Create GPS metadata fields for FC where no z coordinate system defined

[MatthewWoodmansee]

Good afternoon everyone.  I looked everywhere for this specific problem and could not find an answer anywhere.  Our current setup:

Versioned SDE feature dataset that is being used for field data collection.
After turning off services and removing the database locks, I've tried to add in the GPS metadata fields to the feature classes. Each time I try this it works for a long time and then cannot complete the task - with an error similar to a Z axis not defined or default value.

So I made a rookie mistake when setting up the feature dataset two years ago and didn't define a Z coordinate system in the primary feature dataset.  Now that I am trying to implement broad data collection work integrated with our new GPS equipment, I have two questions for the group:

• Is it possible to create GPS metadata fields on a feature class in a feature dataset that doesn't have the z coordinate system defined? It appears not, but wanted to check.  note that I was able to create those same fields in a different feature dataset that DID have the Z coordinate system defined.
• Is there any way to simply assign the Z coordinate system to the feature dataset after it is up and running?  I really want to avoid having to re-create the feature dataset if I can.

Thanks for your help!

[ABishop]

Hello Matthew,

When you say "dataset" do you mean a singular feature class or a "feature dataset" which contains several "feature classes"?

[MatthewWoodmansee]

I am trying to add GPS metadata fields to a single feature class.

That feature class is contained within a feature dataset. That feature dataset does not have a Z coordinate system defined. I have included a screenshot of the Feature Dataset Properties window to help illustrate.

[ABishop]

OK... one more question... is it the coordinate system you want to redefine or the actual z coordinate value?  I think if its the coordinate system, you can redefine it using the "Define Projection" tool.  If its the z coordinate value I believe this has to be done at the build level.

Since you said its one dataset and one feature class... you may want to consider creating a new one and just importing the attributes of the old feature class to the new one.

[MatthewWoodmansee]

Thank you again for the response.  I want to define a z coordinate system for the feature dataset (and therefore all feature classes in that feature dataset). This is needed for me to add the GPS metadata fields into the feature classes.

This is a production environment (we are a small company, so there is no true testing/dev environment), so if I cannot do it after the fact, I will have to do the more manual way.

I will try the "define projection" tool tomorrow night off-hours and see if that works.