Add the Geodatabase Designer from ArcScripts to ArcGIS. The Geodatabase Designer is set of tools to document and exchange geodatabase schema. GD2 also includes an editor for geometric network connectivity rules.
I agree with this! Especially because Geodatabase Designer no longer works with ArcGIS 10. A geometric network involving many feature classes can take a very long time to rebuild and reset connectivity rules if you have to remove it (like I do because of a data corruption). Without tools to manage geometric networks, implementing one often creates more problems and limitations than it does solutions.
I have been using the Geodatabase Designer a lot in previous versions of ArcGIS. It is a really helpfull tool for buliding and maintaining geodatabases. Once you understand the concepts, you can do all of your changes in the XML file, and then import the file into a new version of the geodatabase. For instance changing/adding/removing domain values, fields and field types etc. The HTML-presentation of the geodatabase is also very helpfull, it gives you much better overview then you can get in Catalog. Without this tool, I think my work with building and maintaining geodatabases will be much more cumbersome. Please include it in ArcGIS 10!
GD2 was integral in facilitating our rebuilds of geometric networks. The ability to quickly export a GMN schema and re-import all the carefully designed rules into the rebuilt network has been a lifesaver. Even if one ignores the possibility of human error, the manual method of adding rules to a new GMN in ArcCatalog can take a long long time.
This feels just like when I spent a lot of time begging for the GDBT for each version! Please include the geodatabase designer. It's the fastest way that I'm aware of to create/upgrade geodatabase schemas using XML. Thanks! Clara
