topic Re: ArcGIS Pro Database Connections Folder - Organization in ArcGIS Pro Questions

ArcGIS Pro Database Connections Folder - Organization

BenGrod — Wed, 06 May 2015 14:59:27 GMT

I'm a novice ArcGIS Pro user so forgive me for such a simple question but is there a way to put all of your Database Connection files in one location which is recognized by all Projects you open? Currently it appears that each Project has a list of Database Connection files saved under your My Documents\ArcGIS\Projects\MyProject1 folder. Is there a way to direct ArcGIS Pro to look in another folder which contains your complete set of Database Connection files (.sde). We have a ton of SDE connection files that need to be recreated in ArcGIS Pro and it would be nice to create them once and share them to all projects and users. Thanks in advance for your help.

Re: ArcGIS Pro Database Connections Folder - Organization

JakeSkinner — Wed, 06 May 2015 18:20:54 GMT

Hi Ben,

One thing you could do is add a folder connection (right-click on Folders > Add Folder Connection) to your project that contains all of the SDE connection files. For example, if you have all of your SDE geodatabase connections stored under 'Database Connections' in ArcGIS Desktop, you would add the following folder:

C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming\ESRI\Desktop10.3\ArcCatalog

Note: It doesn't appear that ArcGIS Pro will show hidden folders (i.e. AppData) when adding a folder connection, so you will need to copy/paste the path into the Name dialog box:

Re: ArcGIS Pro Database Connections Folder - Organization

BenGrod — Wed, 06 May 2015 19:18:57 GMT

Hey Jake, that was a good idea and in fact I thought it would work but the ArcGIS Pro application doesn't allow me to open the databases in the new folder I created. You can physically view the connections and they appear as a database but you can't open the database (see screen shot below). Not 100% sure on this one but it seems like the only way to access an enterprise database is when the connection file is in the "Databases" folder and not a normal folder connection. Any ideas? Thanks again for you help.

Re: ArcGIS Pro Database Connections Folder - Organization

JakeSkinner — Wed, 06 May 2015 19:37:31 GMT

You're right. I made the connection, but did not try connecting to the geodatabases. Not sure if there is a way to do this. Hopefully someone else may have a solution for you.

Re: ArcGIS Pro Database Connections Folder - Organization

WilliamPollock — Wed, 06 May 2015 19:43:29 GMT

Is it possible that your newly named old *.sde files cannot have periods/dots (".") to the left of the file extension?

For example, will it work if you rename "gis.mobile.sde" to "gis_mobile.sde"?

Re: ArcGIS Pro Database Connections Folder - Organization

BenGrod — Wed, 06 May 2015 19:44:47 GMT

Thanks Jake, we'll figure this one out somehow, Esri must have considered this when they built ArcGIS Pro. I'll be sure to post the results to this thread,

Re: ArcGIS Pro Database Connections Folder - Organization

WilliamPollock — Wed, 06 May 2015 19:45:22 GMT

i see you have one named that way already....ok, so how about copying/pasting the entire AGP "Databases" directory?

Re: ArcGIS Pro Database Connections Folder - Organization

WilliamPollock — Wed, 06 May 2015 19:56:49 GMT

and there is a solution to access connections outside your Project described here:

Accessing existing .sde and .ags Connection Files in ArcGIS Pro

cheers.

Re: ArcGIS Pro Database Connections Folder - Organization

BenGrod — Wed, 06 May 2015 21:48:47 GMT

Hi William, thank you for the link to the discussion Accessing Existing SDE and AGS Connection Files in ArcGIS Pro, shame on me for not finding that on my own. That pretty much answers my question and defines the workflow for adding multiple SDE or Database connections to an ArcGIS Pro project. The steps are a below and are a combination of what Jake suggested and William pointed out.

Add a Folder Connection
1. This folder should contain all of your previously created SDE/Database Connections
2. The connections in this folder will not be immediately accessible to the project
Select a Database Connection from this folder - right click - Add To Project
1. The Database selected is added under your Databases Folder
2. The Database and it's contents are now accessible

Re: ArcGIS Pro Database Connections Folder - Organization

JenniferKuntz1 — Sun, 17 Apr 2016 18:25:06 GMT

Another thing you might find useful is to create a project template that has the connections you need. The template will store the connections as well as other items you might want to have as a standard part of your projects. When you create a new project, you can use the template to add the connections and other items to the project.

Re: ArcGIS Pro Database Connections Folder - Organization

KaseyCox — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 18:09:51 GMT

I have a follow up question: After adding the database connection to myy project, it still seem to be using the connection from the folder I added it from. So, when I changed the version I was connection to and renamed theeeeeee connection in my project Databases, it also changed the one in the folder. Is there a way to get it into my prject but sever the connection to the original folder? I added from a shared folder for team access, but need to be able to change version and naming convention for my specifice version while leaving the connection in the folder as is for access for the rest of the team! Worse yet, it seems someone else already changed them for their versions and didnt know it was updating the connections in the folder 🤦‍:female_sign:

I did try using windows explorer to copy/paste the connection files into the Project folder on the C://user (as I used to do with ArcCatalog)... but they do not show up in the catalog pane using that method, and Add to project fails with no info in the error message.

Re: ArcGIS Pro Database Connections Folder - Organization

George_Thompson — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 18:18:59 GMT

I think that is the expected behavior. Once you add a connection to your project, it creates a "pointer" to where it was in the DB folder. As your screenshot shows, it gives the path to the .sde connection file. Is that the location that you "copied" the connection from?

Re: ArcGIS Pro Database Connections Folder - Organization

KaseyCox — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 18:26:36 GMT

Yes, is there a way to "Add it to project" and then sever that connection, so that I that I can change my connection without changing the original?

when a database connection to created in the project, it saves the file in the C:\Users\kcox\Documents\ArcGIS\Projects\QC, however when i paste the connection string in there, it does not add them to the project.

Re: ArcGIS Pro Database Connections Folder - Organization

George_Thompson — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 18:40:40 GMT

Ok, I think that once you paste it into the Project folder (as you referenced above), you will still need to "Add to Project". That will just add the .sde file in your local folder. That will "break" the connection.

I do not believe that it adds .sde files automatically to the project. That is for a variety of reasons that I can think of.

Re: ArcGIS Pro Database Connections Folder - Organization

KaseyCox — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 19:01:23 GMT

Thank you George!!! I got failure when trying to add them as a bundle (selecting all of them), but doing 1 by 1 did work!

Re: ArcGIS Pro Database Connections Folder - Organization

George_Thompson — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 19:59:06 GMT

Please accept that as a solution for others to find easily.

Not sure about the error when adding them as a bundle........ maybe an enhancement 😁