Catalog Item Properties — "Registered with the Geodatabase: Yes/No"

[Bud]

ArcGIS Pro 2.6.8; Oracle 18c 10.7.1 EGDB:

I've created a database view using SQL Developer. The view is not registered with the geodatabase.

I can see that the view isn't registered by right-clicking on the item in the Catalog Pane. The fact that the Register with Geodatabase option is not greyed out tells me that it's not yet registered.

That works as expected.

However, I think I should be able to determine if the item is registered with the GDB by viewing the Catalog item properties. That information is not explicitly stated. 

Could the Catalog item properties be enhanced so that it explicitly indicates if an item is registered with the geodatabase? For example, below the Data Type row, add a row like this: "Registered with the Geodatabase: Yes/No". I imagine non-registered tables should be considered too, not just non-registered views.

For EGDB views: I suspect this only applies to the Catalog item properties window, not the Contents feature layer properties, since feature layers based on views are actually query layers that SELECT * from the view. So the Contents feature layer isn't pointing directly to the view.

However, it might be different for mobile geodatabase views and file geodatabase views, since those geodatabases don't support query layers; the Contents feature layer references the view directly. So perhaps the Contents feature layer properties should indicate if the mobile or file geodatabase item is registered with the geodatabase too (in addition to the Catalog item properties), since the Contents feature layer properties references the view directly.

[SSWoodward]

Thanks for the Idea @Bud ,

The Icon in catalog indicates whether or not a view is registered with an enterprise geodatabase. When the icon is an empty rectangle like in your original image, the object is unregistered. Registering the view will change the icon to the geometry type of the data. 

As for the text in the properties pane, I do not see this behavior in ArcGIS Pro 3.2.  Could you be more specific about how you are creating your view so that I can try to reproduce, please?  

[Bud]

@SSWoodward 

As for the text in the properties pane, I do not see this behavior in ArcGIS Pro 3.2.  Could you be more specific about how you are creating your view so that I can try to reproduce, please? 

Esri Support mentioned in Case #03506437 that 3.2 does not display the Data Type of an unregistered view as "Enterprise Geodatabase Feature Class". Instead, it displays it correctly as "Database View" (or "Enterprise Geodatabase View" if registered).

Screenshots from Esri Support:

Registered: 

Unregistered: 

So that issue seems to have been resolved in modern versions of Pro. I will remove that part of the idea shortly, for clarity.

[SSWoodward]

@Bud with the catalog icon and updated text in the properties pane, it seems both of the ideas raised are currently implemented.  

Was there a remaining piece that was not addressed? 

[Bud]

@SSWoodward I understand that the icon and the Data Type are meant to indicate if the item is registered with the geodatabase. However, my preference would also be to have a "Registered with the Geodatabase: Yes/No" row in the Source tab in the properties.

The reason being:
ArcGIS Pro doesn't always handle unregistered items cleanly. Examples in Pro 3.2:

1. Unregistered spatial database view in mobile geodatabase
   1. Data Type: Mobile Geodatabase View (incorrect: should be "Database View"; see EGDBs)
   2. Icon indicates it is registered (incorrect)
2. Unregistered spatial database view in file geodatabase
   1. Data Type: File Geodatabase View (incorrect: should be "Database View"; see EGDBs)
   2. Icon indicates it is registered (incorrect)

And I wouldn't be surprised if there are other cases where the icon/Data Type are incorrect, such as:

• Non-spatial views
• Standalone tables in various enterprise geodatabases or non-GDB enterprise databases (Esri supports lots of different enterprise database types)

The icon for both of the above is generic when it comes to registered or unregistered; the icon doesn't indicate a difference.

While the rest of the properties are quite reliable in Pro, I think most people would agree that the icon and Data Type are exceptions, they're just not quite reliable enough (or specific enough). I would have more confidence in a dedicated "Registered with the Geodatabase: Yes/No" row in the Source tab in the properties.

Esri Case #03506437 - ArcGIS Pro 3.2: How-to determine if an item is registered with a GDB or not ?

[Bud]

Related: 

• What is a Database Feature Class?
• Catalog View — Indicate if item is registered with geodatabase
• Determine if item stored in mobile or file GDB is registered with the geodatabase (using the UI)