Fields — User-defined properties (units, editing instructions, etc.)

Bud

It would be great if we could create user-defined properties for fields.

For example, custom text properties like units (centimeters, meters, kilometers), editing instructions, etc.

This idea is a different take on the Field Description idea: https://community.esri.com/t5/data-management-ideas/field-descriptions-in-gdb/idc-p/1314298/highligh.... While the information could in theory be jammed into a description property, it would be cleaner to define separate custom properties. Separate properties would be easier to access with Python and SQL (from the system tables), compared to trying to parse the information from a description property.

PDodd · ‎08-03-2023

The trouble with Metadata is that people will not fill it out if there's no clear benefit to them, field Aliases for instance. Just more effort and work to do!

But if that information could be used to drive the software, then we have something worth taking that extra time. 👍

For instance, the "Description" shows up in the online table view, helping to add clarity to the field content. The "Units" could provide localization for the data!

Lets keep the ball rolling and see if we can get folks to follow along! Here's the other thread on this topic https://community.esri.com/t5/data-management-ideas/adding-field-units-to-gdb-and-online/idi-p/13143...