I'm trying to publish a service with 'Feature Access' (Feature Service) capabilities. I'm using Postgres 9.4, PostGIS 2.2.5. and ArcGIS Server 10.5. I have no problem publishing a PostGIS vector dataset. However, I run into a problem when trying to publish a standalone table (non-spatial). When I run the 'analyzer', I get the error message:
"Standalone table's data source is not registered with the database (Feature Service)" status 00061.
How come I can't do this? Also, a main goal here is to NOT SDE-enable this database. I can do this with a PostGIS dataset... why can't I do it with a non-spatial table (yes, it is in the same database in Postgres).
Try right-clicking the standalone table in the catalog window > manage > register with database.
I think 'Register with the database' means using SDE, which I do not want to do. That context menu is grayed-out for me (probably because it's not SDE-enable). From my research, I was under the impression that the versions of software I'm using would be able to publish Feature Services without SDE. I can do it for spatial PostGIS data, but not for non-spatial Postgres tables. I'm thinking a workaround right now is to create 'dummy' columns in the table with some 'made-up' coordinates and turn them into PostGIS point tables.
However, the question remains:
Is there a way to publish 'FeatureServers' utilizing non-spatial Postgres tables in the versions of software listed in my OP without SDE-enabling my database?