topic Re: Move feature classes out of feature dataset in Data Management Questions

Move feature classes out of feature dataset

OlovMelin — Thu, 28 Nov 2019 06:03:43 GMT

hello!

I have an enterprise geodatabase with a number of feature datasets. Every feature dataset has a number of feature classes and relationship classes. The relationship classes are pointing to feature classes in the same feature dataset but also to feature classes in other feature dataset in the sama geodatabase.

The geodatabase is used by ArcGIS Server, FME and various scripts that we don't want to remake.

Is there a method or way to move all feature classes and relationship classes to the root of the geodatabase? I know that it doesn't matter for the arcgis server and FME if the feature class is in an feature dataset or the root, it will find it anyway. However, I have big time issues with moving/copying this relationship classes. If I simply use the method of copying data with new name -->delete old files and rename the new, the relationship classes will stop working.

Is this an dead end? Better to delete all reationship classes, move data and make new ones?

Re: Move feature classes out of feature dataset

DanaNolan — Fri, 29 Nov 2019 19:27:08 GMT

I think it is a dead end. You can create relationships with a geoprocessing tool, so that could save some typing and reduce errors if you use similar options and naming conventions for the parameters in the relationship. Just edit the Results of the tool for each feature, or build a little model.

Re: Move feature classes out of feature dataset

Asrujit_SenGupta — Sun, 01 Dec 2019 11:26:38 GMT

You can try this:

1. Select all the Feature Classes and Relationship Classes inside a Feature dataset

2. Drag and drop them on the root, basically drag and drop on the sde connection file.

Note: Try on a backup first and not directly on Production.

Re: Move feature classes out of feature dataset

OlovMelin — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 08:14:39 GMT

Hi, and thanks for your reply. This method only works if the relationship classes reference to featureclasses in the same feature dataset. Otherwise it will also copy and paste the other feature datasets automatically.

Re: Move feature classes out of feature dataset

Asrujit_SenGupta — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 08:17:26 GMT

Not Copy/Paste. I suggested Drag and Drop.

Re: Move feature classes out of feature dataset

OlovMelin — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 08:21:45 GMT

Alright . I will try it right away!

Re: Move feature classes out of feature dataset

OlovMelin — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 10:03:50 GMT

That action worked. Many thanks

Re: Move feature classes out of feature dataset

AngelaDeegan — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 19:44:11 GMT

After doing what you describe, do you know the most efficient way to fix references in Pro maps to these feature classes?

In a development environment I successfully dragged/dropped feature classes & relationship classes out of a feature dataset. (My plan is to eventually delete this feature dataset.) However I have maps that use these feature classes and relationship classes in their layers. And I noticed that when I check the source of the layers, it still references the old feature dataset. These maps are published to our development Portal. And nothing seems to be broken in there. But I'm thinking these incorrect references will probably cause issues somewhere along the line. Do you know what is the best way to fix them?

Re: Move feature classes out of feature dataset

Asrujit_SenGupta — Thu, 03 Sep 2020 05:33:31 GMT

So, I tested on my end and I could reproduce the behavior.

The behavior is only observed for Feature Classes which are already added to Map, not otherwise. I am not sure if these will cause any issues, however it may cause confusion for sure, so its surely better to fix them if possible.

only solution I found:

Remove the affected FC from the Map Contents, refresh the connection and re-add the FC to the map. Now check the source, it doesn't refer to the Feature Dataset anymore.

Note: Always try on a backup first and not directly on Production.

Re: Move feature classes out of feature dataset

AngelaDeegan — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 08:33:47 GMT

Thank you very much for checking into this and letting me know your findings. I'm currently looking to see if there's a programmatic way to do this by leveraging getDefinition on Layer. So far I have only been able to display the feature dataset for layers in a map, but not change it. I think really what I need to be able to do is remove the featureDataset attribute for the layer.

def updateFDstToRoot(prj, mp):
    ##Script to display any FCs that still indicate they are in the 'gis.sde.WaterDistributionRelated' feature dataset - though all feature classes were moved (dragged/dropped) from it to 'root;

    import arcpy, sys

    aprx = arcpy.mp.ArcGISProject(r'C:\Users\angela\Documents\ArcGIS\Projects\DEVwork\{}.aprx'.format(prj))

    #Get list of all the maps in the project
    mps = aprx.listMaps()
    print(r"There are {} maps in project {}".format(len(mps), prj))
    #print(mps)
    mnames = []
    for m in mps:
        mnames.append(m.name)
    print(len(mnames))

    #Get the index of the map we want to work on
    map_pos = mnames.index(mp)
    print(r'{} is in position {}'.format(mp, map_pos))

    #Get a handle on the map
    m = mps[map_pos]
    print(m.name)

    lyrs = m.listLayers()
    print(len(lyrs))
    for l in lyrs:
        lCIM = l.getDefinition('V2')
        try:
            dc = lCIM.featureTable.dataConnection
        except Exception as Ex:            print('******Failed: {}\nLine: {}\n'.format(Ex, sys.exc_info()[-1].tb_lineno))
        else:
           if hasattr(dc, 'featureDataset'):
              if dc.featureDataset == 'gis.sde.WaterDistributionRelated':
                 print("**** {} needs updating".format(l.name))
              else:
                 print("{} DOES NOT NEED updating".format(l.name))
    #aprx.save()
    del aprx

updateFDstToRoot('DEVwork', r'EngineeringViewer-DevDB')

Re: Move feature classes out of feature dataset

Marshal — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 17:25:47 GMT

Hi Angela,

Did you ever figure out how to remove the feature dataset attribute from a layer's CIM connection properties?

Thanks!

Marshal

Re: Move feature classes out of feature dataset

AngelaDeegan — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 23:17:51 GMT

I'm afraid I didn't. Ended up doing it manually. It was a pain. And when I deleted the empty feature datasets, the layers corresponding to feature classes that had been in those feature datasets stopped displaying in the web map that had been published. So we had to re-publish the services.

Hope that helps. This was a couple of months back, so it's getting fuzzy already!

Re: Move feature classes out of feature dataset

Marshal — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 23:38:36 GMT

Thanks for the response and update! I broke lots of projects moving data out of feature datasets recently, so I was struggling with this.

I did finally come up with a solution which I describe in my post below. Although my situation was pretty straight forward since all layer connection info (feature class name, database location, database name) was the same except removing from the feature dataset, but maybe it can help if you run into this again.

https://community.esri.com/t5/python-questions/remove-featuredataset-attribute-from-layer-cim-connection/td-p/1006668/jump-to/first-unread-message

Thanks again!

Re: Move feature classes out of feature dataset

Cristian_Galindo — Fri, 11 Jun 2021 09:41:49 GMT

Hello,

How can I reproduce the drag nd drop behavior programmatically? I have seen several post about copy, delete, rename operations, but it is not the same result as drag and drop.

Re: Move feature classes out of feature dataset

Bud — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 15:21:51 GMT

For anyone who's interested, here's a GIF that demonstrates an FC being moved in and out of an FD by dragging and dropping in Catalog (ArcGIS Pro 2.6.8):

Re: Move feature classes out of feature dataset

AllanBenvin_yyc — Wed, 15 May 2024 14:14:21 GMT

Did you have any luck with this? We have many layers within feature datasets in our production databases from the olden times. In my testing I found that if I move layers outside of the feature datasets all the MXDs and APRXs still work but they still reference the FDS. If I remove the now empty FDS from the database, all the map documents will break.

On a related note I am also hoping for a way to be able to move, not copy layers in/out of an FDS using arcpy. All the posts I have found refer to making a copy. This isn't feasible in our situation as it plays havoc with relationship classes, domains, archives etc. In the past we had to write a little ArcMap SDK executable that would do this. Since we have things like attribute rules now this won't work. An arcpy solution would be the best.

Re: Move feature classes out of feature dataset

AllanBenvin_yyc — Fri, 24 May 2024 17:45:45 GMT

Just wondering if you found a programmatic way to fix the reference to feature datasets in existing MXD/APRX documents.

We have a whack of layers in feature datasets and want to move them out. it seems we can move them out of the FDS but if we delete the FDS then we break everything. We have over a thousand users with map documents all over the place.

Re: Move feature classes out of feature dataset

Marshal — Fri, 24 May 2024 19:46:37 GMT

Yes, I was able to use the concept and code from my post below to repair APRX documents. The missing part would be use os.walk to find APRX documents, check if they have broken data connections, and add them to a list of documents to be repaired if so.

My case was a single geodatabase with a single feature dataset. So if you are talking about multiple geodatabases and multiple feature datasets it will take a bit more setup to have the correct templates for each scenario.

https://community.esri.com/t5/python-questions/remove-featuredataset-attribute-from-layer-cim/m-p/1006668#M59205

Hope it helps!