I recently packaged an ArcGIS project to consolidate various shapefiles scattered across my computer. The goal was to organize them into a single location, making it easier to manage. After creating the .ppkx file once I open it all those shapefiles get extracted to here: C:\Users\[Username]\OneDrive\Documents\ArcGIS\Packages\[Project Name]\commondata
which is cool with me.
I've stored the .ppkx file on a shared Google Drive (G: drive), where both I and a collaborator have access. So far, it seems that any modifications I make to the project within this packaged file are saved and persist when I reopen the file.
Given this setup, I have a couple of questions for the community:
Is it generally okay to work directly from within a .ppkx file? Are there any risks or best practices I should be aware of?
Considering that my collaborator might also need to access and modify the project (potentially the shapefiles within), does working from the .ppkx file pose any collaboration issues we should be mindful of?
I'm aware of tools like "Batch Import Data" in ArcGIS Pro for importing and managing multiple datasets into my default.gdb file, but I only have the basic version of ArcGIS Pro, which lacks this feature.
I'd greatly appreciate any insights, tips, or experiences you can share regarding working with packaged ArcGIS projects, especially in a collaborative environment.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Editing this before I get my first response: For anyone who comes across this in the future and is looking for insights, below is what I did. However, I'm keeping this post open so that if anyone has a more refined solution, they can reply. I believe my answer to be good enough if you're using shared storage solutions like Google Drive or OneDrive and want to put all of your data files (shapefiles) in the same place.
Here's what I did: I unpacked the ArcGIS package file (.ppkx) and initially navigated to the extracted folder. From there, I took the project file (.aprx) out of the automatically created "p30" folder resulting from the extraction process. Next, I copied the \commondata\ folder (which appeared upon opening the project file) and transferred it to a corresponding directory on my G drive. To ensure all data sources were correctly pointed to this new location on my G drive, I utilized the catalog view and the find-and-replace function detailed in "Repair Broken Data Links."
With this setup, any modifications made to the shapefiles will be visible to my colleague when they open the project from the G drive.
Ideally, if I had access to more advanced features of ArcGIS Pro, I would employ the "Batch Import Data" tool to consolidate everything into a .gdb file directly and have my project file, "aprx," saved in my G drive, with all the data there. However, lacking that option and not wanting to import all the shapefiles manually into the .gdb file in ArcGIS Pro, I opted for this workaround. So far, it seems good, as it keeps all my shapefiles in the same place as my project file, and it's shared with others who need access.
