topic Re: Editor Tracking – High Precision Date Fields issue in ArcGIS Pro. in ArcGIS Pro Questions

Editor Tracking – High Precision Date Fields issue in ArcGIS Pro.

MikeLongtine — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 18:35:41 GMT

I have an issue, and it appears ArcGIS pro has an issue as well with the editor tracking date fields in Arc GIS Online. These fields (created_date, last_edited_date) are represented as High Precision in AGOL. If I Export the features to a new geodatabase, I cannot turn on editor tracking using the High Precision date fields, I do not get the option to use the created_date, last_edited_date. When I chose the Use Default option, I get an error (EnableEditorTracking: ERROR 001217).

If I export to geodatabase from the ArcGIS online interface – download – Unzip and do the same process, the date fields are no longer high precision. This works for my process, but is much slower than doing it in ArcGIS Pro.

Has anybody else seen this behavior and is there a possible bug or workaround?

ArcGIS Pro 3.4.0

Re: Editor Tracking – High Precision Date Fields issue in ArcGIS Pro.

PeterKnoop — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 19:33:07 GMT

This is a open bug with Enable Editor tracking in ArcGIS Pro. You can ask Esri Support to attach you to BUG-000164474 to track progress on resolving the issue.

Another workaround, though also time consuming, is to add two new fields that are low-precision date fields, calculate their values from the corresponding high-precision fields, delete the high-precision fields, rename the new fields to the original names, and then turn on editor tracking. You can implement that workflow in a Notebook for convenience and speed, if you find yourself doing it regularly.

Re: Editor Tracking – High Precision Date Fields issue in ArcGIS Pro.

MikeLongtine — Thu, 12 Dec 2024 20:50:02 GMT

Here is some python which does the workaround:

# Import system modules
import arcpy

# Set environment settings
arcpy.env.workspace = "D:\\ArcGISProjects\\Default.gdb"

# Set local variables
inFeatures = input("Prompt message: ")
fieldName1 = "created_dateNEW"
fieldAlias1 = "created_dateNEW"
fieldName2 = "last_edited_dateNEW"
fieldAlias2 = "last_edited_dateNEW"

# Add new fields
arcpy.management.AddField(inFeatures, fieldName1, "DATE", field_alias=fieldAlias1)
arcpy.management.AddField(inFeatures, fieldName2, "DATE", field_alias=fieldAlias2)

# Copy the data from the old fields to the new fields
arcpy.management.CalculateField(inFeatures, fieldName1, "!created_date!")
arcpy.management.CalculateField(inFeatures, fieldName2, "!last_edited_date!")

# Delete the old fields and rename the new fields to the old field names
arcpy.management.DeleteField(inFeatures,["created_date", "last_edited_date"])
arcpy.management.AlterField(inFeatures, "created_dateNEW", "created_date", "created_date")
arcpy.management.AlterField(inFeatures, "last_edited_dateNEW", "last_edited_date", "last_edited_date")

Re: Editor Tracking – High Precision Date Fields issue in ArcGIS Pro.

CarmenDurham — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 18:46:28 GMT

I am at 3.3 and seeing this behavior as well. Thank you two for posting all of this.

Re: Editor Tracking – High Precision Date Fields issue in ArcGIS Pro.

MattReeves_SpokaneValley — Thu, 15 May 2025 20:46:37 GMT

BUG-000164474 for ArcGIS Pro

Re: Editor Tracking – High Precision Date Fields issue in ArcGIS Pro.

HeatherBell — Sat, 27 Sep 2025 08:55:23 GMT

I have a similar issue with the date fields where they cannot be used under editor tracking due to error 001217, but they also cannot be deleted or thier properties edited - it would be quite easy to republish the layer without realising that the date fields are not recording any changes under editor tracking. I resolved it in ArcGIS Pro by using the 'convert temporal field' tool. I converted first to text, and then converted again to date. Then I deleted the old fields (which could not be deleted under 'fields') by exporting to a new feature class, and then renaming them during the export.

I hope this helps someone else!

Re: Editor Tracking – High Precision Date Fields issue in ArcGIS Pro.

FrankMancini — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 19:27:06 GMT

Just ran into the same exact issue as first reported @ ArcGIS Pro 3.6.1.

Datasets created in File Geodatabase with Editor Tracking Enabled then published to ArcGIS Online for editing. Updated Feature Service (Hosted) Layers added to ArcGIS Pro map to overwrite local File GDB datasets using Export Features tool. Unable to Enable Editor Tracking on updated local datasets.

ERROR 001217: Invalid Editor Tracking field in dataset <dataset_name>

Date fields are also unavailable to select from Feature Class Properties > Manage > Editor Tracking. Selecting "Use default" throws same error.

Offending fields display as "*created_date" & "*last_edited_date" in Catalog > Data Designs > Fields. Assume asterisk indicates they are high-precision date fields.

Re: Editor Tracking – High Precision Date Fields issue in ArcGIS Pro.

DavidColey — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 16:00:26 GMT

Looks to me like this was first reported at 3.4.0 and it is still present at 3.6.2. High Precision date fields cannot be used in Editor Tracking. The only solution remains the work around of adding low precision date fields, but it sure is a pain.