idea ArcGIS Pro - Creating Project Templates without Default File Geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro Ideas

ArcGIS Pro - Creating Project Templates without Default File Geodatabase

RichardLittlefield — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 20:44:17 GMT

With Pro, it doesn't want to remember SDE connections or folder connections, I have template MXDs that I always start with ArcMap projects, so I'd like to the same thing with Pro. Or even start a blank Pro Project, however have all those folder/SDE connections and maybe a layout set with page sizes. The solution it to create Project Templates.

I've created Templates. Now want to update that templates with some new changes. I've even tried creating a brand new templates. However when creating a new Project, you have to select the default folder location, which sets the default file geodatabase, and toolbox. So I get everything set in my Pro Project, then Share > Export Project Template. It creates the template and I can share it how I please. However those default file geodatabase come with the template. Therefore another user at my organization that would use this template would have the same default FGDB as me. Which is something I don't want.

I know there is an option to pick the same FGDB for every Project, for example a network location, however I don't really want my users to be using the same one for all projects.

I'd like to be able to create a template without the default file geodatabase that was used in that original template Project (aspx file). Because the user creates the default FGDB when they open the template and create a new Project.

Re: ArcGIS Pro - Creating Project Templates without Default File Geodatabase

ThomasColson — Thu, 05 Apr 2018 13:07:41 GMT

Using a template actually creates two FGDB's: The default one that was in your project when you made the template, then another one when you create a new project using the template. So instead of 40 files (typical # in a new blank FGDB) fire-hosing your nightly back up, there are now 80, when you wanted zero because you're using things like Portal, Server, and AGOL. Tech support is telling me that this is the designed behavior, which I don't buy. How could filling up a project folder with that much clutter be "designed"? . Pro doesn't allow you the option of not creating a default GDB (why?), just use the same one over and over, or create a new one for each project. Setting the default one to an SDE simply isn't possible in our security model.

Re: ArcGIS Pro - Creating Project Templates without Default File Geodatabase

RichardLittlefield — Thu, 05 Apr 2018 13:21:27 GMT

You are correct that the templates have actually two file geodatabases. For my templates I've created 'Junk' FGDB's and toolboxes that are there just for the purpose of template creation. My Users know not to use those and that they are just junk areas that we can't get around. So when a User uses the template and creates a new project their default items get created with the new Project, however they also have the 'junk' areas that have to be there when creating a template. If this is by design, as your tech support person said, then what is the purpose of that? What use case requires that? It doesn't make sense that you have to have default items for template creation, because all of the default items get created when a new project is created, which is what happens when you use a template to start a project.

Re: ArcGIS Pro - Creating Project Templates without Default File Geodatabase

StephenLeibenguth — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 19:09:52 GMT

When creating a project template there are options to include toolboxes and include history items, how about an option to include the geodatabase which, when unchecked, would exclude the geodatabase and create a new one when the template is opened?

Do not maintain an empty default geodatabase from a project template in ArcGIS Pro

DalindaDamm — Wed, 03 Apr 2019 21:18:19 GMT

When creating a new project utilizing a project template in ArcGIS Pro, 2 geodatabases are generated; one from the original project the project template was created from, and one for the new project being created. In many cases, the project that is used to build the project template is more or less a shell and will have an empty default/home geodatabase. We propose that if that default/home geodatabase is empty, that it not persist in future projects created using the project template. Leaving it as it is, users can easily end up with a bunch of unnecessary geodatabases when trying to utilize project templates to attempt to standardize various projects.

Re: ArcGIS Pro - Creating Project Templates without Default File Geodatabase

DalindaDamm — Wed, 03 Apr 2019 21:21:40 GMT

Along similar lines, we have proposed not allowing for a geodatabase to persist in projects created from a template that was created from a project with an empty home/default geodatabase. This would mitigate for extraneous geodatabases in the file structure that is set up in a new project generated from a project template. Please check out this Idea Post: https://community.esri.com/ideas/16475-do-not-maintain-an-empty-default-geodatabase-from-a-project-template-in-arcgis-pro

Re: Do not maintain an empty default geodatabase from a project template in ArcGIS Pro

RichardLittlefield — Thu, 04 Apr 2019 11:52:14 GMT

Interesting idea. This would solve my issue when creating templates. See idea Creating Project Templates without Default File Geodatabase.

Re: Do not maintain an empty default geodatabase from a project template in ArcGIS Pro

DalindaDamm — Thu, 04 Apr 2019 17:16:39 GMT

Absolutely. I actually commented on that post yesterday to highlight this new idea. Thanks for helping link these ideas/issues

Re: Do not maintain an empty default geodatabase from a project template in ArcGIS Pro

Anonymous User — Tue, 30 Apr 2019 13:23:25 GMT

I absolutely agree. Thank you for posting.

Re: ArcGIS Pro - Creating Project Templates without Default File Geodatabase

RodNielson1 — Thu, 16 Jan 2020 03:21:55 GMT

Many of my projects have geodatabases already set up with pre-set feature datasets and directories. I would like to not have any of the automatically created stuff ... at all ... ever. It is just extra unwanted stuff that takes up space.

Re: ArcGIS Pro - Creating Project Templates without Default File Geodatabase - Status changed to: Under Consideration

NaicongLi — Fri, 29 Oct 2021 15:20:31 GMT

Re: ArcGIS Pro - Creating Project Templates without Default File Geodatabase

RichardLittlefield — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 13:04:51 GMT

Hey All - great to see this is now 'Under Consideration'. I created this idea five years ago and there have been a lot of improvements with Pro. One of them being the ability to have "Favorites" where you can save all of your folders, databases, etc. Even with that, I still think the ability to only include certain geodatabases of your choosing (i.e. not the default one) when creating a template is needed. When a user uses a template they'll create their own folder and geodatabase when they are opening the template.

Re: Do not maintain an empty default geodatabase from a project template in ArcGIS Pro - Status changed to: Under Consideration

NaicongLi — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 16:22:47 GMT

Option for no default geodatabase and toolbox in Pro

LaurenCardona — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 16:53:07 GMT

Can we make the default geodatabase and toolbox in Pro optional? It makes it difficult when we want to share a project across an organization (for a specific project or a template) and we don't want people accidentally writing to the wrong places.

Re: Option for no default geodatabase and toolbox in Pro - Status changed to: Needs Clarification

KoryKramer — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 16:52:51 GMT

@LaurenCardona thank you for submitting this idea. Can you please review https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-pro-ideas/arcgis-pro-creating-project-templates-without/idi-p/923067 ? Based on your description and comparing to the existing idea, it sounds like the use case is the same. Could you review and let us know, and if needed we'll merge your idea.

Thank you

Re: Option for no default geodatabase and toolbox in Pro

LaurenCardona — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 21:12:36 GMT

@ekort Hi Kory, it sounds like the original post is referring to disabling default geodatabases in project templates, I was referring to disabling them in a project. Both would be helpful though and I think these can probably be merged.

Project Templates (APTX): Remove reference to original GDB

AlfredBaldenweck — Tue, 25 Jul 2023 13:51:23 GMT

See here for reference

Currently, when setting up an APTX file, a reference to the default GDB of the original project used to create the template is preserved.

For example, my original project was "Template_Work". When I created a project from the APTX, it made its own default GDB but preserved the connection to the Template_Work.gdb

This doesn't really make sense.

First of all, why would I want a reference to another project's default GDB? It makes sense to preserve connections to other GDBs (except actually, not really, given the current behaviour of copying any data not in an enterprise GDB-- if you're going to copy any data used in the project anyway, we really don't need a reference to the file GDB it came from), but in general, they'd be like, my reference GDBs like elevation or wildlife, not the default/scratch GDB of another random project.

Second of all, if I launch this template on another computer or if I deleted the original project GDB, I'm now stuck with a broken link that I have to manually remove each time.

Third of all, the system templates don't have references to random GDBs in them. They just make a new default GDB and call it a day.

I would like the reference to the default GDB to be forgotten during APTX creation.

Any data that we're going to need is going to be copied into another GDB anyway during the packaging process, and we're also getting a new default GDB during project creation.

Re: Project Templates (APTX): Remove reference to original GDB

rflorence — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 18:56:57 GMT

Agree. I don't want a team of "20" having any association to the original folder and FGDB.

Re: ArcGIS Pro - Creating Project Templates without Default File Geodatabase

GISAdminSHN — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 17:39:56 GMT

Kudos to the dev team for the many improvements in Pro, however, this one is a no-brainer. I just got into making project templates and am immediately running into this obvious flaw in implementation, where using a project template creates multiple geodatabases (the one from Options and the one that carries through from the template.)

If a project template is used, the home geodatabase should be as defined in the template. Same for toolboxes. Ignore the global creation settings from Options for those items. This is why templates exist.

To bring this up to standard, implement the above, and also allow users to remove or disable gdb's and atbx's from project template files, in which case the global creation settings from Options would kick in.

Re: ArcGIS Pro - Creating Project Templates without Default File Geodatabase

AlfredBaldenweck — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 23:01:39 GMT

I posted a similar, if not identical, idea here: Project Templates (APTX): Remove reference to orig... - Esri Community and am okay with it being merged into this one.