topic re-opening Suitability Model on other computer - criteria ist empty in Spatial Analyst Suitability Modeler Questions

re-opening Suitability Model on other computer - criteria ist empty

AnnaPetr — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 13:26:24 GMT

Hello,

I'm using ArcGIS Pro 3.6.2 and am having a problem with the Suitability Modeler. As soon as I open my project on a different computer (other than the one on which the model was created) and try to open the saved suitability model, it is empty; the used rasters, along with their weighting and transformation settings, are completely missing. When I try to add them again, they load into the Contents and Map but not into the Criteria.
- I am logged in with the same profile on every computer
- I use the same GIS login and GIS version on every computer
- I had saved the project and the associated data in the same file path
- Instead of moving the project along with its associated folder, I created a project package and moved it to the second computer.

All of these steps resulted in the same “error”

What can I do so that I can share my suitability model and use it on other computers?

Re: re-opening Suitability Model on other computer - criteria ist empty

SteveLynch — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 19:39:23 GMT

I'm sorry to hear that you are having a problem. I do have a few questions.

1. Are you by any chance using OneDrive, ArcGIS Pro currently does not support it.

2. the input rasters, are they in a fgdb, .tif or ? and how many do you have?

3. where are the input criteria (rasters) stored, within the project folder or elsewhere. I'd recommend moving them to within the project folder

4. best way is to copy the whole project folder to the other machine.

Regards

-Steve

Re: re-opening Suitability Model on other computer - criteria ist empty

AnnaPetr — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 06:11:06 GMT

Hi Steve, thanks for your reply!
1) I always work locally on a PC, i.e., on a hard drive.
2) Normally, the rasters are in an FGDB, but I've also tried using TIF files—that didn't make any difference.
3) The rasters are in the project folder (both fgdb and TIF).
4) I always copy the entire project folder.

I’ve really tried a lot of different things. The only thing I’ve noticed is that 3.6.1 is installed on some computers and 3.6.2 on others, in my last attempt, both were 3.6.2

Regards

Anna

Re: re-opening Suitability Model on other computer - criteria ist empty

SteveLynch — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 11:22:37 GMT

This appears to be a special case and we are looking into it...

A work around for the time being is;

- open the .sam file, using Notepad, and find the exact path that the criteria are using

- make sure that you copy the project to that exact path on the other computer.

Re: re-opening Suitability Model on other computer - criteria ist empty

AnnaPetr — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 06:57:17 GMT

Thanks Steve, for the quick help. I'll go ahead and handle it as we discussed for now

Re: re-opening Suitability Model on other computer - criteria ist empty

SteveLynch — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 19:15:14 GMT

This issue has been fixed and the solution will be available in the next release of ArcGIS Pro (possibly version 3.8).

The problem is not related to using a relative path, even though the workaround could work in this situation. The real issue is with the name of the map. In the reported case, the map is named "Karte." If you rename the map from "Karte" to "Map," the Suitability Model will open successfully.