topic Re: Import Schema Changes Tool not working in Data Management Questions

Import Schema Changes Tool not working

JonathanHouck — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:50:54 GMT

Hello everyone,

I've got a two-way replica and I'm trying to make some basic schema changes to the parent, and then transfer them to the child. The schema changes I'm trying to make are: adding three fields to a feature class that participates in a feature data set that has a geometric network. I'm not sure if this is supported or not, the chart of allowed schema changes was a little ambiguous to me in this regard.

What I'm doing:

I right click on the parent database in the catalog window, go to Distributed Geodatabase, and Compare Replica Schema. In the wizard window, I select the child database, the replica name, and output the file to one of our network drives.

Then, in the catalog window, I right click on the child database and select Import Replica Schema, and in that window, I navigate to the XML file. After it locates the file, it lags for almost a minute, and eventually populates the input box with the XML file. This is where the problem occurs, the Replica Name and Replica Type sections never get populated, and the "Next >" button stays grayed out. Am I missing an important step, or doing something wrong? Is there some kind of consideration I need to be making?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

NOTE: I'm using ArcSDE 10.0, and running Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2

Re: Import Schema Changes Tool not working

JonathanHouck — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:25:22 GMT

Resolved! The problem I was having is, I was creating the schema differences file from the database opposite where I was importing to. If you're going to import the file from one side, you need to create the schema log from that side as well. (Example: make schema changes on the parent, use the compare schema tool on the child with the parent as an input parameter, then import the XML file to the child.)

Re: Import Schema Changes Tool not working

JeffLegato — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 13:53:19 GMT

Thanks for posting your resolution to this a I was experiencing the same behavior. I was able to get the replica to import and make the change (add one field to a table) but when I try and synchronize the data it doesn't want to populate the new field.

Re: Import Schema Changes Tool not working

KateBuss — Wed, 28 May 2014 15:17:58 GMT

Thanks for posting your resolution jhouck86 - I was doing this backwards too. The Esri documentation on this process is too vague and not detailed enough and there's little info elsewhere on the web. So thanks again!

Re: Import Schema Changes Tool not working

CherylCleghorn — Thu, 29 May 2014 14:41:50 GMT

Please see the following knowledgebase articles:
FAQ: Why does Import schema changes return the message: 'No schema changes found for this replica pair'? and HowTo: Update schema changes with replication
They are relevant and I have submitted version updates for the articles.

Regards
Cheryl