Community
Select to view content in your preferred language

Converting Personal Geodatabase Data to a File Geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro

153
4
Wednesday
Status: Needs Clarification
Labels (1)
Labels
Howatt_PeterKing
by
Emerging Contributor

Recently I contacted ESRI support services about converting data from Personal Geodatabases into File Geodatabases directly in ArcGIS Pro. Apparently there is a script that will allow you to do this however it will only run if you have purchased the Data Interoperability Extension subscription.

As a GIS practitioner of 20+ years, I have evolved my workflows in conjunction with the development of ESRI's software platforms beginning with 3.x. With ArcMap 10.x soon to be depracated permanently, I would encourage the ESRI software developers to provide access and functionality to ALL users of Pro, regardless if they have purchased this subscription or not, as a means for successfully helping the ESRI User Community migrate away from ArcMap 10.x. 

I have migrated my own license in the last couple of months and am finding Pro to be an extremely superior product over ArcMap 10.x, however find my workflow signifcantly interuppted when having to migrate my data from the Personal Geodatabase (which Pro does not support) into a File Geodatabase, the only solution beyond using/paying for the Data Interoperability Extension, to go back into Arcmap 10.x to access the tool.

4 Comments
AlfredBaldenweck
by MVP Regular Contributor
Wednesday

Kind of duplicate of this: Conversion Tool: Convert from archaic formats to m... - Esri Community

100% agree. Esri says that it isn't possible to do, but that's not the case. 

  1. FME and Data Interoperability can do it (except Access 97 mdbs)
  2. QGIS can do it as well (except Access 97 mdbs)

There is no reason why there can't be a free tool that just blind-converts a given mdb. In the case of an Access 97 mdb, ArcMap is literally the only program that can open these files, period, so that's kind of a lost cause, but...

 

I'd also like to add that whenever I ask about this, the answer is always "We need to focus on the future and there isn't enough need for it" and yet about every 6 weeks someone new asks about it here.

ValeriaChavez
by Esri Contributor
Friday
Status changed to: Needs Clarification

Hi @Howatt_PeterKing! Thanks for submitting this Idea.

I believe the script tool you are referring to is the one presented in the blog by @ElaineEvans and @MikeJensen: Migrating Data: Tools to migrate a personal geodatabase to a file or mobile geodatabase. Could you confirm that's the case? Or are you referring to a different script shared through technical support?

If it is the tool presented in the blog above, is your Idea about accessing this script tool with an ArcMap Basic license? According to the FAQs, the ArcGIS Data Interoperability license is only required for accessing the PGDB to FGDB tool when you don't have access to ArcMap Standard or Advanced. 

JoshuaBixby
by MVP Esteemed Contributor
Friday

@ValeriaChavez , I believe the OP is seeking something that doesn't require ArcGIS Desktop/ArcMap.  ArcMap will be fully retired in 9 months, and at some point people won't even be able to download to install it anymore, so there needs to be a Pro-only solution to this issue.

AlfredBaldenweck
by MVP Regular Contributor
Friday

Yeah, as it is, I was told I couldn't get ArcMap with a personal license last summer. There is a HUGE amount of data stored in archaic formats (coverages, MDBs, e00 files) across my organization and many others.