idea Add Options on Create New Project Dialog in ArcGIS Pro Ideas

Add Options on Create New Project Dialog

LynnCarlson__GISP — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 16:19:34 GMT

When creating a blank Pro project from the Create a New Project dialog, add two more options underneath the option to Create a new folder for this project - one option - Create a New File Geodatabase with the ability to toggle on / off depending on whether you will need a new file geodatabase. The second option would be Create a New ToolBox with the same toggle on / off.

IMHO, it is just not necessary to have a new geodatabase and a new toolbox for every single project I create.

Re: Add Options on Create New Project Dialog

DavidWheelock — Wed, 14 Feb 2018 22:20:12 GMT

Yes, having an options toggle is a good way to handle this. Here's a related, specific request to allow the user to save a project without creating a FGDB.

Enable ArcGIS Pro to Save Without Creating a File Geodatabase

These two ideas are related, but different, and so should not be combined into one. The one on this page proposes an option box. The one I link to above is specifically for saving without creating a FGDB.

Re: Add Options on Create New Project Dialog

BRENNEJM — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 19:59:24 GMT

You can turn these off in 'Options > Application > General'.

I can see how it would be useful though to have a toggle if you knew you were going to need a new GDB or toolbox for that project.

Re: Add Options on Create New Project Dialog - Status changed to: Under Consideration

NaicongLi — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 01:30:01 GMT

Default geodatabase - add option to create FGDB to new and save as dialog

DavidGifford — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 16:52:57 GMT

When creating a new Pro project, or saving a project started with the "start without a template" option, a Project default FGDB is sometimes not required. In this case, the "same default geodatabase for all projects" geodatabase is all that is required.

The option to change between creating a new FGDB and using an existing FGDB is made in Pro Options, which requires several clicks to update.

My idea is to add a toggle or checkbox to the "Create a New Project" and "Save Project As" dialogs to easily switch between the "same default geodatabase for all projects" and "New default geodatabase for each project" options. Similar to the "Create a new folder for this project" checkbox.

Here's an example of what the dialog could like like:

We're finding that all these unnecessary blank FGDB's that are being created are cluttering our file servers and Sharepoint sites. Something like this would help reduce the clutter.

Regards
-David

Re: Default geodatabase - add option to create FGDB to new and save as dialog

JenFrazer_USFS_NR-GISS-IRIN — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 21:41:44 GMT

100% great suggestion. The set-up of how Pro operates is not ideal in an Enterprise working agency set-up.

Re: Add Options on Create New Project Dialog

NaicongLi — Mon, 08 Apr 2024 06:04:31 GMT

Hello @MicheleH1_DNReply, @DavidDurst, @LynnCarlson__GISP, @JamalNUMAN, and everyone,

(This is a response to this idea thread and to https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-pro-ideas/stop-recreating-missing-geodatabases/idi-p/1010302 and https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-pro-ideas/arcgis-pro-2-4-2-why-the-arcgis-pro-creates-gdb/idi-p....)

We have been listening to your suggestions and comments, and we understand that you have workflow disruptions connected to this aspect of the architecture of ArcGIS Pro.

We have in fact been exploring solutions for this for some time, but unfortunately haven't yet found one that would not have a negative impact on functionality, without fundamental changes of ArcGIS Pro’s architecture. From its initial design, an ArcGIS Pro project has three fundamental properties that must be specified – project home folder, project default geodatabase, and project default toolbox. They are there to ensure that when you perform an operation, the output always has some place to go, even if you did not specify the location. These requirements have been there since day one as a built-in assumption for many operations. Their absence could cause unexpected and bad behaviors in ArcGIS Pro. This is the reason why ArcGIS Pro requires their presence during the creation of a new project, and auto-regenerates them when they are lost.

We agree with you all that we need to provide more flexibility in how the default geodatabase and toolbox are handled. Some of you have proposed alternative ways to handle this, for example:

ArcGIS Pro does not generate a default geodatabase and toolbox when creating a new project.
- For the reasons above, this is unlikely to happen, at least not in the near future.
At the project creation time, allow users to specify an existing geodatabase and toolbox to be used as the project default geodatabase and toolbox.
- This is indeed a direction that we are considering.
When the default geodatabase or toolbox is missing or broken (which could be made to happen when the project is closed, or while it is open, if you manipulate the default geodatabase or toolbox in File Explorer instead of in ArcGIS Pro), have ArcGIS Pro prompt the user to create or select one. It’s been suggested to have this happen on project reopening, or when a Geoprocessing tool is about to run, or when the project is being saved.
- In all cases, this would require blocking all the operations in the UI until the default geodatabase or toolbox is restored, a state that many users would not want.

We agree with you that it is annoying to see default geodatabases and toolboxes regenerated after you deliberately deleted them in the File Explorer. We will continue to look for a good solution that would not cause major impacts on ArcGIS Pro’s operations, and we are keeping this idea thread open. In the meantime, however, given the current constraints we have, the best thing to do is to NOT manipulate default geodatabases and toolboxes in File Explorer. In fact, managing your items inside ArcGIS Pro instead of File Explorer has always been the recommended practice, even for nondefault geodatabases and toolboxes. If you want to use a different geodatabase as the project default geodatabase, please use the following workflow:

Add to the project the geodatabase that you want to be the default one (or create a new one). Rename it as needed.
Right-click it and click Make Default.
Delete, or remove the original default geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro if you do not want to use it in the project.

Use the same workflow to change the default toolbox.

One side point, in case some people are not aware of this option when creating new projects: instead of letting ArcGIS Pro create a default geodatabase and toolbox, you can designate a pre-existing geodatabase and toolbox for all new projects that you create from here on, by using the settings in the Options dialog (General tab, Create projects section). Note that you can change these settings any time and as often as needed.

Again, we are keeping this idea thread open and will continue to look for a good solution, while balancing it with our other priorities.

Thank you all for contributing your comments and suggestions.

Default Geodatabase Flexibility

JakeLarson — Wed, 18 Sep 2024 18:40:18 GMT

It would be hugely helpful if ArcGIS Pro would give an option to assign an existing geodatabase as "default" when starting a new .aprx. Right now, there are only two options for default geodatabase. You can either make a new default geodatabase for each new .aprx, (in my organization this is too messy for our data management), or define one existing geodatabase set as default that EVERY new .aprx will be assigned to (this is too stringent for the data management in my organization). I'd like to be prompted to choose a default geodatabase upon creating a new .aprx, instead of only have these two aforementioned options. Please let me know if anyone else has suggested this, and if ESRI could work on this for a future upgrade to ArcGIS Pro. This would help our data management a ton.

Thanks,

Re: Add Options on Create New Project Dialog

JoeBryant1 — Fri, 03 Jan 2025 18:38:17 GMT

I am customizing a new silent install to upgrade my organization from Pro 3.1 to 3.3 and I came across a possible solution in the Silent Install documentation. Under "Project>Local Project Settings" in the "ArcGISPro.settingsConfig" file, you can designate a default geodatabase path AS A SUGGESTION, and give users the ability to point to an existing or create a new geodatabase in the dialog box. Here is the wording from the documentation (italics mine):

Note:

The default option is to create a default geodatabase for each project. If isLocked="false" and a path is specified, the path appears as a suggestion in the Location text box until the user chooses the option to use the same default geodatabase for all projects and sets a value.

I will be testing this on my machine to see if I get the desired result and will report back. See the documentation below.

Administrator Settings

Add options for new geodatabase and/or toolbox in New Project dialog

JasonWeis_Westwood — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 14:59:27 GMT

Adding options to create a new geodatabase and/or toolbox in the "New Project" setup dialog box would be helpful. (This would override the default settings in Options.)

While these are both settings in the Options: General section, the choices are applied globally to all new projects. My projects are probably 50/50 whether I want to create a new geodatabase with the new project. If the Options setting is set to "New default geodatabase for each project," I end up manually deleting the geodatabase on half of the projects. Conversely, if the Options setting is set to "Same default geodatabase for all projects," I end up manually creating a geodatabase for half of the projects.

The Options setting could still be used to set defaults for these selections in the "New Project" box. However, it would be more efficient to allow the user to set up the new geodatabase and/or toolbox at project creation, based on the specific circumstances of the project being created.