idea Add "Add to Project and Make Default" for folders and GDBs in Catalog in ArcGIS Pro Ideas

Add "Add to Project and Make Default" for folders and GDBs in Catalog

RTPL_AU — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 20:23:30 GMT

Thought I'd added this one already but can't track it down.

Add the option to add a database or folder to a project and make it default, in one step by adding this option to the Right-click menu: "Add to Project and Make Default"

Currently you have to first add something to the project, then scroll around to find it, then make it default.

Based on the type of work I had to do recently I had to do double the amount of clicks plus an extra scroll movement EVERY TIME I want to add a new data container and make it default.

Re: Add "Add to Project and Make Default" for folders and GDBs in Catalog

RTPL_AU — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 03:04:58 GMT

@KoryKramer does this idea feature at all in 3.4 or on a to-do clipboard somewhere?
Based on a bunch of recent projects it makes me wake up from dreams where all I do is "Add to Project" > Scroll > "Make Default" > "Remove from Project" > Repeat

Sure - for a large job I can script it but for all the small jobs where all I want to do is open an instance and do some quick processing or analysis this UI shortcoming means I am doing double the clicks than should be required.

How about running a "reduce the clicks & moves" competition between your developers and designers, and give the best ones a raise based on the % clicks or mouse travel distance they save?

Make the metrics public and use it in marketing such as "We saved our users the distance between Earth and the moon in unnecessary mouse travel" or "Logitech won't make money out of our users whom we just saved from 50,000,000 superfluous mouse clicks"....

Re: Add "Add to Project and Make Default" for folders and GDBs in Catalog

KoryKramer — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 12:49:06 GMT

Hi @RTPL_AU No, this has not yet been considered (we'll update the status as needed), but we do understand the desire to reduce mouse travel and clicks.

Re: Add "Add to Project and Make Default" for folders and GDBs in Catalog

RTPL_AU — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 04:19:16 GMT

We're at 3.6 and every job still requires a "Add to Project" then a scroll then "Make default" for both the database and folder.
On the current server's aprx count this double work means I have spent near 2.5 hours extra to achieve the same outcome as in ArcMap. Plus, in ArcMap, once you've set the default you don't have to remove the unused database or folder to not have it clutter up the project.

I counted 5 seconds to average the scrolling required due to my own folder structures and the extra click to open the database group to be able to right click it to pick a new default.
It means that there is a measurable cost to this oversight - if you multiply the time across the Pro user base over the last decade it becomes something I'd not want to have on my CV.