SQL databases with names longer than 31 characters

[BernieLanger]

My organization has a SQL Server with many databases with names longer than 31 characters long. These are not recognized by ArcGIS Pro (or ArcMap). We can't change the names of these databases, because they're important for a wide variety of uses outside of ArcGIS. Please allow these databases to be visible to and usable by ArcGIS Pro. We're unable to use ArcGIS as a regular part of our workflow until this matter is resolved.

This limitation is described here: http://desktop.arcgis.com/en/desktop/latest/manage-data/gdbs-in-sql-server/enterprise-geodatabase-li...

[RyanJalynski]

I'm facing this exact same problem. Have you found a way to work around this?

[MatthewDobson]

Not sure of all of the detail, but will this help?  SQL Server Database Alias

[RyanJalynski]

The fields I was interested in were all below 30 characters so I had our database guy create a view to only return the fields I'm interested in. I'm now able to bring it into ArcMap.

[DasheEbra]

I face same issue, so I’d like to share my experience. Although this doesn’t provide a complete solution, I hope it offers useful information and troubleshooting scenarios.

1. Esri’s Index Limitation in ArcGIS Pro: It’s interesting to note that while SQL Server supports field names up to 128 characters, Esri limits field names to 31 characters in ArcGIS Pro URL. This restriction is unique to almost all enterprise geodatabases types (SQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL) and does not apply to file geodatabases, where longer field names are allowed.

2. Field Creation Beyond 31 Characters: I successfully created fields with names longer than 31 characters using SQL statements directly or through Python in ArcGIS Pro (still with SQL). The fields appeared both in DB (SSMS) and ArcGIS Pro. However, when I tried editing or updating these fields in ArcGIS Pro, it returned an error: "Failed to create DO.testF. Object name is not a regular identifier for the underlying DBMS [DO.testF]." As a result, Only update geometries or fields with names shorter than 31 characters within ArcGIS Pro are allowed.

• Workaround Options: While there’s no straightforward solution if data editing is required, you have some alternatives:
  
  • Direct SQL Statements: You can use SQL to create fields with names exceeding 31 characters, though these will only be accessible as part of a view.

use gdb_name
ALTER TABLE user_name.table_name
ADD [Thffffffffffffff456789111111111211111_128] VARCHAR(255);

I considered using Geodatabase Configuration Keywords, but it appears they don’t provide any solutions for this issue.

[SSWoodward]

Thanks for all of the contributions in the thread. 

Over the course of the comments, two distinct requests have developed. The first is the idea to allow geodatabases to be named with names longer than thirty-one characters.  The second is the idea to allow *field names* within a geodatabase class to exceed thirty-one characters.

Moving forward, this Idea will be focused on naming the database, and not naming fields.

I'm making this distinction because in the upcoming ArcGIS Pro 3.5, ESRI has expanded the acceptable length of geodatabase field names beyond 31 characters.  Keep your eyes out for more information on this enhancement as we get closer to release. 

Currently, expanding the allowable length of a geodatabase's name is not on our near-term roadmap.