FC has symbology and labelling permanently stored in GDB?

[Bud]

ArcGIS Pro 2.6.8; Oracle 18c 10.7.1 EGDB:

There is a line feature class in our enterprise geodatabase that now seems to have default symbology and labelling defined at the GDB level. The symbology and labelling is a recent development; the FC was created years ago, but the symbology and labelling only started happening in the last 10 days.

If I add the FC to a new project, the lines are automatically symbolized as thick red lines and some of the features are labelled.

Notes:

1. One of our users is confident that it was them that created the default symbology and labelling in Pro, as part of a recent initiative. But the user isn't sure how they managed to accidently define default labelling and symbology in the GDB for all users.
2. The default symbology and labelling isn't shown if I add the FC to ArcMap. And it isn't preserved if I copy the FC via to a file geodatabase via Catalog (Pro).
3. For what it's worth, the FC doesn't have a subtype.
4. The Oracle table hasn't had any recent DDL changes:
   
   So I guess the labelling and symbology information must be stored elsewhere, maybe in geodatabase system tables.
5. The user doesn't think they made any annotations. And they weren't using ArcMap so they wouldn't have made any cartographic representations.

Question:

What mechanism might have been used to store the default labelling and symbology in the FC in the GDB? I want to know how it was done so that I can understand how it works and disable it if it causes issues.

Video:

[Bud]

For my notes, I was able to reproduce it using a new FC (from scratch) and using simplified steps (still in ArcGIS Pro 2.6.8; Oracle 18c 10.7.1 EGDB).

1. Create a new ArcGIS Pro session/project.
2. Add A_TEST_FC to map.
3. Apply symbology using a default symbol from the gallery.
4. Add A_TEST_TBL to the map.
5. Use the Add Relate tool to relate to A_TEST_TBL via the RDSEC/ASSET_ID fields.
6. Add A_TEST_FC to the map.
7. The symbology persists.

Video:

I wasn't able to reproduce it in ArcGIS Pro 3.2.2 in a mobile or file geodatabase.

[Bud]

@DrewFlater 

Like I mentioned above:

The steps [Add Relate] can also be used to remove the permanent symbology and labelling if it already exists.

Do you have any reason to believe that those steps shouldn't be used to remove the symbology and labelling from the feature class?

[JamalNUMAN]

I'm encountering the same issue. As shown in the screenshot below (the data is also attached), when I add the feature class, it automatically gets symbolized and labeled.

[Bud]

@DrewFlater 

You mentioned “This was an error that was corrected at 2.8.”

However, we’re seeing the issue at Pro 2.9.5. When I add an EGDB FC to the map, the FC has permanent symbology and labelling applied. 

Thoughts?

[Bud]

Esri Case #03690461 - Symbology and labelling permanently stored in geodatabase FC metadata

Hi Esri Support,

ArcGIS Pro 2.9.5; Oracle 18c 10.7.1 EGDB

Background:

There is a known issue in some versions of ArcGIS Pro where symbology and labelling are permanently stored in the GDB FC metadata – as a “layer file” within the metadata. The symbology and labelling is automatically applied to the layer when it’s added to the map.

The issue is caused when geoprocessing tools, such as Add Relate, are used on a FC. If there was symbology and/or labelling applied to the FC prior to the geoprocessing tool being run, then the symbology and labelling will be permanently applied to the FC metadata in the GDB, which is not wanted.

In our case, I believe the permanent symbology and labelling was applied (a few months ago) to some of our FCs when a user was using ArcGIS Pro 2.6.8.

We no longer use ArcGIS Pro 2.6.8, we use 2.9.5. My organization is unable to upgrade to 3.x at this time.

It seems like there are two components to this issue:

1. Ability to apply new permanent symbology and labelling in FC metadata via GP tools.
2. Pro honors permanent symbology and labelling when a FC is added to the map.

#1 and #2 applied to 2.6.8. However, in 2.9.5, I am only able reproduce #2 at the moment.

Question:

An Esri staff member mentioned in the Esri Community that this issue was fixed at 2.8: FC has symbology and labelling permanently stored in GDB?

However, as mentioned, we are still seeing this issue at 2.9.5.

Can you please advise: What versions (2.9.6+beyond) have this issue, and at what version (2.9.6+beyond) was it fixed?