Field calculator works in ArcMap, but not Pro. "Cannot acquire a lock"

[Katie_Clark]

Hello,

I am working on a project where I have to switch between ArcMap and ArcPro because I only have a spatial analyst extension in Pro. I use the "Zonal Statistics as Table" tool in Pro. Then I would like to attach that table to another layer and calculate a field based on a field in the Zonal Statistics table.

However, when I try to do this in Pro, I get the following error:

Normally I would just think this would have to do with having another instance of the layer open in another application. However, there are no other instances of Pro, ArcMap or ArcCatalog open when I have tried this. The weird thing is, if I close Pro and open ArcMap, I am able to join the table and calculate the field without any issues.

Why would this work in ArcMap but not Pro? Any ideas?

[Egge-Jan_Pollé]

Aha, ERROR 999999! Hmmm, something unexpected caused the tool to fail...

As Esri states on this page 999999: Something unexpected caused the tool to fail. Contact Esri Technical Support (http://esriurl... :

This error is considered a bug because there is missing exception handling in the tool.

Fortunately you have found a good workaround by using ArcMap. And the good news is there will be continued support for ArcMap for at least a few years to come.

And, according to this message2019-05-01 - ArcGIS Pro 2.4 by Jack Lukehart Esri staff in the Esri Headquarters in Redlands, CA will be busy manual testing of ArcGIS Pro 2.4 during the month of May.

[Katie_Clark]

Thanks for your response! Good to know that they will be doing more testing on Pro during this month....with any luck maybe this will be resolved.

[ThomasColson]

This "shouldn't" be happening at the latest release, so nothing to resolve, but I've had a few SDE-flavor-specific cases where wonky things happen with field calculator. Specific and reproducible steps for your workflow might result in an existing bug answer or a suggestion to call TS. 

[Katie_Clark]

Yup, I've opened a case with Tech Support to determine if it's a bug or not. I'll update the post if I find something out!

[MervynLotter]

Hi Katherine

I recently encountered the same or similar problem, but by selecting the option to "Enable Undo", I was able to run the field calculation successfully. This was just a once off case where I managed to find a way to get the tool to run, other than restarting Pro, and I do not know if it will hold true in all similar cases (sample size still too small). Hopefully it works for you.

[Katie_Clark]

Thanks for the suggestion!! Strangely enough, I was just doing a screenshare with Esri tech support and I wasn't able to replicate the issue. So, who knows...maybe it will just be an isolated incident!

[SumersetEllis]

I've been struggling with this for days and going back to ArcMap to do simple field calculations and all it took was to click "enable undo". Wow! Thank you so much for posting.

[Anonymous User · Accepted solution]

Hello all,

My name is Matt with Esri Support Services. I am happy to report that Katherine and I screenshared and performed the workflow that was supposed to lead to the Error 999999 message. However, we did not replicate the error message. As a result, it looks like the Add Join and Calculate Field are all functioning properly. 

[Andreea_Florea]

I got this error message today, though I am not sure it is an issue with my server or from ArcGIS