Tired of ArcGIS Pro bugs, how can I get new Layouts into ArcMap?

DanielMatranga · ‎09-15-2016

How can I export layouts that I've made in ArcGIS Pro into a file format (such as MXD) that can be fed back into ArcMap? Is there a way to do this?

I am using the latest release of ArcGIS Pro (1.3.1), and while some of the old bugs were fixed in this release, plenty of old bugs still exist, and new ones have appeared that I just don't have time to report. Really growing tired of losing symbology changes randomly, sudden crashes, legend issues, alignment issues, etc., etc.

JeremyWright · ‎09-19-2016

Dan,

At each release we add more functionality and fix more bugs. We release several times a year.

ALSO at each release the product teams and doc team update the "what's new" document and "known issues" FAQ pages in the help and at http://pro.arcgis.com

The current release is 1.3, and we have the following documents that list the information you seek:

What's new doc: What's new in ArcGIS Pro 1.3—ArcGIS Pro | ArcGIS for Desktop

Release notes (issues addressed): Release Notes for ArcGIS Pro 1.3—ArcGIS Pro | ArcGIS for Desktop

FAQ: Frequently asked questions—ArcGIS Pro | ArcGIS for Desktop

Regards,

Jeremy W.

DanielMatranga · ‎09-21-2016

Jeremy Wright thanks for the info you included and links to FAQ's. They can be difficult to find via Google sometimes.

Unfortunately, ESRI Support will not accept my bug reports since I'm not the designated contact on our EULA, so I receive a reply stating that I'm not allowed to report bugs. Not your problem, but that's why I report bugs here on the forum.

Releasing several times a year is good. Releasing patches every month (or even quarter) would be better.

Consider the major releases we have so far for Pro:

1.0: Feb 2015
1.1: July 2015?
1.2: December 2015?
1.3 July 2016

Check out Google Chrome's release/update schedule:

Release
49	Jan 15th, 2016
50	Feb 26th, 2016
51	Apr 8th, 2016
52	May 19th, 2016
53	Jun, 30th 2016
54	Aug 25th, 2016
55	Oct 6th, 2016
56	Nov 17th, 2016

Or Microsoft Office's update schedule: first Tuesday of every month.

Not saying this to hate on ESRI, as I love ESRI products! Just hoping that ESRI will begin prioritizing development of Pro soon and update more frequently.

AdrianWelsh · ‎09-21-2016

Daniel,

It is nice to point out how other companies update their software but I'm going to guess that updating Pro is so much more intensive than Google Chrome. I can see MS Office being a little bit tricky, but still. Pro is such a huge beast that super frequent updates would be rather cumbersome. There's the fear that when one thing updates that something else breaks.

However, I like the idea of little small changes on a semi-frequent schedule. It could eliminate small issues here and there. Though, it would require so much more Esri-power (personnel) that it might not be feasible.

JeremyWright · ‎09-21-2016

Folks,

You may have noticed Pro is releasing several times a year, whereas previously our desktop products had an 18-24 month release cycle. So we're releasing on a regular rhythm and hope to keep the tempo for the foreseeable future.

Yes, Pro is a little more complicated than a browser to update, so I don't see updating once a month (externally) as a feasible goal in the foreseeable future. And we have done some patches even more quickly as needed (for instance, current version is 1.3.1 - a dot-dot release).

Daniel, just FYI: I've been in contact with our support liaison about the issues you had reporting bugs, and she's actively looking into this issue as well to see if there's a way to make reporting bugs even more expedient.

Regards,

Jeremy W.

TylerSchwartz2 · ‎09-22-2016

Ive reported two bugs related to this:

#BUG-000099281 The Symbology pane in ArcGIS Pro does not get updated with the new symbology after making any changes to the symbology and importing the symbology from a layer file.

#BUG-000099215 In ArcGIS Pro, the legend title text does not wrap and continues outside the legend frame.

My expectation is that these bugs are going to get addressed and fixed in the next release (or the one after). However, looking at our MyESRI organizations support page, I see bugs that have been reported (for ArcMap/Business Analyst) dating back to 2013 that are still "In Product Plan" - which I take to mean that they havent been fixed yet.

As a customer this is a little disconcerting. I sure hope that my time spent reporting bugs (and in the process, trying to create a better product for everyone) isnt just wasted time. To report a bug takes several hours out of my busy day to discuss and replicate this with ESRI support. If we are going out of our way to report these bugs yet they remain unaddressed, then whats the point of reporting them in the first place?

DanPatterson_Retired · ‎09-22-2016

I suppose it depends on what a 'bug' is defined as and how many people are impacted by it.

To me... a bug is something that causes an error in a geoprocessing analysis tool... ie area is calculated wrong, coordinates are wrong, distance to another object is wrong...

There is no way for me to work around this... nothing I can do.

I suspect you have better examples, but I can see that your two cited bugs would impact your workflow, but they have workarounds... perhaps not to your liking, but they are available ... like shorten your title ... I suspect that any software developer has to deal with what they class as a bug and what they class as an inconvenience.

Having said that, it is amazing at the number of times people don't report 'stuff' and expect it to be fixed... kudos to you for taking the time to report it.

AdrianWelsh · ‎09-22-2016

Dan,

That is very well-said.

Tyler,

I feel your frustration. I have a few open bugs too but, like Dan said, there is a work around. Yes, it is an inconvenience but I would imagine that Esri has to work on a priority basis fixing the most critical bugs first. Bugs with workarounds likely fall under the high priority umbrella.

I know this isn't what all customers want to hear - they want to hear that their bugs matter. Though, attempting to be unbiased here, I am all for Esri assigning a priority system to their bugs and I would certainly want their show-stopper-type bugs fixed first, then they can fix my cosmetic and annoying bugs (and the silly ones that should not break the system but do, everytime).

Also, like Dan said, kudos for reporting the bugs and getting them assigned as bugs. It is annoying to hear complaints without people taking any action. Esri is run by humans, not robots, and they can't read minds (yet).

TylerSchwartz2 · ‎09-22-2016

All I would say is that there are other large, industry leading companies (rhymes with Moby) that also develop highly complex software that have little to no bugs at the time of product release. Perhaps it is my experience and expectations with those products that carry over to ESRI's products (and perhaps it is even an unfair comparison) but I am nonetheless constantly making comparisons between the two software suites and find that one is almost never released with any bugs, and the other still feels like a beta test, even years after release. That perception should be important to ESRI and resources should be allocated to ensure stable, well performing products at the time of their release.

Just my 2c.

BrianE · ‎09-22-2016

I must echo Tyler's sentiments. I cannot think of another program (mapping or otherwise) that was released with as many bugs as Pro.

JeremyWright · ‎09-22-2016

Brian,

Thanks for your feedback.

If you can give me a rundown of the issues you've experienced and reported (similar to Tyler's BUG number list) that have affected your workflows, that would definitely help us to evaluate their priority.

Regards,

Jeremy W.