ArcGIS Pro: Add Multi - field Batch Geoprocessing ability such as in ArcGIS Desktop
I agree that the tabular functionality of batch tools in ArcMap was fantastic -- particularly the fill functionality.
In my case, I'm trying to add multiple fields to a feature class, normally a pretty simile task. In Pro, it looks like they added a new tool call Add Fields (plural) which is what you are supposed to use to add multiple fields to a feature class. It is a huge pain. Most the fields I am adding are the same length and use the same domain, but for each field, I have to manually enter the length and the domain whereas in the old batch functionality of ArcMap, I would have just been able to use fill.
I initially tried using batch on the Add Field tool before I noticed the new Add Fields tool. I was able to add fields of multiple names, but the batch tool only accepted one set of parameters, so I ended up with differently named fields that all had the same alias, field type, domain, etc. I don't even see why that's an option. It seems like batch Add Field did not support the same functionality it did in ArcMap, so they created Add Fields as an ulterior option, but it is still insufficient compared to the functionality offered in ArcMap.
It seems like Esri shifted the focus of batch tools towards doing the same thing or nearly the same thing on multiple input datasets -- but what about when you want to execute the same tool on the same dataset multiple times with different parameters? Furthermore, even with that functionality in place, as we have in the Add Fields tool, we don't have the same auto-fill functionality that made batch tools in ArcMap so easy.
Below is the picture of the issue.
Another particularly annoying feature of the Add Fields tool is that you can't add multiple blank fields -- you can only do one at a time, so you have to scroll to the top time every time you need to add a new field to hit the plus button and then scroll back down to fill in the field information. Rinse and repeat. Ten times. You can click the plus button multiple times to add multiple fields, but then it just deletes the extras once you start entering the parameters of the first blank field. You were definitely able to add multiple rows to the batch tool table in ArcMap, and it was less difficult in the first place because all the information for your batch tool runs was laid out right in front of you in the batch tool table.
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@AdamEversole1I've been trying the multivalue approach as well as the table of values. I cannot find any reference to "table of values" in the documentation and have not had any success with this.
Using the buffer tool as an example I've created a multivalue variable for input layers and created a batch tool on the distance parameter.
%Value% = layer name
%Name%=distance (e.g. '1000_meters')
With the following settings the batch tool runs but only for the first distance setting.
The outputs from this are
Test_Rivers_1000_meters
Test_Roads_1000_meters
I could not find the support ticket ENH-000133415 through searching support but have emailed to attach my account to this ticket.
It really doesn't make sense to only be able to batch only one parameter.
ArcMap's way is perhaps more visually intimidating, but it gets the job done handily. Having to mess around with queuing, as suggested in these comments, is a pain. When I want to batch something, I want to set it up and go, not spend 10 minutes adding things to the queue.