What is the future of ArcCatalog in future Pro versions?

20170
81
02-10-2015 11:59 AM
RenatoSalvaleon
Occasional Contributor III


Unless I missed it, there's several Administration features in current ArcCatalog that are not available in Pro, specially the ones for geodatabases, e.g., Manage and Administer which is slightly different for each type of data objects.

81 Replies
JohnDunham
New Contributor II

Jake Skinner and Robert LeClair 

I just came across this thread, and noticed that the original question regarding ArcCatalog's future status with ArcGIS Pro has still not been answered, and I have the same question in February, 2017, as I see many other have had. When the first answers were posted in 2015, it was assumed that Pro would simply run alongside Desktop. Now that Esri has announced the total retirement of Desktop 10.5 in December, 2022 (and older versions earlier than that), with, I am assuming, no subsequent version, this would certainly seem to change things - as I now understand it, there will be no more Desktop after 12/1/22 (Esri Support 10.5 ). I would just like to follow up on the concerns of other above. I am trying to learn Pro right now, and I understand the differences and the need for many of them, but I still am unclear of what to do if I simply want to examine data, like I can in ArcCatalog, or open it up and explore it in Desktop without having to create a new project. Apparently, from what I've read above, there is no way to do that. And if ArcCatalog is going to disappear along with Desktop, I am also very concerned. I'm currently working through the "Getting to Know ArcGIS Pro" book's exercises, but everything seems to be project-based, rather than data-based. I'm very uncertain on things that seem basic in Desktop and Catalog, like examining data, copy-pasting a feature class from gdb to gdb, opening, editing, and saving data WITHOUT setting up a project to do it, and so on. The design of Pro doesn't seem to make it easier to manage large amounts of GIS data.

Robert_LeClair
Esri Notable Contributor

Good morning John - I wanted to address your concerns about Desktop being retired in 2022.  To clarify, ArcGIS Desktop is the overall category name for ArcMap, ArcGIS Pro, ArcCatalog, ArcScene, ArcGlobe, extensions, etc. so Desktop is not being retired.  I believe you meant ArcMap in this case.  You are correct that ArcMap 10.5 is fully retired December 2022.  With that being said, there will be an ArcMap 10.6, 11, 11.1, etc. so the actual ArcMap product will not be retired for many, many years to come.  Customers may continue to use current and future releases of ArcMap if they wish.  But with that being said, product development, new functionality, etc. is being invested in ArcGIS Pro.  Future ArcMap releases will have some new functionality but will be focused on product stability and bug fixes.  The plan is for ArcGIS Pro 2.0 to be at functional equivalency as ArcMap with a release timeframe of Q2 2017.

To address the ArcCatalog question, the current release of ArcGIS Pro does require a user to create a project to manage, analyze, etc GIS data.  Although not ideal, one can create a data management project only to manage GIS data and used that repeatedly to manage one's data.  I do not know if future releases of Pro will improve upon the data management question you ask - this is more applicable to the Pro Dev Team.  I hope this answers some of your concerns.  Feel free to continue asking additional questions.

JohnDunham
New Contributor II

Robert, thank you for the helpful reply. You are correct - I should have stated "ArcMap" instead of "Desktop." Given what you stated above, do you think it would it be reasonable to assume that ArcCatalog will also continue on in the same way? It would certainly be nice to have better data management capabilities in Pro, but I can more easily understand a lack of it if ArcCatalog continues on in the same way as you indicate that ArcMap will.

By the way, this level of concern started for me with someone in our GIS community passing along a link from a 3rd party that went out on a limb and predicted that 10.5 would be the end of ArcMap: Migrating from ArcGIS Desktop to ArcGIS Pro – Don’t Wait Too Long | 

Again, thanks for clarifying things.

0 Kudos
Robert_LeClair
Esri Notable Contributor

John - yes it is reasonable to assume ArcCatalog will be side by side with ArcMap following a similar life process - no major updates, just a update for stability/bug fixes.  So I would think one could use ArcCatalog for data management only and do one's analysis in ArcGIS Pro.  I know folks on the Pro Team are watching this thread but do not know what the thought process will be for a data management application within Pro that doesn't require creation of a project.

Interesting link - thx.  I can see where concerns would be raised based upon this information.  Fortunately for customers, it's not correct.

DavidWheelock
Occasional Contributor III

Thanks Robert.

It's still mystifying that the ArcGIS Pro team projects to have Pro at "functional equivalency" with ArcMap in Q2 2017 when major issues like this are still present, and the Idea for this on GeoNet is still not yet under consideration. 

Here it is:  Add Stand Alone Data Catalog Like ArcCatalog to ArcGIS Pro

This idea is now up to 1170 points in the voting, and rising steadily, which puts it in the top 140 most popular ideas out of 11,934 currently on GeoNet.  This idea has recently risen to "Reviewed" status.  Most of the ideas from this point and upward on the list are either Implemented or Under Consideration.

https://community.esri.com/community/arcgis-ideas/content?filterID=contentstatus%5Bpublished%5D~obje...

Robert_LeClair
Esri Notable Contributor

I understand John.  As a Pro/ArcMap Instructor, I do receive many questions from customers about the future of ArcMap vs. ArcGIS Pro.  The ArcCatalog question does arise on a frequent basis.  I know the Pro Team is actively watching and reviewing ArcGIS Ideas so voting on this idea is a good idea to move it up in importance.  Being reviewed is a good sign certainly.

0 Kudos
wayfaringrob
Frequent Contributor

Thanks for sharing that info about the prior idea, it's a shame it got wiped. For those reading these days and wish to upvote or comment I have created a similar idea at: Offer a standalone ArcCatalog replacement for ArcG... - Esri Community

0 Kudos
MikeLouwrens
Occasional Contributor III

Robert LeClair‌ can you please explain what you mean by "functional equivalency"?

The plan is for ArcGIS Pro 2.0 to be at functional equivalency as ArcMap with a release timeframe of Q2 2017.

I have read elsewhere that geometric networks (or rather Utility networks) won't even make an appearance until ArcGIS Pro 2.1.  This would be my #1 requirement for using ArcGIS Pro on a regular basis.

Cheers,

Mike.

0 Kudos
Robert_LeClair
Esri Notable Contributor

Mike - sure.  Functional equivalency means that ArcGIS Pro will do the same things as ArcMap currently does - it's not there yet but getting closer with each release.  The Pro Dev team is working hard to satisfy customer requirements for using ArcGIS Pro.  From my research about geometric networks/utility networks, is appears Pro 2.1 is the goal.  As you may know, ArcGIS Pro is on a rapid release cycle meaning there are 2-3 releases a year of Pro with more functionality.  I would suspect Pro 2.1 would be fall 2017 but have seen no firm release date. 

0 Kudos
curtvprice
MVP Esteemed Contributor

I really hope with this quick release cycle you know how much pain it causes when existing things are changed. I have already had a raft of internal support incidents where people were using a tutorial built for 1.4 on 1.3 and they got totally lost. Please cut us some slack and use this power for good!

0 Kudos