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ArcGIS Pro does not recognize a folder

AaronWeier2

Has anyone else had an issue with ArcGIS pro not recognizing folders? The main project folder we use does not get listed when connecting to the drive where all of our project folders are. I find this terribly frustrating! Plus Pro crashes a lot for me and I haven't even done anything yet!

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JasonRoss5

Can confirm I still get this in 2023 in 3.1.3. I get around it by copy/pasting the folder path into the dialog box and it then puts me inside the folder, but still does not display it in the file dialog. 9 year old bug, and counting!

StevenWernke

I am still having this problem in 2022 (this thread started lo 8 years ago!). When I connect to a folder on one of my servers (on a mapped drive) it connects to the folder, but it does not display all of the subdirectories within it. Even if I navigate to it via Windows explorer and try to drag a shapefile or raster into the project window, it will not allow it. Folder and file navigation is so fundamental--how could this still be an issue?

Anyway, any thoughts/ideas for a fix would be hugely appreciated.

CherylCollins

I was just helping someone with this problem. She had not unzipped the download folder, so Catalog couldn't recognize it. After she unzipped it, she restarted Pro and was able to find and connect to the folder. I also noticed that the download did not go to the folder the downloader indicated it would go to, so make sure you know where it's being downloaded.

ZacharyOrdo

It seems to me the handling of the file system in ArcGIS Pro is junk. Here's just a few issues I've had:

Can't give favorite folders an Alias name like you can in ArcCatalog
- If I favorite A:\...\GIS and B:\...\...\GIS they both show up as just GIS in favorites
- Full paths were default in display in ArcCatalog, which was useful for context
- Allowing Aliasing is also useful for context
When folders are added as favorites, they seem to randomly go missing in other file system windows
- Right-clicked on a layer to save as a LYRX file and the B:\ drive is missing from Computer despite having been added to my favorites
Favorites are almost useless
- What good are they really if I can't access them from the sidebar in a Save As or Add Data window?

CathyWilson2

Screen shot of folder structer

If you are looking for the folder that your ArcGIS Pro project files are in, it is in the Project folder. I agree that it would be nice if it also showed up in the list of folders where it resides in Windows, but the easiest way to access it is to simply click the "Folders" folder under "Project" at the top of the window.

LanceKirby2

Well now the problem is back in 2.5 and the workaround I described above doesn't exist. Hopefully someone else has a solution.

DonnaTippett

I clicked on my folder properties. I unchecked read only and clicked the "Advanced" button and the checked "allow to index". Saved properties, refreshed and the folder and shape files were visible.

CathyWilson2

It seems to me that when I'm connected to a subfolder, Pro won't show the parent folder. Maybe it thinks I'm already connected to that folder. The workaround that Lance Kirby offers works like a charm! Just connect to the parent's parent folder, then you an navigate to it in the Catalog pane.

LanceKirby2

The workaround is: first add a connection to the relative path of the folder that contains all of the seemingly invisible folders. For instance, I wanted this subfolder to show up G:\toto\GIS\MWFIV_4States. Instead of adding a connection too G:\toto\\GIS I added a connection too \\toto\. Then I simply connected to "GIS" and added it to my favorites.

RoyceSimpson

I'm not sure why it took me so long to try this "attrib -s" method but that seems to have done the trick. Now, we just need Pro to ignore that attribute since we seem to have the scattered all over our file system.

x (x)

RichardDaniels

One of our end users resolved their 'folders not displaying' issue by reinstalling their Microsoft Windows 10 OS Build 1709. After the reinstallation of the OS and reinstall of ArcGIS Pro the folders were visible again.

This is a WAG, but I think Windows Update is setting the S attributed during the Windows OS upgrade (i.e., for Build 1709) on user profiles and files. If the upgrade does not complete without error or the system is not rebooted, the next time a user logs in the OS will have 'delayed' reboots. Thus when you start working the attributes on your files may not have been reset to their pre-upgrade settings (see https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-files/windows-10-file-attributes/862c70df-5fcd-4633-ba4e-652a3bb5bbd9).

This is of potential concern since with Windows 10 we can expect a major OS upgrade every 4 to 6 months, in the past it was something that you had to deal with once every two or three years.

Rich

RichardDaniels

Kory,

They must not be trying that hard ☺; just use the attrib command in DOS and change the a folder attribute to System. After that the folder will not appear in Pro the next time you try to navigate to it with Add Data. If Pro is open you have to hit F5 in the Add Data Window to reread the folder structure from disk.

The issue with the .gen files, folders with index documents (created by Pro) not appearing, etc. is documented in this thread. It appears Pro is using a ‘magic’ list of files/file extensions to determine if it will display a folder (and subfolders) in Add Data. As I recall there used to be a setting in Advanced Settings (in 32 bit Desktop) where you could control some of this behavior. The intent in the past was to reduce the number of folders shown to the user to ‘just’ folders with valid GIS data –which is why Add Data is rarely identical to a Windows File Explorer view.

The primary problem is that for some file extensions, entire folder trees are not being displayed.

For example, if I have this structure:

.\ document

.\ document\projects

.\ document\projects\mydata

.\ document\projects\mydata\index

.\ document\projects\mydata\index\segments.gen

When the .gen file is encountered the index folder is not displayed in Add Data, so I just see the following:

.\ document

.\ document\projects

.\ document\projects\mydata

This may be the intended behavior, if so the list of reserved folder and file names needs to be documented and easily found in ArcGIS Pro help.

Sincerely,

Richard Daniels

GIS Product Support Coordinator & CAFM/IRIS Support

ITD, WSDOT

RoyceSimpson

Hi Kory, I'll put in a case ASAP.

Thanks. -Royce

x (x)

KoryKramer

Hi Royce,

I've been in touch with our development team responsible for this area of ArcGIS Pro and they are not able to reproduce the behavior you're describing.

Would you be able to open a technical support case to further investigate the issue? It would be a good channel to get us an example folder/file structure that causes this problem.

Thank you!

RoyceSimpson

The problem seems to be with those .adf files. It would be one thing if those files were just legacy files from the old coverage days, which I have the authority to delete, move, etc... but the reality is... on our corporate network drive, there are dozens and dozens of folders that have nothing to do with arcinfo... coverages or otherwise... and sometimes, there are other files with that .adf extension... files that we in GIS do not control... if that file is buried 10 folders deep, the entire path with be hidden in Pro right down to the drive letter level. This means that for example, if we have a folder called "g:\aaa" and in that folder is a "gis" folder and a sibling folder called "notgis"... and in that "notgis" folder is a .adf file, I won't be able to see the root "aaa" folder. It's a real deal breaker for us and is the one outstanding Pro issue that prevents us from deployment. Granted, you can simply type in the folder path by hand as in "g:\aaa\gis" and Pro will find it and assuming those adf files are not down that path, you'll then see the folders from then on out, but we can't deploy org wide with that sort of nonsense.

Double boo on esri for not figuring this out by now.

x (x)

RichardDaniels

We need to remember that the Add Data window in Pro is designed only to show 'valid' data that can be added to ArcGIS Pro. If we have a arc.adf file in a folder we are in a ArcInfo Info (database) directory while segments.gen indicates a folder holding Indexing information -that looks to be created by Python Add-Ins. Apparently Pro is using the existence of these key files to indicate the 'type' of folder (e.g., is it a File Geodatabase or a regular file folder?) when deciding to display (or not) them in the Add Data window.

It would be interesting to see a list of these 'key' files for reference...when this is combined with the folder attribute issue (System or Hidden) and changes to user profile permissions (e.g., caused by Windows 10 group policy) troubleshooting can become quite interesting.

Rich 🙂

RichardDaniels

Still seeing this issue with ArcGIS Pro 2.1.2 and prior. The issue with the System attribute needs to be looked at by ESRI as to how this attribute is getting set.

Now, "why" folders that have these attributes set are not showing in Windows is strait forward: (from http://web.csulb.edu/~murdock/attrib.html) "With DOS Versions after Version 4, use the +S option to set the SYSTEM attribute of a file. When the +S option is used, this flags the file as a command file used only by DOS. The file will not appear in a directory listing. This attribute is generally reserved for programmers." There is also a H attribute that will have this same effect.

Oh, if this just started for you check if you receive Windows 10 Build 1709 (see https://jprudente.wordpress.com/2017/11/15/inaccessible-network-shares-on-windows-10-1709/).

Rich

KristofferWaage_Beck2

Yes, and notice 2 things

1. All settings on the folder will be shown with the command:

'attrib [folder name]'

2. It seems to be possible to assign/remove the values from all subfolders in one command line using the /S option.

DanPatterson_Retired

Might be useful to try some of the others like 'h'

KristofferWaage_Beck2

Hi Dan

I have no answer to that. The attribute 'S' might be there for legacy reasons.

But one my customers seems to have the problem raised in this blog, and hence i tried to reproduce the issue, by assigning the 'S' attribute, and it does reproduce the behaviour that PRO does not acknowledge/see the folder

Rgds

DanPatterson_Retired

just curious why you would attrib S a folder unless you wanted to protect it?

KristofferWaage_Beck2

Hi All

For all it's worth I have a clear reproducible case on my system. I can add the 'S' attribute, and the folder no longer shows up in PRO. I can remove the 'S' attribute, and the the folder returns to my view.

Repro-case

1. open windows explorer. Create a new folder C:/Data

2. Test that the folder can be seen with PRO

3. open DOS (cmd.exe) change drive to C:

4. Now in the dos prompt write 'attrib +s data'

5. test that the attribute is applied through DOS, by writing 'attrib data'

6. Test that the folder can NOT be seen with PRO

7. Now revoke the 'S' Attribute by using this DOS-command 'attrib -s data'

8. Test that the folder can again be seen with PRO

/Kristoffer

EricCrawford2

Check the attributes of the directory, I've had some luck exposing missing directories by turning off the (s) system attribute. open a dos window and type 'attrib -s T:\GIS' without the quotes. That said I still have one directory that refuses to appear in arcpro without typing it out.

eric

Robert LeClair

Royce - there's a related BUG that may explain what you're seeing:

BUG-000087025 : If an .adf file has the name of “arc” then ArcGIS Pro will not be able to index the folder containing the arc.adf file.

RoyceSimpson

Thanks Robert. I did actually find about 10 segments.gen files in one of the "missing" folders. They seem to have been generated by Pro itself within a folder called "index". I deleted them. Ha. Now the missing folder shows up in the browse list.

However, if you look at my screen shots below there are other folders not showing up... such as "Enterprise Wide Planning and Consulting Projects". There were no segments.gen files in that folder structure and that one still doesn't show up.

RoyceSimpson

Ok, so I just went through our folders to try to figure this out. I started at the most root level on our shared network "S" drive. 3 of the 5 folders in there show up in Pro. I pasted the path to one of the missing ones from Windows Explorer into Pro path box and now 10 of the 12 folders in there show up. I picked one that didn't show up from Windows Explorer and pasted that into the Pro path box... I kept doing this hoping to get to the end of the chain and uncover the mystery but alas, I got to the last set of folders about 4 folders deep and those all show up in Pro. So, I have no idea why some folders show up and some don't. I've looked at the properties of the "missing" folders and don't see anything different than the ones that show up. Here are a couple more screen shots of the issue: Windows Explorer Folders ArcGIS Pro 1.4.1 Folders Missing

Robert LeClair

I found something on the Support Services area and believe it to be a bug:

Folders not appearing in ArcGIS Pro project list

BUG-000103021

A folder is invisible to ArcGIS Pro if it contains a 'segments.gen' file.

The issue seems specific to a file called segments.gen, as other names do not cause the issue.A gen file is a legacy file type that ArcINFO uses to generate points, however it also looks like specifically 'segments.gen' is also related to the Apache Lucene search engine library: Understanding lucene segments - http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17622732/understanding-lucene-segments.In case 01941861, it was found that segments.gen is actually a file created by ArcGIS Pro itself - usually in this location \<ProjectName>\Index\<ProjectName>\segments.gen. However in this case the file was created at the root of the folder containing the project itself. This seemed to be a unique situation for a particular project.

mvolz47

Just took an ArcGIS Pro training class and the instructor said that there would be an auto-refresh in the next release (2.0) (This refresh problem was actually an issue in the training class). This will solve the newish folder visibility problem, but probably not the original poster's issue.

KevinMayall_COH

Thank you! I am seeing this issue in 1.4.1. Pro can see folders in my C: drive and F: drive, but not my 😧 drive. But hitting the Refresh button on the top right of the window caused all of my 😧 folders to suddenly appear.

DanPatterson_Retired

Strange... what constraints do you have on your installation? Is this a complete standalone installation? with you as administrator etc etc (ie like you would have at home without the confines of corporate impositions)

RoyceSimpson

I don't believe that is the issue we are having. What you describe has plagued ArcCatalog as well. Our issue seems specific to certain folders that we've had around for a long time that have all kinds of subfolders and gis related files in them. Again, something to note is that if I type in the exact path into the path text box, I get to the folder in question... it's just that Pro won't list those particular folders if trying to browse to them. See my screenshots above.

AdrianWelsh

This might not help but it might be worth checking into. Most times when I cannot see a folder it's because it's new-ish or recently modified. I just click on the refresh button and it then appears. In cases where this does not work, I go through a more rigorous method of logging out of Pro, shutting it down, restarting PC, then opening Pro again and logging back in.

But I'm guessing your issue may be deeper than this and more of a bug.

RoyceSimpson

I seem to remember reading about this issue where Pro won't show certain folders if, within those specific folders, there are certain file types related to old "Info" directories... or some such... In any event, there is something going on within certain folders that Pro doesn't like.

RoyceSimpson

We are still having this issue at 1.4.1 as well. See my previous post above.

AdrianWelsh

I too haven't seen anything like this (using 1.4.1). Constance, are you seeing something similar? Which version are you using?

DanPatterson_Retired

I have never seen the issue reported with 1.4 or 1.4.1

ConstanceKilgore

Has there been any resolution on pro not recognizing folders?

JamesAuld

+1 > Folders and Network Drives are missing from Pro 1.3 - had them all there at 1.2??

BrandonNelson1

We're experiencing the same problem in ArcGIS Pro 1.3: oddly enough, our "GIS" folder shows up just fine, but a folder named "Workspace" (containing user workspaces) is missing instead. It doesn't contain any "arc.adf", just MXDs, subfolders, and some logs and indexing files.

We've had to work around the problem by either typing the path into the address bar, or adding a connection to a subfolder. If we add a connection to the parent folder, though, it's still missing in the Project pane, and we can't add a connection the "Workspace" folder itself.

AaronWeier2

Thanks for verifying I'm not nuts Royce! I too can type in the path in the connection text box and it will work but it's not a great workaround for teaching less experienced users. Besides, this is just dumb that it doesn't work. I've reopened my support ticket to have them look at it again. First time through they had no response except to map a new network drive every time.

I'll post whatever answer(s) I get. Please do the same if you get it resolved!

larryzhang

It looks that only one sub-folder "GIS" is not visible within Pro. This is new to me . very nice finding.

RoyceSimpson

Yes, I'm having that issue. It's very odd. I can't see certain folders, but I can usually connect to them directly if I put in the full path into the connection text box. See the below screenshots. One is from Windows Explorer where the "GIS" folder is visible... the next is from Pro... Where is the GIS folder?

2-13-2015 8-51-41 AM.jpg 2-13-2015 8-47-32 AM.jpg

larryzhang

One more:

to setup workspaces (current workspace, scratch workspace, scratch gdb, ...) for Pro, refer to Current Workspace (Environment setting)—Geoprocessing | ArcGIS for Professionals

larryzhang

Aaron,

Please refer to https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/help/projects/overview/the-project-pane.htm
for workspace connections, which are also different from ArcGIS desktop.

good idea to create the remedy for ESRI support...

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