Reset data sources in one go rather than individually

[JessTate]

Sometimes you have a large number of shapefiles that you need reset the data sources for. It would be a good idea if you can select all of the shapefiles that need resetting and reset the data source in one go rather than individually.

[DanPatterson_Retired]

like when you get the red exclamation marks?

and you right-click on a layer and select 'Data--> Repair Data Source'

Then you navigate to where that file is?  And if it is found and all the others are located in the same location, they all get repaired as well?

that repair?

[KoryKramer]

Jess Tate‌ Have you looked at Setting data sources—Help | ArcGIS Desktop ?

The Set Data Source(s) tool is available when you right-click a map document (.mxd) in ArcCatalog or the Catalog window. The tool can be used to change the referenced data sources in a map document.

Either that or try Dan_Patterson‌'s suggestion and let us know if that works for you.

Thanks

[JessTate]

Hi, for example, I have a mxd for polling stations, i have one shapefile but have the data added a 10 times to show different symbology but rather than reset the data source individually, it would be easier for you to select the shapefiles and reset the data source in one go.

[KoryKramer]

Doesn't the functionality I pointed to allow you to do that?

Here is an MXD with three layers that all point to the same shapefile.

In ArcCatalog I right-click the MXD > Set Data Source(s) and I can replace all...

[JessTate]

Hi, Thank you, I tried that and it didn't work but I have done it manually.

[KoryKramer]

This was available for ArcMap at the time of the original posting.  Since then, a similar workflow to update multiple data sources at once has been implemented in ArcGIS Pro.

See https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/help/projects/update-data-sources.htm