idea Stop recreating missing geodatabases in ArcGIS Pro Ideas

Stop recreating missing geodatabases

MicheleH1_DNReply — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 23:56:05 GMT

It would be great if ArcPro would stop recreating missing file geodatabases. I deliberately renamed a file geodatabase (actually a few) and I did this in File Explorer - 'cos it's faster. Then when I reopened the project it breaks all my links (expected) but recreates an empty file geodatabase with the old name.

This is not useful - if a geodatabase is missing it's generally because of a deliberate choice on the part of the user and recreating an empty geodatabase is just creating clutter that I have to remember to clean up.

And if it's not a deliberate choice - if some one has accidentally moved or deleted the geodatabase - what is the point of recreating an empty one? The data is still missing.

Can we have this behavior stopped - or perhaps there is a way of stopping it already? If so - could we have this as the default. I have users unknowingly making empty geodatabases all over the show and it's becoming a problem.

Thanks heaps.

Re: Stop recreating missing geodatabases - Status changed to: Needs Clarification

KoryKramer — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 00:19:51 GMT

Hi @MicheleH1_DNReply

From the post, it sounds like you see this happening for a number of geodatabases in a single project. Is that true? It would be great to understand the specific details around this idea.

Here is what I see when I tested:

If the geodatabase that I renamed in Windows file explorer was the project's default geodatabase, when I re-open the Pro project, yes, Pro creates a new geodatabase. A project must have a default geodatabase - in the UI, notice that it is not possible to remove the default geodatabase. It is necessary to first set a different default, and then the first one can be removed.

So I imagine this behavior, if we're talking about the project's default gdb, is designed to ensure that the project always has a default. I think that answers, "if some one has accidentally moved or deleted the geodatabase - what is the point of recreating an empty one?"

During my testing, I do not see the behavior you're describing if the .gdb folders that I'm renaming in Windows file explorer are not a project's default. This is where additional details would be necessary to fully understand the idea.

For the question "Can we have this behavior stopped - or perhaps there is a way of stopping it already?" I guess I need to ask how you have your Create projects settings set up. Is a new default gdb created for each of your projects? Or are you pointing to a single gdb as the default for all your projects?

From the information that we have so far, to avoid Pro creating a new empty default gdb, I'd say to make sure that the gdbs you're renaming in file explorer aren't set as a project's default. Then I don't think you would see Pro creating a new gdb so that it has the requisite default...

Please let us know if what I've explained above lines up with what you're seeing, or if you are seeing different behavior and we can go from there.

Thank you!

Re: Stop recreating missing geodatabases

MicheleH1_DNReply — Sun, 10 Jan 2021 19:28:33 GMT

Hi there,

It's possible that the databases were the default ones. I didn't check that. I do have it set up to have a new geodatabase created for each project. I tried it the other way a while back (like years maybe) and for some reason I didn't like it. I might try it again. However all of this behaviour is problematic for enterprise systems anyway... We have multiple people using projects and they change things around, different default databases, different default folders and stuff just will not go away.

We also have projects that are 'templates' - people take a copy of that project and then do their work in that. We change the 'template' remove a bunch of old connections, change some stuff around, they open their project they saved before the changes and those old connection files, folders etc. get recreated. I'm not exactly sure of the circumstances I can't get my head around why or when these are recreated but it's super annoying...

And yes I can change it to use a particular database as the default all the time but I have to change that on 50+ peoples machines individually. And then they get a new machine or Arc has to be reinstalled for some reason and that all gets messed up again.

I liked the way ArcMap did it - there was a scratch database buried on your C drive and when you created something and then couldn't find it you realised that you had to remember to actually put it somewhere proper. And ArcMap didn't go around creating a million folders and databases and toolboxes that you didn't need every time. Most of the time I like Pro... but *sigh* - sometimes I miss the old days... Pro makes a lot of extra work for the kitchen maids...

Re: Stop recreating missing geodatabases - Status changed to: Open

KoryKramer — Mon, 11 Jan 2021 19:09:43 GMT

Thanks for the additional details, Michele. The idea is open again. The development team is aware of this and related opportunities for improvement - your comments are helpful in informing their work.

Cheers

Re: Stop recreating missing geodatabases

MaryroseKulick — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 20:21:44 GMT

Hi! I'm having a similar issue in my workflows. I have a project folder structure set up that we make copies of for each new project. In the workflow, I need to change the name of the default geodatabase to match the new project. I have two issues:

1) When I try to change the name of the geodatabase in Pro, the rename always fails. I don't think it's an issue with the length of the name or special characters - I've tested a bunch of names.

2) When I change the name in file explorer, Pro recreates the lost geodatabase, and then I have to go through the rigmarole of delating it and reassigning the default.

Just chiming in on my experience! 🙂 Thanks!

Re: Stop recreating missing geodatabases - Status changed to: Under Consideration

NaicongLi — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 21:55:27 GMT

Re: Stop recreating missing geodatabases

RichardHowe — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 08:51:41 GMT

Is this still "under consideration" 18 months later? @NaicongLi

In a real world environment with hundreds of aprx projects all over a file system this behaviour is incredibly irritating. Surely the better way to handle it is to flag to a user when they open it that "no default gdb exists" and prevent the file being saved until one is assigned. Rather than have the software do it automatically, and as @MicheleH1_DNReply points out create an utterly useless blank version somewhere you don't want it!

Re: Stop recreating missing geodatabases

KoryKramer — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 20:57:14 GMT

Hi @RichardHowe In Michele's original use case she indicated that she was changing .gdb names in File Explorer. This is what would lead to the .aprx not having a default .gdb and thus automatically creating a new one.

Out of curiosity, how is it that you have hundreds of .aprx files with no default .gdb? Is the real ask that you would like to be able to create projects with no default .gdb at all?

Re: Stop recreating missing geodatabases

RichardHowe — Fri, 28 Apr 2023 09:42:40 GMT

Kory. We don't have hundreds of .aprx files without gdbs. But because of the volume of .aprx files we do have, then as project folders get renamed and things get moved around then this happens from time to time.

Also, with templated maps then a common workflow is for people to create copies of .aprx files in order to produce additional work.

I mean ultimately creating files without a default gdb would be good. But if that is a red line then preventing the software from just creating blank versions of them to satisfy an internal rule doesn;t seem like a big ask.

Re: Stop recreating missing geodatabases

KoryKramer — Fri, 28 Apr 2023 12:48:32 GMT

Thanks for the clarification, @RichardHowe . This helps.

In terms of the question above around "under consideration", that just means that we have an item in the backlog related to the idea, but it does not necessarily mean that it will move forward to being implemented. Idea statuses are described here: https://community.esri.com/t5/community-help-documents/arcgis-ideas-submission-guidelines-and-statuses/ta-p/904874#toc-hId--1516391307

We do have our eyes on this and a number of related ideas around project file management. Thank you again for your contributions here.

Re: Stop recreating missing geodatabases

GeorginaCutler1 — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 12:10:14 GMT

Please give us the option to create a project without having to have a separate GDB created... it seems so unnecessary and irritating for data management. We don't use GDB's due to cloud storage issues and we have our own data management structure that is stored centrally rather than against each ArcPro project. It just clutters up our folders with these empty GDBs we dont use.

Re: Stop recreating missing geodatabases

AlfredBaldenweck — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 13:28:15 GMT

From an implementation side, would it be possible to just recreate the default gdb when geoprocessing? Like, the user would still have to change that project's default gdb in options, but in the meantime, if the default gdb hasn't been changed, just have it get remade when geoprocessing.

Re: Stop recreating missing geodatabases

RichardHowe — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 12:14:15 GMT

Just to double back on this, it happens with folders as well...and it's both irritating and extremely confusing having to explain to non-GIS specialists why their overarching project folders are full of redundant and randomly named/positioned folders.

The need to move aprx's around and rename folders is ever present during the life of projects.

What I think is ultimately needed is the Catalog equivalent of the (fixable) red exclamation mark - "I can't find this, please repoint me to it" instead of "I can't find this so I've just created a blank folder/gdb where I think it should be"

Imagine if the software created an empty shapefile/feature class/raster every time a link in the TOC was broken...it would be a data managemet nightmare...well this is just as nightmarish tbh

ArcGIS Pro needs to give the option of location a moved default folder, geodatabase, and toolbox

DavidDurst — Tue, 06 Feb 2024 00:00:16 GMT

ArcGIS Pro should have an option (probably the default option) to not automatically re-create default objects (folder, GDB, toolbox), but rather select the new location for objects that are not found. This has been done for decades with layers, reaching into ArcMap (and probably beyond, but before my time in GIS) by the little red "!" next to a layer. I realize that ArcGIS Pro is setup to require a default folder/GDB/toolbox. An easy solution when it doesn't find the specified object would be:

ArcGIS Pro not finding default object in specified location per the project settings when opening APRX
ArcGIS Pro opens a File Explorer-type window requiring the user to specify the location of the missing default object.
Once selected, ArcGIS Pro continues to open, and doesn't create any extra folders, GDBs, or toolboxes

Here's the setup for this idea:

As of ArcGIS Pro 3.2, when opening a project where the software doesn't find the previously-set default folder, geodatabase, and/or toolbox, it re-creates that entire folder structure to house the default object and also re-creates an empty (read useless at best, but easily turns into a data management nightmare) folder, geodatabase, and/or toolbox. This is especially problematic when an organization decides to make a more effective folder structure for their uses, but when one opens an APRX where the the out-dated folder structure was used, ArcGIS Pro just decides the best this to do is to re-create these objects in the old structure WITHOUT TELLING THE USER! This is ludicrous, and makes for very difficult folder structure migrations.

Re: Stop recreating missing geodatabases

DavidDurst — Tue, 06 Feb 2024 17:59:06 GMT

@KoryKramer & @NaicongLi, is there an update to this? This seems like such a simple thing to implement. As I discussed in my idea that got merged in with this one (see my post here a couple weeks ago), the same principle applies to default folders and default toolboxes. This is a real pain and makes long-term data management and restructuring very cumbersome. I whole-heartedly agree that giving the option to not even have a default GDB/folder/toolbox (Thank you @GeorginaCutler1) would be best. We don't use the cloud at my organization, but it makes a mess of our server. I have also had issues with <projectname>_index folders re-appearing weeks after the project was deleted permanently (locally stored on my desktop).

Stop recreating TXT, TBX and GDB files each time an existing project is opened

A-A-RON — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 16:38:06 GMT

Have a setting to turn off the creation/recreation of TXT, TBX and GDB files. I delete them because they are not needed, and they reappear each time the project is opened. It's cluttering my folders with unnecessary items.

Re: Stop recreating TXT, TBX and GDB files each time an existing project is opened - Status changed to: Needs Clarification

SSWoodward — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 16:54:57 GMT

Thanks for the idea @A-A-RON

Can you help us further understand which files you mean.

When I create a project, by default a toolbox and gdb are created along with some other directories. Below is an image of what gets created when a new project is made.

Are you asking for an option to not create a default geodatabase and toolbox? Can you help me understand what .txt files you're seeing?

Re: Stop recreating TXT, TBX and GDB files each time an existing project is opened

RoseF — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 20:11:20 GMT

I'd like to offer kudos to this idea but I can't because it's in the Needs Clarification status.

One of the most frustrating things is the creation of these default files. You can delete them from Windows. You can delete them from the Catalog Pane in the .aprx. But then, as soon as you reopen the project, they reappear. And often, they reappear in the location in which they were originally created. So if you created your .aprx in one location, deleted all of the things you didn't want or need, then closed it and moved it to a different location, the next time you open it... even in the new location ... those default files will be created back in the original location.

The only one I have successfully deleted is the default .gdb. I first have to add some other .gdb to my project and make IT the default .gdb. Then I can delete the original Default.gdb from my project and permanently delete it from the working location as well. But if you don't have a different toolbox that you can make your default .atbx, it doesn't seem possible to get rid of it in the Windows location.

I often see some or all of the following folders created:

.backups
Index
RasterFunctionTemplates
[projectName]_index
GpMessages
ImportLog

Many of them are empty or have random files that are not helpful to our work. It ends up making our project folder very busy and confusing. Do all of these directories need to be created?

Re: Stop recreating TXT, TBX and GDB files each time an existing project is opened

SSWoodward — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 20:26:15 GMT

@RoseF & @A-A-RON

Your ask sounds very similar to this idea.

Stop recreating missing geodatabases

.aprx files must have a default geodatabase and toolbox. If the defaults are not in the locations saved with the project, they will be recreated. Give the linked idea a look over and let me know if your request is congruent with the existing conversation. If so I'll merge the ideas.

If not, please let us know how they differ so this post can be clarified.

If you are looking to point all new projects to a single default gdb, and atbx location, these settings can be configured in the backstage.

Re: Stop recreating TXT, TBX and GDB files each time an existing project is opened

wayfaringrob — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 20:26:30 GMT

Agree with @RoseF and @A-A-RON. 95% of the time, I have no use for a project toolbox - I can create one if I need one. There's an increasing amount of clutter in Pro folders (remember having a single .mxd?) - to me, this also introduces more risk for human error. It can also be confusing and nebulous for students.

Same goes for project .gdbs - I don't always need one. In a past job, I almost never needed one.

Would kudo if I could.