcGIS Pro. When you try to view it, a message appears indicating the metadata content must be upgraded before the metadata can be viewed or edited."

I have experienced both this (not being able to view/edit the metadata) and also being able to view/edit FGDC metadata in Pro (even though the Upgrade button's options have been grayed out so I never upgraded the metadata). I know you can change the metadata viewing format in Pro's "Options," and I have done that. But the bottom line for me is that the documentation sounds contradictory and confusing. Why can you sometimes view/edit it in Pro and sometimes not?? I don't get it.

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Accepted answers

Jill_Saligoe-Simmel

Hi Allan,

Thanks for your feedback regarding "the documentation sounds contradictory and confusing." Yes, you can create, edit, and view FGDC Metadata in ArcGIS Pro. The documentation refers to a situation where if you have existing FGDC metadata created outside of ArcGIS, ArcGIS Pro must "upgrade" it to the ArcGIS Metadata superset (kind of like importing) before it can be viewed.

Background: ArcGIS stores metadata elements and values in the ArcGIS Metadata superset - an internal storage format supporting many standards, including FGDC CSDGM. This tech workshop, ArcGIS: A Practical Approach to Metadata, Catalog, and Search, helps explain what's happening behind the scenes (start at 16m:25s). I hope that helps. We're listening and will work to improve the documentation.

All comments

Jill_Saligoe-Simmel

Hi Allan,

AllenDailey1

Hello Jill,

Thank you so much for your informative reply. I really appreciate it. The clarification is helpful - I think I get the gist of it. I will definitely check out that video. Thanks for your help!

Allen

AllenDailey1

Hi again @Jill_Saligoe-Simmel ,

The video was super helpful - thank you for suggesting it. It gave me a whole new understanding of metadata in ArcGIS, which helps in various ways with the metadata improvement project I'm working on at my organization.

It would be very cool if there was an in-depth metadata training offered, as part of Esri's online self-paced tutorials. I see the main one available currently is for ArcMap. I might still do that one, though, just to beef up my knowledge in case some parts are relevant to Pro.

Anyway, thanks again!
I don't suppose you, or another metadata authority, will be at the 2024 Dev Summit?

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