topic Re: North Arrow Selector Blank in My Esri Questions

North Arrow Selector Blank

KeithTate — Mon, 31 Dec 2018 15:15:13 GMT

Our company has 17 users with an ArcGIS Desktop Basic Single Use License. All computers were loaded with the same version of the software, 10.5. Only one of our 17 GIS users is having a problem with inserting a North Arrow in ArcMap.

It appears that their North Arrow Selector is empty and/or not loading the north arrows correctly. I have tried copying and pasting various fonts into relevant folders, but alas, I'm at a standstill and the user is unable to add North Arrows to his drawings.

I've attached an image of what their "North Arrow Selector" looks like - each item is blank.

Any help is GREATLY appreciated!

Re: North Arrow Selector Blank

MichaelVolz — Mon, 31 Dec 2018 15:40:11 GMT

Is this the only issue that this computer appears to be having?

A quick trouble-shooting technique would be to rename the Normal.mxt so it gets recreated and that would be your backup to revert back to. The Normal.mxt is found in different locations based upon your operating system.

64-bit Windows 10 - C:\Users\"Specific Name"\AppData\Roaming\ESRI\Desktop10.5\ArcMap\Templates\Normal.mxt

The "Specific Name" would most likely be an Active Directory user name.

Re: North Arrow Selector Blank

KeithTate — Mon, 31 Dec 2018 16:27:14 GMT

Michael Volz: Yes, this is the only issue that this computer is having. All other styles appear to work correctly, except the North Arrows. I performed the quick trouble-shooting technique you suggested, but the problem still exists after allowing the PC to recreate the normal.mxt file.

Re: North Arrow Selector Blank

MichaelVolz — Mon, 31 Dec 2018 16:37:02 GMT

Have you tried having someone else logging into the same computer to see if rhey experience the same issue?

Re: North Arrow Selector Blank

KeithTate — Mon, 31 Dec 2018 16:40:49 GMT

Yes, we've tried to have 2 other users login, but the problem still exists on this computer only. In addition, I un-installed and re-installed the software just in case something did not install correctly. I also ensured that I deleted the normal.mxt file from the other users as well. Still not working.

It's as if the ESRI North Arrow Styles are not loading correctly, but I can't figure out how to download/re-load them in the correct place.

Re: North Arrow Selector Blank

AdrianWelsh — Mon, 31 Dec 2018 18:17:19 GMT

Keith,

I know you mentioned fonts and such, but have you tried running through the steps in this troubleshooting article?

Problem: North arrows appear as letters and numbers in the North Arrow Selector dialog box

Here are the steps:

Disable any anti-virus software on the system.
Open the Control Panel by way of Start > Programs.
Double-click the Fonts folder icon.
Select the fonts to re-install.
Select Copy from the Edit menu.
Navigate to the C:\ drive using Windows Explorer.
Select Paste from the Edit menu to Paste the selected fonts to the C:\ drive.
Select 'Install New Font' from the File menu on the open Fonts folder.
Navigate to C:\ in Windows Explorer.
Select the TTF files pasted to C:\ in the 'List of fonts' selection box.

Click OK.

Note:     Reboot the system to initialize the fonts.

Warning:     The Windows operating system stores a registry entry for each font installed on the computer. This registry entry is retained, even if a font is removed from the C:\WINNT\fonts or C:\Windows\fonts folder. Windows does not permit a font with the same name to be reinstalled on the computer.

Note:If the esri_40.ttf font is not installed on your system, you can access the esri_40.tff font from the ArcGIS Desktop installation disk 1 in the Fonts folder.

Re: North Arrow Selector Blank

KeithTate — Thu, 03 Jan 2019 13:27:21 GMT

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I had to perform the above twice before it finally worked, but the ESRI fonts finally installed correctly and we have our North Arrows back (among other things).