topic Re: What is the future of ArcCatalog in future Pro versions? in ArcGIS Pro Questions

What is the future of ArcCatalog in future Pro versions?

RenatoSalvaleon — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 19:59:53 GMT

Unless I missed it, there's several Administration features in current ArcCatalog that are not available in Pro, specially the ones for geodatabases, e.g., Manage and Administer which is slightly different for each type of data objects.

Re: What is the future of ArcCatalog in future Pro versions?

JakeSkinner — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 20:29:48 GMT

Hi Renato,

The following link may be helpful:

ArcGIS Pro Common Questions

ArcGIS Pro will not be a replacement for ArcGIS for Desktop:

Re: What is the future of ArcCatalog in future Pro versions?

RhondaGlennon — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 23:15:24 GMT

Thanks for the comments. If you have specific functions you'd like to see in future releases of ArcGIS Pro, please post your thoughts in the ArcGIS Pro product category on the ArcGIS Ideas site. You can also contact tech support or your local distributor, if outside the US, to log an enhancement request and see if there are any workflows available now to solve your issue.

There is also this general FAQ from the help system that mentions future releases: Frequently asked questions—ArcGIS Pro

Re: What is the future of ArcCatalog in future Pro versions?

NateArnold — Thu, 12 Feb 2015 16:17:20 GMT

I can't see ArcGIS Pro replacing ArcCatalog ever so long as you need to save a project when first opening Pro. Who wants to do that just to run some GP tools and manage data??

Re: What is the future of ArcCatalog in future Pro versions?

DavidWheelock — Wed, 05 Oct 2016 16:39:33 GMT

Jake and Rhonda.

The CURRENT info from ESRI appears to be that ArcGIS Pro WILL replace ArcMap/ArcCatalog and we should all start migrating. Am I correct in this understanding?

This is a big problem for many of us who heavily use features of ArcMap/ArcCatalog that Pro simply doesn't have, such as ArcCatalog-style data management and many others.

See this thread for more details:

https://community.esri.com/ideas/1216

Go to pages 3-5 in the thread for the recent conversations.

There's also a very good suggestion here:

Create an ArcGIS Pro feature "road map"

What information do you have for us on this?

Re: What is the future of ArcCatalog in future Pro versions?

Robert_LeClair — Wed, 05 Oct 2016 16:51:36 GMT

David-you do bring up a good question that I get in my ArcGIS Pro classes and Technical Workshops all the time. Is ArcMap/ArcCatalog going away? And is ArcGIS Pro the replacement for ArcMap? The short answer is no. ArcMap/ArcCatalog will be with us for quite some time to come. There will be an ArcMap 10.5. There will be an ArcMap 10.6 (or will it be 11.0?) The ArcGIS for Desktop deprecation schedule shows ArcMap 10.4.1 retired Feb 1, 2022. With ArcMap 10.5 and later, those dates will be added as the software is released.

Now with that said, Esri is investing/developing heavily into the ArcGIS Pro application. The next release of Pro 1.4 will bring near ArcMap equivalency to the Pro application. ArcMap is still in the development cycle for bug fixes, some updates, some new functionality. But Pro is where the development is focused.

ArcGIS Pro and ArcMap can run side by side on the same machine. To my knowledge, there is no plan for a Pro "ArcCatalog" as Pro is the fusion of ArcMap, ArcCatalog, ArcScene, ArcGlobe, and City Engine Runtime.

Esri understands that many of our customers cannot upgrade quickly to new technologies and value the ArcMap platform for many workflows. As such there are no plans to discontinue ArcMap anytime soon. ArcMap will be with us for years to come.

Keep in mind, I'm an Esri instructor and am not privy to the inner details of development or corporate decision making. This is based on my conversations with Esri Staff, some of whom are on the Pro Team.

Hope this helps clarify.

Re: What is the future of ArcCatalog in future Pro versions?

DavidWheelock — Wed, 05 Oct 2016 18:24:11 GMT

Thank you Robert. I acknowledge that you're not on the development team and so won't be able to answer my comment below. But if you could simply relay the following:

I haven't seen anything like the easy data management functionality of ArcCatalog in ArcGIS Pro. And the last thing I want to do is create a whole Pro project folder when all I want to do is look at some data that someone just sent me in an e-mail. If the end-game really is the extinction of ArcMap 10-15 years from now, then Pro will have to have a replacement for ArcCatalog. I'd like for someone at ESRI to admit to that and put it on the development schedule.

Re: What is the future of ArcCatalog in future Pro versions?

Robert_LeClair — Wed, 05 Oct 2016 18:38:03 GMT

Correct. I would not be able to comment on the 2nd paragraph but I do know Esri Pro Staff are actively watching Pro discussions on GeoNet so there's a possibility they could respond. If there is functionality missing in Pro such as the Catalog/ArcCatalog applications and its workflow in Pro, one suggestion is to add to the ArcGIS Ideas website for Pro. Again, the Pro developers are actively watching/addressing these ideas as well.

Re: What is the future of ArcCatalog in future Pro versions?

DavidWheelock — Wed, 05 Oct 2016 19:20:06 GMT

Done! Here's the Idea. It's already got a few UP-votes.

Add Stand Alone Data Catalog Like ArcCatalog to ArcGIS Pro

https://community.esri.com/ideas/12671-add-stand-alone-data-catalog-to-arcgis-pro-like-arccatalog

Renato Salvaleon, please check out my ArcCatalog suggestion above and give it an up-vote, if you like it.

Re: What is the future of ArcCatalog in future Pro versions?

ThomasColson — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 14:46:07 GMT

" To my knowledge, there is no plan for a Pro "ArcCatalog" as Pro is the fusion of ArcMap, ArcCatalog, ArcScene, ArcGlobe, and City Engine Runtime."

That's a head-scratcher. What's the business logic for not including a critical component of data management?

Re: What is the future of ArcCatalog in future Pro versions?

Robert_LeClair — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 15:03:47 GMT

The workflow is that ArcGIS Pro's Project Pane will be used to manage one's geographic data. With that said, keep in mind that ArcGIS Pro is not a complete product yet. ArcGIS Pro 1.4 is scheduled to be released later this year and with that - the goal is ArcMap equivalency with regard to functionality. For long time GIS users, when ArcMap 8.0 was released, it did not have the equivalency of ArcView 3.x - it took time. It wasn't until 8.3 that I transitioned my company's workflows to ArcMap (wasn't working for Esri then).

Re: What is the future of ArcCatalog in future Pro versions?

RebeccaStrauch__GISP — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 15:32:29 GMT

I voted this up and added the following comment....duplicated/reposting here for maybe more exposure....turned into a semi-editorial from me...

I spend most of my time in ArcCatalog developing tools that aren't tied to a project, user, or machine. My preferred end product are python add-ins toolbars/buttons, which to my knowledge are not, and will/can not be supported in Pro due to ribbon UI (although the toolbox can be accessed and used).
My use case is being able to manipulate/analysis/geoprocess data, including maps via arcpy.mapping. I know that toolboxes can still be accessed, and "tasks" are the new workflow model, but an easy interface with the ability to develop/manage data and maps programmatically is why I like and use ArcCatalog. I don't have to create a project for this, just open it up and develop, view and/or manage all my data and tools. I know ArcCatalog will be around for quite a while and so this development/management workflow will continue for my use.
On the up side for Pro, I know it does have some nice features, and running my tools written thru ArcCatalog run much faster, as long as I make them compatible with python 3.x, when necessary. Pro is solving many of the issues that many users have been asking for, for years (multi-layout, real 64-bit, etc), so that is a plus. Also, I know that trying to build some of these requests into the Desktop platform wasn't possible, practical, or cost effective -- and having them try would have caused more of an uproar from all of us, as new issues, time delays, and rising costs would most likely have happened. So, the approach of starting clean, from the ground up, and adding features in as it grows is probably a good approach, and less disruptive to those of us that are long time users of Desktop (as much as I and many others don't want to admit sometimes). It is after all still in the 1.x version (anyone else ever remember a 1.x version of any software being a completely polished product? MS Windows 1.x,). Sorry about the editorial, but I have hope for the product and ideas like this getting serious consideration and hopefully implementation.
So, for the near, and still semi-distant future, I will continue to rely more heavily on Desktop, while playing with Pro when I have time. With each release more functionality is coming out, so I'll hold judgement on 1.4+, but the "simplicity" of quickly opening a Catalog session, doing whatever, and closing down, at least so far, is not there. Also, our shop will be a mixed bag of users and what they use for a long time to come....so will always need to have the data review and management features of Catalog.

Re: What is the future of ArcCatalog in future Pro versions?

ThomasColson — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 17:40:37 GMT

I manage many terabytes of data, two dozen SDE instances, 8 GIS servers, and the average time I get to spend on any one "project" is 7 minutes in support of a very large campus. Being limited to a "project view" snapshot of some of that data is not very productive. I just had a very interesting conversation with one my staff, whom I asked to try Pro out this week. I don't believe he knows Geonet exists...his feedback on the usability and functionality of Pro was like re-reading the numerous Geonet posts on the topic. 30,000 foot-view....my interpretation of Pro is that most of the core features in desktop will not be in Pro unless end users exhaust significant time in asking for them and "voting" on ideas. There is so much lacking in Pro right now that I'm kind of skeptical that anything released later this year (2 months left) will even come close to anything resembling Arc Map functionality.

Re: What is the future of ArcCatalog in future Pro versions?

LeoLadefian5 — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 19:15:31 GMT

Is there anyway to avoid having to connect to data sources every time you open a new project? It's ludicrous to think I have to do this every time I open a "mapdoc" or Project.

Re: What is the future of ArcCatalog in future Pro versions?

Robert_LeClair — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 19:17:30 GMT

Yes, create your own Project Template for Pro.

Re: What is the future of ArcCatalog in future Pro versions?

ThomasColson — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 20:14:24 GMT

It's important to note, that even with a project template, you cannot connect to the root of a drive letter, whether it's a network share, hard drive, or portable storage media. Not sure what the reasoning behind that restriction is.

Re: What is the future of ArcCatalog in future Pro versions?

DavidWheelock — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 21:31:12 GMT

Robert. Asking users to use ArcGIS Pro's project pane to manage all of their data is like asking Windows users to use MS Word's Browsing window to manage their files. A browse window is no replacement for a full-featured data management app like ArcCatalog. Just not going to happen.

Who's idea WAS this?!

Re: What is the future of ArcCatalog in future Pro versions?

JohnDye — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 23:15:15 GMT

that's funny

Re: What is the future of ArcCatalog in future Pro versions?

JohnDye — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 23:29:28 GMT

Robert LeClair wrote:
To my knowledge, there is no plan for a Pro "ArcCatalog" as Pro is the fusion of ArcMap, ArcCatalog, ArcScene, ArcGlobe, and City Engine Runtime.

I realize that was not your decision to make Robert and that you likely had nothing to do with it at all, but in the 12 years I've been using Esri software, I don't think I even heard anyone, ever, ask for ArcMap, ArcCatalog, ArcScene, ArcGlobe and City Engine Runtime to be fused into a single product.

I can kind of see the logic behind merging Map, Scene and Globe, but Catalog doesn't make a bit of sense to me. All we ever wanted was a 64-bit ArcGIS Desktop.

It is what it is though. Pro isn't going away and 64-bit Desktop isn't coming, so we'll all just have to learn pro. It's no so bad, but it still has a ton of catching up to do.

Re: What is the future of ArcCatalog in future Pro versions?

Robert_LeClair — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 14:42:46 GMT

Correct. As I mentioned in an earlier response, I'm an Esri Desktop/Geodata instructor and do not work with the Dev/Marketing/Corporate teams so am not privy to any of those discussions on software development/platforms. From presentations at User Conference with members from the Pro Team, ArcGIS Pro is that fusion of 5 products. Before ArcGIS Pro was developed there was discussions and attempts to make ArcMap/ArcCatalog a 64-bit application but after a few months, the team determined it was not possible "upgrading" the code to be compatible on 64-bit hardware. Technically, ArcMap was first developed around 1997 and released in 1999. During the last 19 years, the way software is coded/developed has changed significantly. Thus ArcGIS Pro uses the current model for software development rather than using a 1997 model. ArcGIS Pro is not 100% complete - on that we can all agree. But the ArcGIS Pro Dev Team is working very hard for ArcMap equivalency that we hope to have at 1.4. ArcMap 8.0 was not a complete product when it first came out but it became an amazing Desktop GIS over time. What I see from ArcGIS Pro currently is amazing and will only improve. Hang in there and please contribute thoughts/ideas/workflows to the Pro Dev Team to help make ArcGIS Pro another amazing Desktop GIS.