ArcGIS Pro Attribute Rules as Attribute Assistant Replacement?

[JoeBorgione]

With the recent update of ArcGIS Pro to v 2.2, (see : What's new in ArcGIS Pro 2.2—ArcGIS Pro | ArcGIS Desktop ) there are two new tools for the 'Attribute Rules' tool set.  Truth be told, if I hadn't seen this I still wouldn't have known about them at all. 

Two questions:

Are the Attribute Rule tools designed to replace the Attribute Assistant? 

If that is the case, are there plans to incorporate their application to a fgdb?  ( I know: the ink isn't dry on 2.2 and I'm asking for improvements...)

Michael Miller‌

[KoryKramer]

Hi Joe,

That is my understanding, that attribute rules is the "new generation" of Attribute Assistant.  They allow the rules to work across the ArcGIS platform, meaning that data integrity can be maintained when editing services on a mobile device, or while sitting at your desk.  This was a big request to improve for Attribute Assistant as it could only be used with ArcMap.

The question about having attribute rules work with file gdb would (in my opinion) be a great idea to post to ArcGIS Ideas‌.  I've heard this request, but I don't think it is persisted anywhere, so submitting the idea would be a great way for us to hold onto it, gauge need and get input from the community as we're looking at continuing to improve attribute rules capabilities.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

[JoeBorgione]

Seems like having attribute rules work with a FGDB is a no-brainer, but I'll submit an idea none the less.  Thanks!

[KoryKramer]

Thanks, Joe. 

[JoeBorgione]

Vote early and vote often...  https://community.esri.com/ideas/15235 

[JoshWhite]

Why are these rules so hidden?  I couldn't even get it to come up in the Help.  I typed it in the tool search.  Trouble is that this appears way more limited than the attribute assistant.  It only lets me do field calculations.  I had it doing a location search before.  For example, report a field from a feature class that this new feature (or modified feature) is within.  Its also very unfortunate that this eliminates backward compatibility and renders the dataset uneditable in ArcMap.  Come on Esri, stop making this stuff so difficult.  

[MichaelVolz]

I don't believe ESRI will ever provide backward compatibility on this issue, but the "report a field from a feature class that this new feature (or modified feature) is within" should be added in future releases.

Have you setup Attribute Assistant (AA) in your ArcMap environment and found that the AA is a boat anchor to adopting Pro since Attribute Rules do not have functional equivalency and Attribute Rules renders the layer useless in ArcMap once an Attribute Rule is applied to the same data source in Pro?

[JoshWhite]

I do agree that this a "boat anchor" as you put it.  Not having backward compatibility on something as simple as this is just nonsense.  Why the sudden switch to Arcade after having used Python for years?  

[KoryKramer]

Hi Josh,

Not sure where you were searching...

Yes, there are some current limitations with Attribute Rules, like currently there are only calculation rules and constraint rules.  This is explained here Attribute rules—Geodatabases | ArcGIS Desktop 

That help also explains that 

There is currently no cross-layer or cursor support for attribute rules. Attribute rules are only supported on the row (feature) being evaluated. Attribute rules are currently only supported on enterprise geodatabase datasets.

which is what you're looking for with the intersection type method from Attribute Assistant.

In the ArcGIS Pro Roadmap - September 2018 you can see that Attribute Rule enhancements are top of the list with this explanation, 

• Attribute Rule Enhancements – Additional user experience for creating and modifying rules, existing rule validation, and support for querying additional layers as part of calculation or constraint-based rules.

As for why Arcade?  Using Arcade expressions allow them to be understand (and thus executed) across the platform meaning that instead of having Attribute Assistant methods locked to your desktop, Attribute Rules maintain data integrity and speed up editing no matter where you're working with the data.

ArcGIS Arcade | ArcGIS for Developers 

I hope this is helpful.

[JoshWhite]

I think the website had a temporary problem as I was able to eventually find the right help page.  Thanks for the response Kory.  This is exactly the information I was looking for.  We may not always see eye to eye but I do appreciate your willingness to participate in these forums and help answer questions of occasionally obnoxious end users.