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?

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: 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.

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.

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

NaicongLi — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 23:53:16 GMT

Hello @AlfredBaldenweck ,

Thank you for your feedback, and for suggesting that we merging your idea with https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-pro-ideas/arcgis-pro-creating-project-templates-without/idi-p/923067. We will merge it, together with the kudos to your idea here. Could you also add your kudo to https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-pro-ideas/arcgis-pro-creating-project-templates-without/idi-p/923067 ?

Thank you again.

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

MErikReedAugusta — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 20:22:01 GMT

@NaicongLi

Out of curiosity, has there been any further consideration given to this Idea since the "Under Consideration" tag was applied back in October 2021?

We have a template my team uses regularly, and I keep running into this 2-GDB tedium as a result.

I have a project called "MapTemplate_Master" where I maintain updates to the template. Because I have to have a default GDB, it has an empty GDB by the same name inside the folder. Then I create a template via Share->Save As...-> Project Template and save it to file.

Then I go start a new project from this template, let's call it "MapRequest7". Inside that MapRequest7 folder is a MapRequest7.gdb (the default database for that project, which is empty), and a MapTemplate_Master.gdb (from the original template project; this is also empty).

Note that that last one isn't a link back to the original, it's a new copy.

For every project my team creates using this template, we're ending up with two empty GDBs cluttering the folders that we don't need.

I cannot see why this should be standard procedure.

When you export the template, there are even checkboxes for whether or not to include Toolboxes & History items:

Why not just include a checkbox for whether to include (select) GDBs or not? Or at the very minimum, have a way for the template to detect that it has a local GDB embedded and rename said local GDB to match the new Project name.

I could live with a single GDB, if it came to it. But two is absurd.

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

GIS_Spellblade — Thu, 23 May 2024 21:46:01 GMT

Real status update when?

-----

Actually a substantive comment. The template utilized a mobile geodatabase as the default and when opening up the template, as a template, the new default geodatabase is a file geodatabase. This defeats the whole purpose of putting a mobile geodatabase as the default to gain the benefit of using a single file instead of the smorgasbord that is the file geodatabase. Totally tedious to have to delete the auto-created file geodatabase.

And it looks like this is an inter-related idea:
https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-pro-ideas/select-type-of-default-geodatabase-to-be-created/idi-p/1266704

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

BrettLessner_Nsight — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 19:26:18 GMT

Any update with this? We're using 3.5 and still seeing this.

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

E_ThomasCappetta_GISS_T — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 21:10:21 GMT

I would love to see a solution to this.

Only way I have worked around is to copy my project used to create a template into a temporary folder. After saving the .aptx file I delete the temporary folder. Since the file path is gone, when I use the template to create a new project I end up with only the newly created default gdb. No sign of the gdb from the template project, but the old folder connection is still there in my list of folders. Before I create the .aptx I rename the folder to REMOVE_ME, so at least the user understands not to worry and to remove the broken folder connection from the project.

Anyway, I would love to avoid this run around process.