topic Layer File losing path in Data Management Questions

Layer File losing path

TychoGranville — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 16:04:29 GMT

Hi all,

I have a layer file that loses the path to the source on some files (in other words, you get the little red ! next to the layer in question). In the case this morning the source path was still there and correct. I just clicked on “Set Data Source” and clicked the feature class that it was already pointing to and it worked.

All of the other feature classes link up correctly – even ones that are in the same File GeoDatabase. This layer file was created yesterday.

I’m using ArcGIS 10.3.1 on a Windows 7 machine. Though this has happened sporadically back through at least 10.0 – it is just annoying enough now that I figured I’d put out a query.

Thanks,

Tycho

Re: Layer File losing path

MichaelVolz — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 16:08:09 GMT

Can you provide a screenshot of the Properties of the lyr file in ArcCatalog of the Source tab?

Re: Layer File losing path

TychoGranville — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 16:37:55 GMT

It's buried pretty deep, though this happens on simple (non-grouped) layer files as well. I clipped off the bottom portion of the projection parameters (it's not a custom one) -

- End of images

Re: Layer File losing path

MichaelVolz — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 16:56:13 GMT

Have you tried adding this lyr file on a different and/or as a different person on the same machine as the security settings for this shared folder might be different for other users?

Re: Layer File losing path

DanPatterson_Retired — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 17:30:54 GMT

Make sure that you have the project set to use relative paths in the map/project properties section from the file menu.

Although I have never seen a migratory layer file, unless one is saving/using files off a network drive rather than a local drive (where possible)

Re: Layer File losing path

TychoGranville — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 21:13:04 GMT

Our data is on network drives (we don’t do backups of local drives, and people get upset when their hard drive crashes and all of their data is gone…).

I added this layer file to a map that I then copied over to another staff member’s template directory (the default C:\Program Files (x86)\ArcGIS\Desktop10.3\MapTemplates). I normally do use relative paths; for this one I changed it to absolute. I will change it back to relative and put it on a couple more people’s machines to test. I will let you guys know how it goes.

Thanks,

Tycho

Re: Layer File losing path

DanPatterson_Retired — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 21:38:16 GMT

Tycho ... moved to Managing Data rather than the generic community help pool to see if anyone has other ideas

Re: Layer File losing path

WesMiller — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 14:24:52 GMT

Is the data stored on a NAS (network attached storage) If it is that's your problem. I've had a lot of problems keeping communication with my NAS drive.

Re: Layer File losing path

TychoGranville — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 16:41:30 GMT

Only our Lidar data is on a NAS. I don’t think too many users (I have 13 in total) are hitting it yet as it's a recent addition to our library. What I’ve done so far is –

Changed the path from absolute to relative

Changed the labeling from MapLex to the standard engine (there were just a few that needed that)

Changed the Lidar layerfile to 10.3 (I have a few users still using 10.2, they will have to keep using the old one). This template is just for a 10.3 user, so I’m not concerned about the change (I kept the old layerfile, of course)

I’m testing it on three different logins on different machines. At this point it appears to working, though I will bring it up once or twice a day on each machine for a few days before I call it good.

I will keep you posted…

Re: Layer File losing path

TychoGranville — Tue, 03 May 2016 16:02:56 GMT

Well, it has now worked for three days (being opened and closed multiple times) on two different machines with two different logins, so I’m going to call it good. I would love to have changed just one parameter at a time (from the reply above) to figure out exactly what the problem was. Unfortunately, now that it works I need to move on to the next project so it will always be a bit of a mystery.

Thanks for the help and suggestions,

Tycho