Conversion from TDS to TM geodatabase?

Question

Hi all,

I am currently working on to see what changes are made when TDS data are converted to TM after the extracting data step of Cartography- Automated workflow in workflow manager.

It seems like when the extract data step is done, the TDS data are converted to TM fitting in TM's schema. For example, AgriculturePoints feature class no longer owns Industrial Farm subtype and fields like DMT and TRE after being moved to TM geodatabase.

I have already posted a question of the difference between TDS and TM schemas, and understood why these changes were made. However, I wonder what if the missing subtype should be displayed on the map regardless of it is included in TM schema or not. For example, TDS geodatabase has DepthCurveCrv feature class which tells how deep the area is, something like HypsographyCurves. This specific feature class is gone after TDS data are converted to TM, and this depth information couldn't be expressed on the map. This may cause some misunderstandings and confusions depending on who and which organization use the map.

Therefore, I would like to ask questions like

1. How is the conversion from TDS to TM geodatabase happened? Does it use a geoprocessing tool like Load Data? If so, is there any mapping table specifying which subtypes of feature classess will be stayed and missed in TM?

2. If there's a unique way to convert the data, can a user modify this? For example, could the user make the DepthCurveCrv features be copied under HypsographyCuves?

I will be so much appreciated if anyone could make answer 🙂

hm_stella · Answer

Hi @JohnGrammer1425 ,

I wanted to maintain the DepthCurveCrv feature class and some feature subtypes of MilitarySurfaces feature class in TM geodatabase, as they used to be in TDS, even after running the GP tool.

So, like you said, I copied the DepthCurveCrv feature class from TDS_CARTO feature dataset to BM feature dataset of TM geodatabase, and created a feature subtype with the same defaults values of TDS into the MilitarySurface feature class.

The results, however, were not what I have expected. I ran the GP tool itself ouside of the workflow manager: all TDS&TDS_CARTO feature classes were extracted but not placed under BM feature dataset, and there were no DepthCurveCrv feature class at all.

When I ran the workflow (Cartogrpahy-Automated), I expected to have the DepthCurveCrv feature class and a new feature subtype of MilitarySurfce in the [JobName].gdb but no changes were made.

Is this right way to do what you mean? Can you confirm it?

Thanks 🙂

JohnGrammer1425 · Answer

hm_stella

Question 1:

The cartography automated workflow uses the GP tool Extract Data by Feature (inside the Get Features By Job AOI GP Tool) with the reuse schema option. The TM carto geodatabase is a subset of the TDS geodatabase and uses the same schema just that some feature types are not included in the TM carto geodatabase. The tool will extract the features that match and will copy them into the TM carto geodatabase.

Question 2:

The TM carto geodatabase only has feature types that are defined by the TM map specification. So in the case of the Depth Curves these features are not portrayed on the TM map. Since they are not portrayed they are not included in the TM carto geodatabase. If your customer is needing to include these features the best way to move forward is to copy the DepthCurveCrv feature class from the TDS 7.1 geodatabase TDS_Carto feature dataset into the TM carto geaodatabase BM feature dataset. Then these features would be extracted to the TM carto geodatabase when running the cartograpy automation workflow. If this is something that is needed you will also need to update the TM layout (pagx) file to add in the DepthCurveCrv layer in the TOC and symbolize it accordingly. Once this update to the layout file is complete you will need to export the layout file and copy to the correct location for the workflows to use the new updated layout file.