topic "Failed to execute (PackageMap)" in Mapping Questions

"Failed to execute (PackageMap)"

PaulHuffman — Tue, 05 Dec 2017 00:16:44 GMT

I got an unhelpful ERROR 999999 when trying to use Package Map tool on a small ArcMap 10.5 project. "Failed to execute (PackageMap" What can I try?

Re: "Failed to execute (PackageMap)"

DanPatterson_Retired — Tue, 05 Dec 2017 02:49:42 GMT

Let's start with the sequence of steps in the help topic... Package Map...

some people miss this step

The input layer must have a description in order for the tool to execute. To add a description, right-click the layer, click Properties, and enter a description.

And what else did you do?

Re: "Failed to execute (PackageMap)"

PaulHuffman — Tue, 05 Dec 2017 17:06:15 GMT

A guy here wanted to take over analyzing our sockeye data. Although I would have preferred showing him the links to the data, he requested map packages of two of my maps. This makes a little sense since he will often be working off our network and the spawning data is embarrassingly disorganized. The first map of the lake bathemetry produced a package swimmingly, even though I was unsure that Package Map could handle a terrain correctly.

The second map is a big mess of spawning data, produced from a jumble of formats from GPS units, some as shapefiles, some as text files that I had displayed as XY events, and some of those converted to shapefiles. What has happened here is that a third guy, for the last three years, has emailed me a bunch of file dumps from his crew's GPS units, or sometimes brought me the units, in a panic, saying "I need to present this tomorrow, just add all this to last years map." I made it happen but I haven't gone back to reorganize this data.

First I got a ERROR 001117 because there was no map description, so I corrected that. Then I found five layers with projection undefined, so I corrected that. But then I hit ERROR 999999, and I didn't know what do try next. I removed the layers that referred to Events from text files but still got 999999.

Dropbox - Screenshot 2017-12-05 08.38.55.png

Re: "Failed to execute (PackageMap)"

PaulHuffman — Tue, 05 Dec 2017 17:15:13 GMT

Because I couldn't make a map package, I ended up exporting the feature classes used in the map to a file database to hand off. One feature class sockeyegroups2.shp failed to convert, throwing an ERROR 999999. This is probably the reason the Package Map operation failed.

Dropbox - Screenshot 2017-12-05 09.11.27.png

Re: "Failed to execute (PackageMap)"

PaulHuffman — Wed, 06 Dec 2017 18:39:20 GMT

I tried this again without checking the box "Convert data to file goedatabase (optional)", and the map package was successfully created. That one layer that caused an error 999999 when I tried to export the data to a file geodatabase instead of a map package may have been what was causing my original problem with Package Map with the box checked.