Editing Target not available? (ArcGIS 10, SP2)

TimothyMills

I just recently began with ArcGIS 10 a few days ago and am still familiarizing myself with the new editing functions.  I'm having an issue where a feature class I'm trying to edit does not show under the "Create Features" task pane.

When I begin editing, I choose the File Geodatabase that contains the feature class I wish to edit, and it shows on the list above. I hit "OK" and the "Create Features" pane shows on the right side of my display.  As far as I can tell, it shows every feature class in my File Geodatabase, excluding those that are turned off in the TOC--except for the one that I happen to need to edit.

I've checked and rechecked the sources of my feature classes to ensure that I'm editing the correct data source.  Are there any other options or settings that can cause a feature class to not be available under the "Create Features" dialogue?

RhondaGlennon

Here are the main reasons why templates for editable layers are hidden and what you can do to make them appear in the Create Features window:

�?� The layer is not visible. You need to turn on the layer in the table of contents.
�?� The layer is part of a group layer that is not visible. You need to turn on the group layer in the table of contents and ensure the sublayer is visible.
�?� The layer has a visible scale range that is beyond the map's current scale. Right-click the layer in the table of contents and click Zoom To Make Visible to bring the layer into view. You can update or remove the scale range on the Layer Properties > General tab.
�?� The layer is from a parcel fabric dataset. You use the Parcel Editor toolbar to create new parcels, rather than the Create Features window.
�?� The layer has a definition query applied but the feature templates do not match it. You need to open the feature template's properties and set a default attribute value that satisfies the query. You can also update the expression on the Layer Properties > Definition Query tab.

See the section on Feature templates and the table of contents here (contains an example case with definition queries):
http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisdesktop/10.0/help/index.html#/Best_practices_for_using_feature_templates/001t0000004p000000/

This blog entry, in particular, Missing feature templates:
http://blogs.esri.com/Dev/blogs/arcgisdesktop/archive/2010/08/02/Using-feature-templates-effectively.aspx

The main philosophy is that the Create Features window does not list feature templates in cases where the features you create with it would immediately disappear from the map for one reason or another. We do understand that this has been confusing and are working on simplifying this experience for a future release.