Identify in Layout

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07-29-2021 09:51 AM
Status: Open
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MichaelPielow
Emerging Contributor

Identify in the Layout.  Under Map, Identify is hidden in the Explore Tool.  There needs to be an Identify in Layout as well.  It may be there but things have a tendency to be hidden in Pro, and I have not been able to find them via ESRI Help and Google.  If it is available, the identify tool needs to be more visible.  

8 Comments
KoryKramer

The Explore tool in ArcGIS Pro is the 'identify' as you noted.  In order to work with tools that are active in the context of a map, you need to activate the map frame.

https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/help/layouts/work-with-a-map-on-a-layout.htm

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MichaelPielow

So in other words, the identify tool is even more hidden in the layout than it is in Map.  It is the simple things like this in Pro that make me want to continue to use ArcMap.  There are a lot of great things in Pro, but the simple non-Kool-Aid items of Pro are being overlooked. Please fix this as it is counter-productive to have to activate the layout just to use the hidden "identify" tool.

ChrisGreene

If the plan is leave in place the need to activate the map in order to use the identify tool, then it would be great if the popup didn't disappear when closing the activation so that you can update a map element with the information you used the identify tool to grab. It's the little things about pro that can be maddening.

tschulzke

I couldn't agree more with @MichaelPielow and @ChrisGreene's replies. To put it another way, the inability to do something as benign and data-unaltering as "Identify" a feature in Layout view truly makes Pro less productive and less efficient than ArcMap. I'm pretty sure one of the major goals in the early days of Pro development was to minimize the number of clicks to complete tasks ("Okay" is not okay...symbology properties...ring any bells?). This is definitely not minimizing clicks and is extremely counterproductive. 

RyanMock2

I hate this so much.

How are you supposed to update callout boxes in Layout, if I can't see the information from the explore popup (identify tool) when I close the Activation mode?

RTPL_AU

Feature parity with ArcMap request:

Enable the use of the info aka Explore tool in a layout. Having to click to the map tab or activate the map frame just to check something quickly is inefficient. 

Example - I want to quickly check the correct text of an attribute to copy it for use in the legend, map title, etc. 

GM1
by

I totally agree with other users, ArcGIS Pro adds a clunkiness to workflows that I am not finding efficient.  It would be helpful for Identify to simply work in layout view.

WayneSimoneau1

There are tens of thousands out here that agree. The folks that designed logical process flow in Pro had a great model in ArcMap as a baseline & they still couldn't get it right. 

Let's not even talk about importing MXDs to Pro. ESRI just blew off dealing with anno classes embedded in MXDs. The "Update Dataset" function only works for anno classes in an Enterprise SDE.

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