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Trace tool in Create Features randomly(?) not working - Help!

BrettDavies

Hi
I'm compiling a geologic map and use the trace tool to generate infill polygons. Very recently - I upgraded with the latest Service Pack for v.10 - the tool stopped working in parts (seemingly) of the map. I hit the 'trace icon', click on the last point of the newly developing polygon (located on an existing polygon), wait for it to 'register' and then hear a tone/beep and note that it refuses to trace along the pre-existing polygon's boundary. It has happened in other parts of the map, but it is consistent in one part. I can only hand 'draw' the polygon and then clip the existing polygons to 'cut-out' the new one.
Sometimes ArcMap just hangs after clicking the last polygon and I have to restart it.
I am completing a major project for a client here in the Sahara Desert (yes, it is hot at the moment) and urgently need to understand / fix the issue. Any suggestions/help would be very gratefully received!
Thanks.

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NAOMIPAUL

Have you found a work around or solution? I am having the same problem. There is no pattern as to when tools/functions will work and when they will not. I could trace yesterday, part of the time, then it would start and nothing would draw. This morning the same issue. I have created a new project and it still isn't working.

I am also having the same problem with snapping.

😞

MaryM

Myself and a co-worker have lost the use of trace tool. This seems to be an error that ESRI people do not seem to post about, huh?

NAOMIPAUL

At the moment it is working with shapefiles, but not SDE or File geodatabases. My data is all in SDE geodatabases.

I'm at a loss.

KyleShort

I am having the same problem as well. Have any of you found a solution?

Thank you

KyleShort

Hi,

I am having the same problems mentioned above in other user�??s posts. I was not able to trace certain polygons in certain areas of my map for apparently no reason. I did find that when I zoomed in far enough I was able to use the trace tool, as long as the certain area of trouble on the map was not being shown. In the area of trouble, I found that if I cut a very large road parcel polygon to smaller segments, using the line segment tool, I was able to trace the features in the area I wasn�??t able to before. It seems the tracing tool has a hard time working with very large polygons in its vicinity.

BrettDavies

Hi all above,

Two things seem to have some (minimal, unsatisfactory) effect:
1) Zooming right in - and I mean right in - sometimes restores the trace ability, but if it's a big trace then it's really not a practical option.
2) I have shut down Arc and rebooted Windows and that - again sometimes - restores functionality, but eventually that is lost again.

The only workaround is by overlapping the new polygon with an existing one (where the boundaries are in the right place etc and then using the existing polygon to clip the new one. A bit tedious at times.

I hope an ESRI moderator is watching this thread, because some information on why this is happening, or a fix, would be very, very welcome for those of us compiling geologic maps.

Cheers

ChrisFox3

All,

I am hoping that someone could assist me with getting a reproducible case of the issues described here. This will be very helpful in determining the problem and what would be necessary to resolve the defect in the software. If you have sample data and steps to recreate the issue could you please send me this information?

Thank you,

NAOMIPAUL

All,

I am hoping that someone could assist me with getting a reproducible case of the issues described here. This will be very helpful in determining the problem and what would be necessary to resolve the defect in the software. If you have sample data and steps to recreate the issue could you please send me this information?

Thank you,

Chris,

Any data I send you will be in shapefiles and the Trace tool works with shapefiles, but not in a geodatabase. Especially SDE!

I was using our parcel polys and parcel lines when I lost the use of the Trace tool. It was buggy most of the summer, then it stopped working all together. Our GIS data is available for download at http://egov1.co.gaston.nc.us/website/ParcelDataSite/DataSales/GISdata.htm

I have had the data in SDE 9.2 (SQL 2000/Server 2003), 9.3.1 and 10 (SQL 2008 / Server 2008) my client is ArcMap ~ ArcINFO 10 SP1 (could not go to SP2 because of all the issues it had, waiting on 3 to be released this Fall).

Once while searching for answers I did find a reported BUG and NIM, but for resolution it said DECLINED. I have never seen that as an answer before. If I had not shown it to a co-worker, I think I would have imagined it, since I have not been able to find that thread again.

Download the parcel polys and parcel lines and put them in an SDE database that is edited in a Version. Start Editing and Select the Parcel Lines (ROW) from the Feature Template, then Select the Trace tool. Then attempt to trace a polygon. It may flicker and look like it might start, it may snap or it may not snap, then follow a polygon and watch nothing happen.

Feel free to email me at naomi.paul@co.gaston.nc.us

~Naomi

NAOMIPAUL

Also check the how the Snapping toolbar has effects on the Trace tool, as well as the various Snapping tools.

The one thing about RANDOM, it doesn't have a pattern.

BrettDavies

I have just started compiling a new map and until this morning the trace tool worked - although it always took a long time to 'activate'. The number of polygons has been growing, although at around 200 there aren't that many. I do have several raster layers open that I use (in part) in the compilation.

Now the trace tool has simply stopped working again, as I described in the initial post. It looks like it just creeps up on you; maybe it's related to the number of polygons and layers open, although closing layers once it has stopped working doesn't restore the functionality.

This is very aggravating especially as I have to present at a meeting interstate later this week and this problem is throwing significant progress into serious doubt. Note thatI am working with geodatabase feature classes, not shape files.

It does not appear to be related to size of adjacent polygons, nor whether snapping is enabled or not.

Chris, if you are still there, I will try to send you the polygon file later today (it's on another machine) to see whether you can reproduce the issue.

JohnSobetzer

This may also be present in 10.1 although one case hardly proves it. I rarely use 10.1 for editing since I much prefer 9.3.1 for that, but I have used the trace tool on 10.1 a few times and twice ran into issues with it that surprised me. If I had seen this thread I would have explored the matter more. As it was in one case the cut polygon tool trace along another shapefile polygon just stopped and no matter what I did I couldn't get it to continue past that point. I zoomed in some to see what the problem was but it didn't help. After several failures I just did it on my 9.3.1. In the second case, well that's so weird I'd have to test it again to believe it.

ChrisFox3

Yes, please do send the data if you are able.

Chris, if you are still there, I will try to send you the polygon file later today (it's on another machine) to see whether you can reproduce the issue.

AZendel

I am experiencing this too. Yesterday the trace tool worked. Today it doesn't. Same MXD, same map layers. Source polygons are in SDE, target polygons in a personal geodb. 10.0, sp2

JosephChampagne

I thought I would contribute an issue I've run into that might be related to some of those described in this thread. I've found that templates, snapping and the 'Trace' tool simply will not work on any layers that have definition queries applied. I've run into this on many occasions and found that removing the definition queries from those layers will make them 'targetable' by those editing features again. This may also apply to other editing tools, but these are the main ones that seem to be affected.

I'm not sure if this is the intended functionality for these features, nor if this will fix all of the issues described in this thread but it's nonetheless an important quirk to be aware of for anyone who does any kind of feature editing. I hope this saves some frustration!

ChrisMartinez

Been having the same issue for a while. I can generally trace for a while, days even, then poof. Once it stops, I can't get it to trace anything anymore. I'm running ArcView 10sp 2 with my features stored in a file geodatabase. It happens while tracing lines or polygons. One thing that I have noticed is this: if I zoom out too far or pan around too quickly, it can trigger this issue.

JakeSkinner_1-1642508510149.png

JakeSkinner_2-1642508582298.png

SandiStroud

Has anyone gotten feedback on this yet! I'm in the middle of a major editing project for school boundaries and need this tool to work. There are two of us using this in a versioned editing environment and it stopped working all the sudden yesterday at the same time for both. I now can not get it to work; it will reshape with any other functionality but not tracing.

Help please

10.0 sp2

MarkBoucher

... use the trace tool to generate infill polygons. ...

If you can use the topology rules and tools, you can save yourself a lot of time filling in the gaps.

DaveVachet

I have had a similar problem recently with the trace tool working fine for days and weeks, and then simply not working at all.

Yesterday, it stopped working in the middle of an edit session. A reboot did not fix the problem as it did in the past.

Then, I selected the trace tool and did a right click and chose "Trace Options". I noticed then that the "Trace selected features" check box was not active. I activated it, and things worked fine.

The larger question for the ESRI mods would be why is the "Trace selected features" check becoming unchecked on its own? Therein lies the bug??

Hope this helps!

Dave Vachet

LauraMiles1

I'm having the same issue in 10.1. I noticed while working in a previous geodatabase, after starting a trace by clicking on a vertex it was then necessary to somehow change the extents (either by zooming in or out or panning) in order for the trace tool to start working. Now I'm working in a different (file) geodatabase, and I've been tracing polygons for several days now without the previous issue, but I tried to start up again this morning and the tool simply does not trace anything. There is nothing I've done differently between yesterday evening and this morning - it just stopped working with no rhyme or reason. I've rebooted Windows to no effect. It's not an issue of tracing selected items either as I haven't been selecting the items I wanted to trace (not practical for my project - but I tried that as well and it doesn't work either).

NAOMIPAUL

I have been waiting on a patch or fix in a Service Pack since September 30, 2011. ESRI was able to reproduce the issue and was trying to identify the bug was the last I heard. It's been almost a year.

Anonymous User

This is happening to me as well. It is extremely frustrating. In my case, it is not working with a FC in a personal geodatabase. I was just using the trace tool on the same FC earlier and it decided to randomly stop working. I have even copied all the layers into another MXD and still no luck.

I have found a work around, but it is a little annoying. If you select the feature you are trying to trace click on edit > copy > paste. This will allow you to paste the outline of the feature in the target data set by using the drop down list. Hopefully this will save some frustration for others. If someone finds out how to fix the trace problem please post!!!

JosephKnieriem

Just came across this thread. Experiencing the same issue with ArcGIS 10.1. I've never had any issues with 10.0 and for the first several weeks of using 10.1, but just ran into this today. The target layer was a feature class in a File Geodatabase.

MaríaPortilla

I found a work-around:

Open a new blank map document, bring in only the layer you want to reshape and the layer you use to trace. Start editing, do the trace edit, save & stop editing, and exit. (No need to save the map document.)

When you go back to your original map where you are doing your edits, the trace tool should work again.

I'm using Arc 10.0 sp4.

DavidWright3

I have been having a similar, but slightly different problem for over 1 year now. I have been digitizing soil maps from Africa and when I use the trace tool to make adjacent polygons, the cursor frequently flies off the screen to another vertex and I absolutely cannot get it to detach from that vertex and trace the line. The cursor is literally "stuck" to another polygon's vertex and when I try to break it free, it will float around, but it will not trace the line I have selected.

I teach at a university in South Korea and we called the ESRI technician out to look at the issue, and, predictably, could not get the problem to replicate in the 10 minutes he was slotted to be here. The problem seems to happen, as other posts indicate, randomly and after I have been working for a while. My research assistant and I will reboot the computer, and if that doesn't work, we turn off the computer, go for lunch and come back and get about 30 minutes of work in before it starts happening again.

I am a scientist. I believe in data reproducibility--not magic, gremlins or karma--but this is literally the craziest thing that I have ever seen from ArcGIS (and that is saying a lot). I have used ArcGIS since the mid 90s, and since the trace tool was developed, I have never had a problem like this.

David Wright
Department of Archaeology
Seoul National University
Seoul, South Korea

KateLongley-Wood

I am having the same issues on Arc 10 sp5 (I had the problem starting with sp3). Has anyone found any way to resolve this issue? It worked fine for a while and then completely stopped working and I haven't been able to find a work around. This is really impeding the progress of a project I'm working and I'm at my wit's end.

KateLongley-Wood

I connected with a support technician on this issue and they are logging it as a bug [#NIM088006] if anyone's interested. Good to get that in the system but not super helpful in terms of completing my project. Any suggestions for work-arounds?

kentrichardson

Workaround: use shapefiles instead of database files.

I am using v10.1. Myself and colleagues have encountered the problem where 'Trace' does not work consistently while tracing polygons in a GDB. Today it would not work at all, even after creating a new mxd and restarting Windows and cleaning my temp folder. I converted the polygons we are tracing to shapefiles and now the 'Trace' tool is working again. The polygons I am creating are still in a GDB. I will update if this also stops working.

MarlonVillegas

Hi everyone. I've experienced the same problem, and the polygon feature that I'm editing is a shapefile. The workaround that I've used:

1. Open a blank ArcMap session.
2. Add the polygon shapefile that you want to use for tracing.
3. Start editing. From the "Feature Construction" toolbar, click the "Straight Segment" tool to start with the first point.
4. Then click the "Trace" tool and click for the second point. (Switching the "Edge Snapping" on in the Snapping Toolbar will help
you to see the cursor jump to the edge of the polygon that you are tracing).

This should work 'coz it resolved my problem. By the way, don't mixed up your Table of Contents with File Geodatabase, or SDE features. The "Trace" tool won't work. All the features should be in shapefile if you want to use the other features as a reference. You can convert the completed shapefile into File Geodatabase or in SDE afterwards.

JoshuaTrygg

I am also experiencing this problem while attempting to use Cut Polygon with the Trace tool. I am using 10.1 SP1 with data in a file geodatabase.

For me Trace will work on some polygons, but not others or will work on part of a polygon, but stop partway through. Even when it fails on one polygon, it may work perfectly on a different polygon afterwards (but still continue to fail on the original polygon). Once the tool has failed I can sometimes (very rarely) get it to work again by repeatedly clicking on the trace feature. I've had better luck doing what others have done - zoom way in and/or pan around (better success with zooming). Even that is totally hit or miss though, not to mention incredibly frustrating and tedious. Sometimes if I zoom way in on a certain section and get past it, I can zoom back out and continue normally. There really doesn't seem to be much discernible pattern in it.

I have not tried converting everything to shapefiles as suggested by others.

Kate's bug report from back in January (NIM088006) currently shows a status of "Declined", which I can only assume means that Esri has chosen not to deal with it. Considering this problem has been unresolved for years, I'm not holding my breath for a real solution, but it would sure be nice.

BrettDavies

Hi all,

I was the original poster for this thread and this comment is by way of an update. Unfortunately, and despite providing a file to ESRI with which they were able to reproduce the trace tool problem, it continues to happen. So they are aware of it as one commenter (katelongley) has also noted.

I might add that the workflow associated with compiling a geologic map is not one which easily allows an automated polygon infilling, such as was suggested by MBoucher21 through the use of topology tools. I am running ArcGis basic (the old ArcView) 10.1 with the latest service pack and I don't have access to all(?) of the topology tools (I am based in Australia and the local ESRI company charge up to three times the price for extensions than colleagues in the US pay - don't get me going on that - so won't be adding functionality in a hurry).

I am surprised to read the post from brannjkb that they have 'Declined' to investigate the bug, as it is clearly a broad universal, and fundamental, functionality problem. Other than the acknowledgement of reproducibility from Chris (see earlier - this thread) with the suggestion that the next service pack might correct it, I have not heard anything and the latest service pack has not changed things. Is ESRI getting too big and beginning to display the associated user (non-)support issues??

I have tried various of the suggested solutions suggested here, but not with any persisting success. Some of the maps I compile are at a country scale and maybe that has something to do with it too. I use the file geodatabase structure for my projects.

It is just as well that I also use a competitor's GIS package. Please ESRI, address this obvious bug. I'll be checking back from time to time to see if there is any response, but I won't be holding my breath.

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