Viewing Metadata from the Contents Pane
Hello @SteveKovach ,
I am assuming that, by "When you right click on a feature name in the Contents Pane", you meant right clicking a feature layer in a Map view's Contents pane. Since a map layer can have its own metadata, which can be different from the metadata of this layer's data source (for example a feature class), we need the functionality to access the layer's own metadata (viewing it or editing it). Therefore the View Metadata and Edit Metadata commands need to be present in the layer's context menu for this purpose.
Note that, by default, a map layer does not have its own metadata (and if you view its metadata, you would you be viewing its data source's metadata; if you try to edit its metadata, you would get a warning message). But this can be changed using the the map layer's Properties dialog box:
We do wonder whether your suggestion was about the scenario where a map layer does not have its own metadata, and whether in that case, you have a desire to access its data source's metadata more easily. Currently in ArcGIS Pro, you would need to go to a Catalog window to browse to this layer's data source (for example a feature class), and view or edit the metadata of that feature class from there. There is another user idea requesting easier access to a map layer's data source directly from the map layer's Properties dialog box (instead of you having to do the browsing yourself): https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-pro-ideas/link-from-layer-properties-source-to-catalog-view/idi.... If you think the solution for that idea would benefit your use case as well, please add your vote to that idea.
Please let us know.
Thank you for your feedback!