Add full COGO functionality to ArcGIS Pro

[mhoffman6]

I have been working in ArcGIS Pro to test the migration to ArcGIS Pro from ArcMap. One of the job duties I have is to verify easements, annexations, and other legal descriptions. One of the concerns I have is with the release of the Traverse tool. While it has been nice to work with, currently I am not seeing Grid to Ground Correction functionality as well as the ability to COGO area descriptions into a polygon format. Is there something I am missing with the latest version of ArcGIS pro or is the functionality not there as of yet?

Ground to Grid functionality in ArcMap would have corrected for this error (as much as it is). 

See attached image, disregard the polygon as that is for the third portion of my question.

Secondly, is there directional control for non-tangent curves? See my legal description example.

Example: "thence 4.32 feet along the arc of a non-tangent curve to the right, said curve having a radius of 326.00 feet, a delta angle of 00-45'34", and a long chord bearing 74-57'30" East, 4.32 feet to a point of compound curvature"

Currently I have not seen any way to enter curve direction for non-tangent curves in ArcGIS Pro. Is there a tool or command that I am missing here as well?

Third and final question for entering in legal descriptions for areas such as Annexations and Easements (all forms). I have not seen tool functionality or ability to enter in legal descriptions for areas. The polygon that is in the picture is one that I traced over top of the transverse that I created to test the tool. Is there something I am missing here as well?

Thanks.

[AmirBar-Maor]

@ElginMoore1 

You don't have to use a parcel fabric to enter a traverse. I would recommend:

1. Use the geoprocessing tool "Enable COGO" to add COGO fields to your line feature class.

2. Add the 'COGO Enabled' line feature class to your map to enjoy COGO symbology that can be further configured.

3. Traverse away.

All the editing tools in ArcGIS Pro are also used for parcel fabric editing - one set of tools.

To learn how to enter a traverse read this help topic.

The traverse tool already has all the capabilities you mention and much more.

Tips:

Make sure to set the correct units in your project - learn how

Use these examples to get started with the shortcuts and learn about the overrides and options, like non-tangent curve bearing in this topic

Adjusting a traverse and viewing the residuals is covered here.

And although you don't need really to import and export traverse TXT files because every course you enter is a real feature that you can save when you press 'Save edits' and because you can pick it up from where you have left the next day... but if you really have to save files - this is how to do it in ArcGIS Pro.

Traverse away!

[ElginMoore1]

@AmirBar-Maor Thanks for the quick response. It looks like Pro is close to full functionality with respect to the Traverse tool. As I understand it you have to use a COGO enabled line feature class, draw the description and then convert the line feature to a polygon? As it stands the traverse tool in ArcMap can be used to draw any line or polygon feature class. To use the COGO tool in Pro there are some extra steps and features that are not currently in our workflow. Will the ability to COGO a polygon in Pro like we can currently do in ArcMap be added in the future?  

[AmirBar-Maor]

@ElginMoore1 

ArcGIS Pro is superior compared to ArcMap. 

If you are not interested in saving the COGO measurement you type, and if you think you will never modify your entered traverse, than you can also use:

1. A non COGO enabled line feature class

2. A polygon feature class

This is documented under the Create A Traverse help topic which I find by doing a quick web search:

I would recommend using a COGO enabled line feature class to enjoy the symbology and labeling that comes with it which makes it easier to verify that you enter the correct dimensions as you see them appear on the map and then use the editing tool Construct Polygons.

If you care about parcel lineage, historic parcels, parcel alignment, and more... - you are welcome to try out the new parcel fabric which uses simple feature classes.

You write: "To use the COGO tool in Pro there are some extra steps and features that are not currently in our workflow. " - can you please specify what those missing features are?

[DucksInaRiver]

@AmirBar-Maor I've been reading through this thread as a preview for myself. I have a lot of experience using COGO within ArcMap to digitize metes/bounds and plat survey drawings, and will eventually apply that knowledge within Pro. I have not yet pursued this tool in Pro because I am still trying to learn the Pro basics. Useful data that we have after entering a boundary in ArcMap are vertices that match the directional calls point-to-point, a txt saved list of the calls that were entered to create the shape for cross-reference of the source, and the closure statistics we can use for internal risk analysis pertaining to the accuracy of our land boundaries. These are all three equally critical for long-term monitoring of these boundaries, and are not strictly for visual or display purposes that is often the case for tax map boundaries, which these are not of the same caliber. Occasionally, a parcel boundary is updated if a landowner or neighbor has a new survey with a boundary line adjustment, and so we would certainly want to not lose that ability to modify from the original polygon. So not only are we saving the COGO measurements as we enter them, we want to keep the option to modify as needed.

Are you telling us here in this forum that we can not create these as polygons and utilize curves/radius/arcs that are commonly part of a plat or property description, and also that we should not count on being able to modify them in their original form while preserving the originally entered vertices? If we have to switch between line and polygon to enter a curve, will this prevent closure statistics? 

Thank you for the insight on this matter!

[AmirBar-Maor]

Hello @DucksInaRiver 

Since this post was created hundreds of 'COGO editors' has been providing great feedback that is reflected in the software improvements. This post is very old and does not reflect the current release of ArcGIS Pro.

To your questions:

1. You can use the traverse tool to enter a polygon and save a traverse text file. The polygon can contain true curves. Why do we recommend using COGO Enabled lines? when using lines the COGO measurements are saved as attributes. If a mistake has been done they can be traced into the traverse grid and modified. You also get to see the COGO labels as you enter the data.

2. The traverse misclose ratio, distance, and COGO area are displayed regardless if you are using lines or a polygon to enter your traverse.

To find more information please read the help documentation and/or view the parcel fabric meetups/blogs that relate to entering a metes and bounds description.

Amir

[RonSantos]

Is the ability to generate a COGO text file from an existing polygon feature implemented in Pro yet? Will it ever be implemented in Pro?

In ArcMap, it was simple to "edit vertices" of a feature and use the "Load traverse from sketch" feature. Every response from ESRI staff is pushing us to move to Parcel Fabric or to create COGO enabled line features. I am trying to get the coordinate geometry for existing polygoins. I don't need to put this in Parcel Fabric--maybe later once we have some things better organized, etc. And I don't want the extra steps of creating line features just to get a traverse file for polygons that have already been digitized. 

[DucksInaRiver]

@AmirBar-Maor 
Thank you for the quick response! Glad to know there have been some updates and I look forward to learning how to use Parcel Fabric. I can appreciate why some users would need the COGO traverse auto-saved as an attribute, and I myself may find some use in that at some point. Would I need to convert this COGO line drawn shape into a polygon to use it to calculate approximate acres? Apologies for being obtuse, I'm accustom to picking either a line feature layer or a polygon feature layer and committing to what it has or doesn't have to offer. Still very early in my Pro transition...

I am interested in what your response to @RonSantos will be as well. He brings up a very critical workflow point when we are looking back at our older projects' boundary accuracy.

By the way, I'm coming from a land conservation point-of-view. We need to know where our properties are and what are the boundaries. We don't necessarily want them to snap to their neighbor's boundary if that neighbor is based on an unverified tax map boundary and isn't in our portfolio. That was the last I heard in regards to Parcel Fabric and I am looking forward to exploring that tool in hopes that it does not auto-snap everything all the time - sometimes there are gaps between boundaries and that's just the way it is until someone gets a new survey with better precision, but in my part of the world there are a lot of braided streams, moving channels, tidal reaches, and all kinds of other natural barriers that keep things from being neat and tidy on a map viewer...but we're used to that! We'd rather know where the legal boundary is at the end of the day than for it to look clean.

[AmirBar-Maor]

@RonSantos @DucksInaRiver 

You don't have to use a parcel fabric or a COGO-enabled line feature class in order to use the traverse.

If you use a polygon or a line feature class that is not enabled the COG attribute you enter are not saved.

This means that:

1. The COGO dimensions you enter are not saved as attributes
2. COGO dimensions are not displayed as labels as you enter each course
3. You have to remember to export your work to an ArcMap traverse text file if you want to be able to modify it in the future. But that will add work since you will have to know which feature to delete.
4. Your work is not associated to the legal document it came from.

Misconceptions:

1. The new parcel fabric in ArcGIS Pro uses SIMPLE FEATURE CLASSES
2. FREE when you use ArcGIS Pro Standard /Advanced
3. Supports true curves / spiral curves
4. Works on a file geodatabase, mobile geodatance, and Enterprise geodatabase using web services
5. The new traverse allows you to enter a natural boundary while in the traverse
6. The new parcel fabric supports a 'bounds' legal description: no need to enter boundaries that bound your entered parcel (duplicate lines)
7. When using the parcel fabric you will be able to tell which lines were 'ENTERED' which were 'FROM GEOMETRY' (inveresed) and which were 'CALCULATED" (for example when you divide a line).

Why exporting a traverse from a selected polygon is not a good idea?

1. The polygon represents the closed traverse after the misclose has been distributed. The dimensions will have the original COGO + a portion of the misclose 
2. If the appropriate Ground to grid correction is not applied you might export grid dimensions (not the original 'ground')
3. You can only export the correct dimensions when entering the traverse, if you forgot to do that it will be too late as you have no COGO stored as attributes
4. You cannot compare the geometry to the COGO dimensions to find blunders. We have layers and attribute rules to help you identify those.

The workflow to create a polygon outside of the parcel fabric while keeping your COGO is to enter the lines using a GOGO enabled feature class and then press the Construct Polygon editing tool.

If you use a parcel fabric the workflow started with creating the Active Record which is the legal document (deed / plat) from which you take your measurements, enter a traverse, Create a parcel Seed and Build. Each line and polygon created will always be associated with the legal record that created them. The COGO Area will be calculated on the calculated area field + the misclose ratio and the misclose distance. If you used a ground-to-grid correction those are also saved on the scale and rotation fields (lines).

Spatial Accuracy?

Don't get me started 🙂

The parcel fabric is designed to help you evaluate and improve your spatial accuracy using the state-of-the-art Least Squares Adjustment. If you have any surveying / geodetic background you will love it. If not - we made it simple for anyone to use. This includes free network adjustment (no need for control points) ar a weighted constrained LSA.

From the hundreds of users that COGO 'for a living' in ArcGIS Pro, we know this is the fastest and most efficient traverse that ever existed.

If you think a feature is missing in ArcGIS Pro, please submit a new idea. If it gets enough votes the Pro team will consider implementing it.

BTW - we know from users that it usually takes a few days to a week to get used to working in ArcGIS Pro. But once you get used and start to discover all the editing efficiencies you are likely to never look back. If you feel like you need training, there are plenty of options (from a 'learn online, tutorials, .. to an 'in class' course)

1. if you try to modify them in the future you will have to either remember to