Stop recreating missing geodatabases

[MicheleH1_DNReply]

It would be great if ArcPro would stop recreating missing file geodatabases.  I deliberately renamed a file geodatabase (actually a few) and I did this in File Explorer - 'cos it's faster.  Then when I reopened the project it breaks all my links (expected) but recreates an empty file geodatabase with the old name.

This is not useful - if a geodatabase is missing it's generally because of a deliberate choice on the part of the user and recreating an empty geodatabase is just creating clutter that I have to remember to clean up.

And if it's not a deliberate choice - if some one has accidentally moved or deleted the geodatabase - what is the point of recreating an empty one?  The data is still missing.

Can we have this behavior stopped - or perhaps there is a way of stopping it already?  If so - could we have this as the default.  I have users unknowingly making empty geodatabases all over the show and it's becoming a problem.

Thanks heaps.

[RichardHowe]

@NaicongLi 

Thanks for the reply and update, it;s good to know that ESRI are looking seriously at this.

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• When the default geodatabase or toolbox is missing or broken (which could be made to happen when the project is closed, or while it is open, if you manipulate the default geodatabase or toolbox in File Explorer instead of in ArcGIS Pro), have ArcGIS Pro prompt the user to create or select one. It’s been suggested to have this happen on project reopening, or when a Geoprocessing tool is about to run, or when the project is being saved.

  • In all cases, this would require blocking all the operations in the UI until the default geodatabase or toolbox is restored, a state that many users would not want.

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I have to disagree here though. I think the point has been missed. If you have an aprx file which is closed, and somebody deletes or moves say a shapefile or raster that the project references in the toc then when you open it again you are presented with a red exclamation mark against the layer (as was the case with ArcMap) before it. Before you can utilise that layer again the onus is on you to repoint it.

I cannot see why any user would have an issue with this scenario if the default geodatabase link had been broken. By blithly recreating another default geodatabase in a different location your are arguably causing more pain, because the user doesn't think anything is wrong, and suddenly they have data being written to a second location - rather than being alerted to the fact they need to find their old project GDB

[BryanThompson1]

Well said RichardHowe, I completely agree. The way ArcPro is working now would be comparable to Excel saving a spreadsheet to a random location on either your hard drive, network drive, cloud drive, thumb drive, or wherever else it wants: the updated file is somewhere, but you'll have to search for it and it could be scattered across multiple versions of the same file in different places... So be sure to take some additional training so you can find what you need!

ESRI is totally missing the point on this one, as they seem to do regularly. The purpose of computer programs generally is to do what the USER wants, not what the program wants!

[DavidDurst]

@NaicongLi , I would completely agree with everything @RichardHowe and @BryanThompson1 have said. I would be happy if their suggestions were implemented EXACTLY as stated. The one addition I would have would be to apply this same principle to default folders and default toolboxes. I can't tell you how many dozens of times I've deleted a folder ArcGIS Pro re-created after opening a project where the default folder had been intentionally moved. This sort of behavior makes one squeamish to open an older APRX because you never know when it'll re-create all the default objects again.

For emphasis, I'll quote @BryanThompson1 here: "The purpose of computer programs generally is to do what the USER wants, not what the program wants!"

[mthompson]

This is the first time I'm hearing that ArcGIS Pro might recreate a database I've moved or deleted leaving me (or worse, someone else less familiar with the project file) with no idea there are now duplicate databases, one with incomplete or missing data. The thought of this horrifies me and I can't think of a situation where I wouldn't want to be notified something was broken (either with the trusty red exclamation mark or a popup message of some sort). It never even occurred to me that this would be an option someone would implement in a system where knowing exactly which data you are using is vitally important.

[RTPL_AU]

Related to:

https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-pro-ideas/save-all-the-noise-in-a-subfolder-of-the-default/idi-...

[JamalNUMAN]

Only 29 votes since 2020

[RTPL_AU]

@JamalNUMAN  Yep. The whole Ideas thing is a bit of a furry animal high on red cordial. 
Many "In Product Plan" ideas have only a handful of kudos. I wonder if most of those are influenced by large customers rather than the Ideas community........

[RTPL_AU]

Recreating 'missing' folders/fgdbs are related to path management by Pro and this idea:
https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-pro-ideas/need-absolute-path-names-in-pro/idi-p/938348#comments

@KoryKramer  @SSWoodward  when I move a project and its graphic output (i.e. a pdf map) to an archive or superseded folder and at a later stage open the project again to retrieve a fancy symbology I created, it will recreate all manner of 'missing' items due to Pro using relative paths.

When you fix either of these two bugs, please do not forget to fix both as they are directly related to each other. Yes - these are bugs as no sober person will see them otherwise when doing the pub test.

[BCWSGEO]

Hello @NaicongLi,

This may already be obvious but with the direction you're likely to consider, "...At the project creation time, allow users to specify an existing geodatabase and toolbox to be used as the project default geodatabase and toolbox", please ensure this option is available when creating a new project from a project template file as well.

[RTPL_AU]

Comment was merged from an Idea. 
Core to the original Idea is to:

ASK A USER WHAT THEY WANT TO DO WHEN LOADING A PROJECT WITH MISSING DEFAULT SOURCES

Due to the relative path mess used by Pro there are times when a Project file is moved, then opened, leading to Pro recreating some folders and/or fgdbs in the wrong location instead of asking the user what to do.

The recreation of these sources create a misleading mess as you still end up with missing data in a map (red ! next to layers) giving you a fright. Closing everything and opening an empty session, browsing to the correct source shows everything is OK. 
Open project again and everything is gone. 

Second to this you may find, while browsing for something unrelated, a completely random data folder with (hopefully) empty FGDB inside, in a location where it shouldn't be.  Was the data copied by accident while a user was doing something in file explorer? You now have to go and check if the folders/fgdb are indeed empty and if not, figure out what the point of truth is.

EDITED BY REQUEST
Please stop this behaviour to have Pro start with a default folder and fgdb at all cost. It is extremely frustrating and time consuming to find workarounds for the long list of design flaws all the time.

 If a Project is opened and Pro does not find the default folder/fgdb, stop and ask the user what to do.
DO NOT go off and just create stuff in some random locations relative to the aprx.

If this is impossible to do during load, replicate Word/Excel and place Pro in an limited state with a message that the default folder/fgdb is missing and needs to be allocated to the session before anything else can be done.