Copying shapefiles ArcGIS 10

Question

Hey folks,

So I attempted to copy paste a shapefile, then edit the resulting copy, changing the name and changing around some of the data contained within it. To my surprise, I realized the next day (after I had saved everything...) that my changes to the copy had been reflected in the original as well. I cannot reverse this, but I would at least like to know what I did wrong!

YukiNakayama-Larrabee · Answer

Thanks for the help. If I'm understanding you correctly, that explains things quite well. The copied shapefile is only found in the Arcmap that I was working on at the time and I can't find the data anywhere. The data of the original still exists but of course includes the changes I made to the copy

TimWitt2 · Answer

If you did edits to the original shapefile and then copied that shapefile, the edits will appear in both shapefiles.

JayantaPoddar · Answer

Hi Yuki,

This could be the scenario.

When you created the copy of the shapefile, it must have got added to your ArcMap. You started editing (without removing the original shp). Since both the layers were identical, you might not have realized it. And since both were editable, the original data also got edited along with the copied data.