Magnetic north not auto-calculating in ArcGIS Pro

[RebeccaDiGirolomo]

We are using ArcGIS Pro 3.3.1. Magnetic north is no longer auto-calculating. I assume because of the WMM update in mid-December. Is there a fix for this? I have not been able to find a COF file to replace with the new one from  NOAA.

[Robert_LeClair]

From the internals and externals, there are a few references to the WMM update that may apply in your situation:

Update the World Magnetic Model for Maritime Chart... - Esri Community

Use the topographic north arrow (need extension license: Defense Mapping, Production Mapping and Aviation Mapping licenses)

ArcGIS Pro 3.4.0 was released November 2024.  The new WMM was released December 2024.  I wonder if a future ArcGIS Pro 3.4.1 or 3.4.2 patch will include the NOAA update?  From my understanding, the Dev team does update this information when released by NOAA. Likely this would also apply to ArcGIS Pro 3.3.x in a future patch.

[ZacharyUhlmann1]

Unfortunately this is also occurring to me in 3.0.2.  @Robert_LeClair I read your blog, but I don't have the Defense, Mapping Production, etc. extension, nor am I using the Maritime Server referenced therein.

I am in urgent need of a way to fix - is there any solution?  

Old functionality, left.  New broken functionality, right.

PREVIOUSCURRENT

thanks,

Zach

[CDTCAdministrator]

I'm getting the same thing.  Using 3.4 without those extensions.

[Robert_LeClair]

So the more I look into this, it seems like the auto-calculate is no longer working (i.e. BUG).  I did search the internals for an existing BUG report but they're old going back to 2.6 days.  For your MN north arrowhead, if you select it, go the North Arrow->Design contextual tab and type in -15.03 for the calibration angle.  Does your north arrow and dynamic text then update correctly?

[ZacharyUhlmann1]

Hi @Robert_LeClair your solution does work, however not positive I followed your protocol?  Specifically I'm unfamiliar with the terminology "Contextual Tab", but I think that's what I did.

NOTE: the North Arrow assembly I'm displaying is a group of elements; the off-axis arrow pointing ~15 deg with "MN" on the top is the element of interest.

The dynamic text (Magnetic North) does NOT update with the manual input of degrees however.

[Robert_LeClair]

I'm glad the manual approach worked for you.  Yes, contextual tab.  When you click on a North Arrow element in the layout, 2 "temporary" tabs at the top of the ArcGIS Pro application open.  These particular tabs are for the North Arrow element selected and they're called contextual tabs.  This means when you click on something, temporary tabs for that item open.  Hope this helps!

With regards to the dynamic text NOT updating.  I too was seeing this and believe it to be a BUG.  I recommend reaching out to Esri Support Services to work with an analyst and log the BUG.

Lastly - thank you for describing your workflow creating this north arrow.  I thought it may be a group of elements stacked on top of one another as I created the same north arrow configuration to test the workflows.

[DanHopkins]

Hi @RebeccaDiGirolomo @ZacharyUhlmann1 @CDTCAdministrator 

I am sorry if you have encountered issues with your north arrows with Type = Magnetic North starting on 1/1/2025. The magnetic north calculation relies on the WMM.xml that needs to be updated.

Please see the following knowledge article:

https://support.esri.com/en-us/knowledge-base/the-calculate-magnetic-components-tool-fails-to-calcul...

Regards,

Dan