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Append Data Tool Failing To Maintain Attachments

JoshHabel

Hello,

I am having trouble updating my hosted feature layer on AGOL. I am trying to use the Append tool in ArcPro to add recent data and I want to keep the attachments. My source data is in a fgdb. The feature class I am working with has 2,814 point features and there are 5,688 pictures in the related attachment table. I am careful to make sure my fields match and I have the "Maintain Attachments" checkbox selected. I have successfully done this a number of times in the past but never with this many attachments. When i run the tool it runs through to completion with ought giving an error. The feature points get added but not the attachments. Is there some magic limit in ArcPro or AGOl that is causing this to fail or this there a better way to do this??? I am using ArcPro 2.8.0.

Thanks,

Josh

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Andrus_Nicholas

Does 'Append' maintain attachments with a Basic license? Tool says only a basic is necessary but when I attempt to append there are no attachments and a warning code.

LMedeirosUI

Any progress on this? I cannot seem to figure out how to add a few features from Arc Pro to an existing FS in AGOL. The update data tool in AGOL doesn't include attachments (and uploads the rows in a weird, random order) and the append and copy tools in Arc Pro don't ever seem to work for me (using a local copy of what I want to append and a portal copy of the hosted FS). This is my first time trying to get this to work, but it seems like a basic function... either that or I'm a lot dumber than I think I am.

GB_-_JonathanJew__GISS_

I've used the append tool to in V3.03 to copy data with attachments to a local GDB. The environment for the tool had attachments enabled. The result is a GDB with the point data, an attachment table of blobs, and a relationship class. Even after manually adding the relate between the feature class and the attachment table, Pro will not treat the attachment as an 'attribute' as it does with hosted services. The photo in this post is of a feature service with an attachment. The same feature, appended to a local gdb, will show "Attachments (0)" in the attribute window even though the relationship and data table are there.

Am I to assume, that this describes a successful execution of a tool that "Maintains Attachments"? While technically the attachments exist, is the handling of attachments in a GDB and a Feature service fundamentally incompatible?

I had hoped that I could append FS data to a local GDB, perform some geoprocessing locally, then republish as a FS and maintain the attachments. Unfortunately, even just exporting a FS to GDB then uploading that GDB (complete with table and relationship) to AGOL seems to lose the connection between the features and attachments.

Capture.JPG

MJBiazar

Hi @jacbro I tested a few tools in ArcGIS Pro 3.0.3 and I can confirm that attachments were maintained when I had "Maintain Attachments" enabled in the environment settings. Can you please provide more details about your workflow and the tools that you are seeing this issue with?

Thanks,

MJBiazar

Hi @kmsmikrud Both of these bugs have been fixed in Pro 3.0. So everything should work as expected and you should not have the issues you were experiencing in previous versions.

Jacbrod

I have same kind of problem.

With Pro Advanced v3.0, none of the functions that enable "Maintain attachments" will work and copy attachments. Or am I doing something wrong. Both databases are enable for Attachments.

Is that still a bug for arcgis pro?

Thank's Jac

BrittneyGibbons1

I had similar issues where I needed to run different versions of Pro to be able to work around multiple bugs for different tasks. It's ridiculous and an enormous waste of resources. I don't even want to update to new versions of Pro because I worry that there will be new bugs that I will have to discover.

kmsmikrud

Hi,

I just encountered this issue today of trying to append attachments to a hosted AGOL feature layer using Pro and the append tool. This had worked fine prior and at the time I was using ArcGIS Pro 2.7. I am now using Pro 2.8 after encountering a different BUG in 2.9. The basic edit functionality of the split tool currently has issues in version 2.9 and I see the BUG (000146327) is only review. So I had to go back to 2.8 to be able to do my work. Now it looks like because of this BUG I will now need to go back to 2.7.

I'm sorry but this is seems really ridiculous that in trying to be geospatial support to our agency there are so many BUGs to navigate. This seems like basic functionality for appending attachments same as editing with a split tool. Not good.

I'm glad I seen this post regardless, but wow.

Thanks,

Kathy

MJBiazar

@DavidRichey Also, ArcGIS Pro 2.9 is available for upgrade now so you can append data from a feature layer/table to a hosted feature layer on ArcGIS Online while maintaining attachments.

However, if you have related data where relationships are base on GlobalID field, the offline workflow (download, append, overwrite) might be a better option. Because when appending features to a hosted layer, appended features will have new GlobalIDs, the related records will be disconnected from their parent features.

In order to workaround this, you may follow the workflow outlined by @Anonymous User in this article:

https://www.esri.com/videos/watch?videoid=S5V6MIrAKCk&title=how-to-preserve-globalid-guid-relationships-when-appending-records

MJBiazar

@DavidRichey Unfortunately, I don't think it's possible to overwrite a sublayer in a hosted service individually. However, you can download the feature service (including all layers and tables and attachments) as a filegeodatabase, append data to any of the layers that you need and overwrite the entire service. Overwriting the hosted service should not affect the view layers as long as you don't make any schema changes.

DavidRichey

@MJBiazar Thanks for that. Sorry to be dense, but I'm then not sure how to overwrite just that one child layer of the parent dataset. Or, would I need to overwrite the entire feature service with the geodatabase with the appended featureclass (and without the now merged child fc)? If I do that, Do I then need to recreate any dependent view layers, or would those update in response to the change in the source?

MJBiazar

@DavidRichey You shouldn't run into this issue if you have downloaded both datasets and appending features from one to another in Pro. As long as the "Maintain attachments" option is enabled in the environment settings.

DavidRichey

I guess I will wait. I tried from both the feature service layer and from a downloaded FGDB version with the same result. Thanks for the word on the release, @MJBiazar .

MJBiazar

Hi @DavidRichey ,

Unfortunately, there is no way to roll back to an older version of Pro unless you still have the installer file for that specific version downloaded.

With that said, ArcGIS Pro 2.9 update has been planned for second week of November so you may want to wait a few days.

However, if you would like to get it done asap, you should be able to download your data as a filegeodatabase, bring it into Pro (any version should work), and perform the append in Pro. As long as you have "Maintain attachments" enabled under the environment settings, you should see the attachments in the output merged layer. Then you have the option to publish this as a new service or overwrite your existing feature service.

Best,

DavidRichey

Hi @MJBiazar . I'm a bit stuck. It does not seem there is a way to roll back a full dot-version of ArcGIS Pro (see this post). I have a child layer that I wish to merge into another child layer of the same parent. All works fine, except the attachments are dropped. I went looking around today for a way to download 2.7--based on your comment above. It does not seem possible. Is the only fix to wait for the 2.9 release? Can you suggest a reasonable work around?

MJBiazar

Hi,

It seems to be a defect in the current version of ArcGIS Pro that is planned to get fixed in 2.9.

In the meantime, you can use 2.7 to append your features while maintaining attachments.

Best,

Anonymous User

Any change or did anyone find a work around? I had this issue on 2.8.2 and still on 2.8.3. I have an advanced license.

I'm trying to go from hosted feature service to hosted feature service with attachments. Hosted feature service to GDB works, but that is not what I need.

SMcD

Doh! I have to admit that I had a bit of a Homer Simpson moment on this one...

The reason my attachments won't append is because I have a basic license. According to Esri I need a license higher than this for them to be copied.

David_Brooks

@SMcD @JoshHabel @BrittneyGibbons1 when you're working with the Append tool, are you downloading the map first before appending and then synchronising after the append has completed?

This tool is on the Map context menu in the Ribbon.

SMcD

I am having the same problem.

I have tried to append via two different methods - 1. feature class in a FGDB to hosted feature layer, and 2. hosted feature layer to hosted feature layer, and in each case the geometry and attributes append but the attachments do not.

I have even tried to append a single point location with a photo attachment as a test but I got the same outcome as detailed above.

Following a recent upgrade, I am now using Pro version 2.8.2 and Online version 9.2.

This workflow definitely worked fine in previous versions.

BrittneyGibbons1

Was a solution found for this problem? I am having the same issue in version 2.8.1 of Pro when this workflow worked fine in previous versions. I need to be able to add records and keep the attachments.

JayantaPoddar

Could you try to share the Feature Class as a Hosted Feature layer first? If it publishes successfully, you could append this hosted feature layer to your original target hosted feature layer.

How To: Retain all attachments when merging hosted feature layers

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