Why aren't more ArcGIS Pro bug reports shared publicly?

[Bud]

In the past months, I've submitted some new bug reports:

1. BUG-000155584 - View on FGDB standalone table gives error “Failed to add data, unsupported data type.” while adding to a map
2. BUG-000155660 - Definition queries do not appear as active after enabling the query and reopening the definition query again
3. BUG-000155377 - Unable to create a bar chart on a database view created in a mobile geodatabase
4. BUG-000140702 [re-opened] - Right-clicking and selecting paste does not work when attempting to paste a value into the query builder in the Select By Attributes tool
5. And a few more:
   
   • BUG-000150273 - ST_Geometry functions applied to the Shape field in Select By Attributes return the error message, "Error 000358: Invalid expression" if the feature class is registered as traditional versioned.
   • BUG-000155819 - Attribute table of joined layer in Mobile Geodatabase does not open when a definition query with a subquery is applied to the join table.
   • BUG-000155830 - Failed to open Mobile geodatabase feature attribute table after applying join from a SQL queried standalone table with error: Underlying DBMS Error [ambiguous column name objectid]
   • BUG-000155888 - In the Create Database View geoprocessing tool, the Output View Name parameter is cleared when the first click after entering the Output View Name occurs outside of the tool interface.
   • BUG-000156143 - An SQL query containing the EXISTS predicate validates successfully but returns incorrect results from a file geodatabase
   • BUG-000156405 - Validate Join message is incorrect in ArcGIS Pro when Add Join to table or feature with Definition Query within the same workspace.
   • BUG-000157223 - The View Icon shows as Standalone table instead as Feature Class in Mobile Geodatabase
   • BUG-000156931 - Unable to select features using the Explore or selection tool from a view in a mobile geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro.
   • BUG-000157376 - Unable to select features using the Explore or selection tool from a view with a join in a File geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro
   • BUG-000157475 - Cannot open table from the Catalog pane for a spatial view found in a mobile geodatabase.
   • BUG-000157568 - In ArcGIS Pro, when a file geodatabase is placed in a file folder that contains .gdb in the folder name, you cannot add new feature classes, feature datasets, tables, etc...to the file geodatabase.
   • BUG-000157571 - When running the Make Route Event Layer tool, the Layer Name or Table View default to the table owner instead of the table name in Oracle Enterprise Geodatabase
   • BUG-000157565 - When running the Make Route Event Layer tool, the Layer Name or Table View default to the table owner instead of the table name in Mobile Geodatabase
   • BUG-000157718 - Excel to Table tool prefixes table name with "main.main_" when importing to mobile geodatabase
   • BUG-000157719 - Excel to Table tool prefixes table name with table owner when importing to Oracle enterprise geodatabase
   • BUG-000157728 - Creating a new geodatabase in a favorite folder causes Catalog to expands multiple folders
   • Internal Esri GitHub bug reported: ‘Progress Indicator not showing in catalog when creating new mGDB’ [Esri Case 03318871]
   • BUG-000157736: Create Database View geoprocessing tool returns incorrect data when SQL CASE expression returns a text value in the View Definition parameter
   • BUG-000157874 - Sorting fails after a Flag field is added to a view definition, the view is joined to a feature layer, and the Flag field is moved to the front of the table
   • BUG-000157875 - Remove Join tool fails after a Flag field is added to a view definition, the view is joined to a feature layer, and fields in the joined table are reordered and sorted
   • BUG-000158141: The cardinality of a join is incorrect in the Layer properties for 1:1 joins in ArcGIS Pro 3.1
   • BUG-000158140: ArcGIS Pro: Join from table to database view generate Join fields with null values
   • BUG-000158324: Mobile GDB view definition contains "CREATE VIEW [name of table] AS" , whereas File geodatabase views and enterprise geodatabase views do not.
   • BUG-000158187: When using "Truncate Table" with a table that has a join, ArcGIS Pro provides an incorrect error message of "001400: Only the data owner may execute"
   • BUG-000158857: When renaming a table or feature class in a mobile geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro, the selected rename text displays the previous attempt at renaming, even if the attempt failed.
   • BUG-000158912 - User with ArcGIS Pro 3.1.2 and mobile geodatabase can't save field alias using same name as field for their standalone table.
   • BUG-000159358: Delete option is available in the attribute table for a field of a joined table
   • BUG-000159633: In a mobile geodatabase table in ArcGIS Pro, the field alias gets automatically set to the previous field name.
   • BUG-000159170 - ArcGIS Pro 3.1.2 - Unable to sort joined fields when a mobile geodatabase standalone table is joined to a mobile geodatabase feature class in a 1 to many join.
   • BUG-000160320: Slow performance in Pro when interacting with the attribute table of data which participates in a join.
   • BUG-000158623 - ArcGIS Pro - The 'Move to End' button within the Attribute Table does not work as expected while working with tables from regular databases or mobile geodatabase.
   • BUG-000160924 : SQL query becomes case sensitive when a Feature Layer is joined to a table stored in a Mobile Geodatabase. After joining a feature layer and a table (both stored in a Mobile Geodatabase), SQL query becomes case sensitive and the previous SQL query expression fails to execute.
   • BUG-000163083 - ArcGIS Pro does not honor the Allow NULL value that is set for the SHAPE field during feature class creation.
   • BUG-000163402: Double click is required when adding new rows to the attribute table of a feature class that has no user defined fields.
   • BUG-000163640: SQL Expression applied to the Shape field in Select By Attributes returns the error message, "Error 000358: Invalid expression" if the feature class is registered as traditional versioned.
   • BUG-000163772: Views in file and mobile geodatabases do not indicate in their Data Source properties if they have been registered with the database
   • BUG-000163754 - Catalog item properties of FGDB (and Enterprise GDB) database view: "Manage" options (Attachments, Global IDs, & editor tracking) should not be available
   • BUG-000163933: ArcGIS Pro 3.2 - Appending data from a file geodatabase feature class to a table using matching fields for update throws the error "Error 000229: Cannot open TABLE" despite successful append/update.
   • BUG-000164071: In ArcGIS Pro, when using the Table Select (Analysis) tool, the Mobile Geodatabase prefix is used as Output Table instead of original Feature Class name
   • BUG-000164132: The 'Clear' button under the Contents pane selection tab is missing when selecting zero records in ArcGIS Pro
   • BUG-000164133: The clear button is grayed out when selecting zero records and ensure consistent behavior for the clear button in ArcGIS Pro
   • BUG-000164128 Unlike ArcGIS Pro 3.1, when importing a Display Filter file in ArcGIS Pro 3.2, the feature layer is not automatically updated according to the imported file.
   • BUG-000164177: Database Views show SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE Privileges in the Data Source properties
   • BUG-000164343: ArcGIS Pro 3.2 - The field name in attribute table does not update after applying SQL expression when creating database view in File Geodatabase
   • BUG-000164295: Sorting a field removes rows from an attribute table with a one-to-many join between a feature class and a standalone table in a mobile geodatabase.
   • BUG-000164393: The Add Spatial Join tool returns ERROR 000728 when applied to a feature class stored in a Mobile Geodatabase or EGDB
   • BUG-000164420: Database View created in file geodatabase with Join definition does not create the required duplicate fields
   • BUG-000164429: When creating a database view, using a cast function in the where clause results in an error
   • BUG-000164631: Attribute indexes generated on fields participating in an inner join for the creation of a file geodatabase database view
   • BUG-000164707: In ArcGIS Pro 3.2, there are some geoprocessing tools (such as "Make Feature Layer" or "Make Table View") that have a parameter with a note saying "This parameter is not used". This parameter does not cause any direct issues, however it is confusing and counter-intuitive to clients.
   • BUG-000164755: The field is not populated when CAST is used with a file geodatabase with "Create Database View"
   • BUG-000164759 - The "Make Table View" tool output doesn't include a Query section in the Table Properties if the Input table is an unregistered table picked via the Folder Icon.
   • BUG-000165217 - When a relate exists between a table and a query layer with a composite key joined to another table, related records are not displayed if the query layer name contains a space.
   • BUG-000166125: ArcGIS Pro 3.2.2 - Make Query Table Tool joining all tables despite selected records
   • BUG-000167214: Attribute Indexes in a Mobile Geodatabase reappear after deletion in ArcGIS Pro.
   • BUG-000167373: Query Layer with WHERE clause does not show full query in Diagnostic Monitor
   • BUG-000167456: Copying or exporting a feature class into a non-EGDB Oracle Database results in long integer fields being displaying as Big Integer in the Fields View
   • BUG-000167563: Join with definition query doesn't export the correct number of records, instead it exports all the records.
   • BUG-000167610 - The Create Unregistered Feature Class geoprocessing tool does not honor settings like Geometry Type, Has M, Has Z, or Spatial Reference while creating the output.
   • BUG-000167752: Misleading error message returned by Copy tool when only the path the to GDB is input without a feature class name.
   • BUG-000167802: ArcGIS Pro - Can't copy text from geoprocessing input parameter using right-click menu.
   • BUG-000167962: ArcGIS Pro 3.3 - Wrong context menu options displayed for standalone table in contents pane.
   • BUG-000168565 - The Find Identical geoprocessing tool auto-populates the Output Dataset name with the data owner name instead of the feature class name when the Input Dataset is picked from the drop-down of the layer list from the map.
   • BUG-000168914: Error "The SQL expression has invalid syntax" is encountered when a subquery is used on an unregistered table, query layer, or unregistered database view.
   • BUG-000169056: “ERROR 000358 DBMS table not found[ORA-04043: object xyzx.xyzxy does not exist]” is encountered when using "Make Aggregation Query Layer" tool with Oracle geodatabase.
   • BUG-000169250 - The Make Aggregation Query Layer geoprocessing tool does not recognize 64-bit Object ID (bigint) as a unique identifier.
   • BUG-000169342: In ArcGIS Pro when a join is created between two query layers where the second query layers was copy/pasted from the first query layer, there is no reference to the second query in the join properties.
   • BUG-000170076: Unable to alter the Alias of a field for a registered View via the Fields menu in ArcGIS Pro
   • BUG-000170416 - The Assign Domain To Field tool fails with "ERROR 000499: table is not editable" while working on views registered with the file geodatabase.
   • BUG-000170482: When running the Spatial Join tool in Pro, the output feature class name defaults to include the data owner, not the feature class name.
   • BUG-000170592: ArcGIS Pro's DRA function is highlighted as enabled for raster symbology that does not support DRA.
   • BUG-000170631: Tables in mobile geodatabase cannot perform one-to-many joins using Add Join geoprocessing tool in ArcGIS Pro.

When I google those bug report numbers, I don't get many hits.

Question: Why aren't those kinds of bug reports publicly available? 

• For people who are googling issues online.
• For people who don't have access to their organization's My Esri account.
  • Often, only IT staff at an organization have access to their organization's My Esri account. There are lots of Esri users like me who work in departments other than IT and, therefore don't have access.

Thanks.

[survey123_solutions]

Chrisian, thanks so much for the feedback.  It's happened to me numerous times where I have actually had to send the Bug to the person at Tech Support that was trying to help me for days and weeks- when I learned of the bug myself - but they still did not know about it.  It should be communicated.   It should be on the very page that user is using.  Right now a bug that was found after months of me using the Survey123 Feature Reports too (and banging head against wall), "then" had to use our "company credits" to pay for "professional services" - where I provided just about everything, after all i had months of work into this, i provided all of the templates I had created with a simple request - why do the filters that are "visible" on the computer window "not the same" as the filters that generate in the PDF that is exported? It was absolutely maddening!   That is when I find out-

1- That there is a bug associated with that - wonderful!
2- That the report template workaround that was suggested -- was a 38 page Microsoft Word Template that crashes my machine every time I try to edit it.  

That is only ONE of many scenarios. That I can go into.

It's just not right.  In my 25 years of developing apps across so many platforms with so many companies, I've never come across a company that operates like this.   And again, I'm a huge fan of GIS, love some of the people that I've worked with, but the sheer lack of support online, allowing the paying customers to go crazy, then telling them that they need to pay for professional services to figure out a workaround to the defective platform that Esri is charging us for... is quite frustrating to say the least.   I do love the world of GIS though!

[survey123_solutions]

I just wanted to share the bug that I am referring to above (who knows, this may cause a bit more urgency) - This is it
https://support.esri.com/en-us/bug/generating-reports-from-the-arcgis-survey123-web-design-bug-00014...

And when we looked at it August 2023, it was not actively being worked on.   For a system that is supposed to be used for Feature Reports?  How is that?  We had issued 200 licenses for users to begin using the Survey that was developed, then "needed" to generate those reports- and then this!  So I am "now" on the "ArcGIS Pro" Reports journey - while allowing my users to use the 38 page Feature Report Template temporarily.   Very frustrating.   Praying that ArcGIS Pro Reports are a bit more user friendly, while the last week of working on them has not been so, but I am holding out hope. 

[BranislavBlagojevic]

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case; Attribute Driven Symbology BUG-000104316 was discovered back in April 2017 (BUG-000104316: The attribute-driven symbology assigned to features .. (esri.com)) and he is still not resolved!!! Elementary cartography...really poor!

[ChristianWells]

@Bud, thank you for the reminder. 

Digging into this, I found that any time a bug is modified or edited, including when a product team changes the fields for the latest version reproduced, the bug is taken offline immediately. Then it has to be republished by our copy editing team. 

I acknowledge this is not a good experience, and the web team has it on their backlog to ensure bugs persist until they are explicitly republished. 

[wayfaringrob]

I totally agree. With the sheer volume of bugs found in Esri software and the onerous technical support process, it should be much, much easier for users to not only report but to find information about existing bugs, updates, and workarounds that may pertain to them. This would save people a lot of hassle in trying to diagnose or wasting time with redundant tech support calls that go nowhere. (Or, as many young users do, in my experience -- not bother with any of that and eventually walk away from GIS). They need a Communities site for bug reports similar to Microsoft's feedback hub. There needs to be more transparency, and more accountability for actually fixing what often feels like beta software. There is no reason a private multibillion dollar corporation cannot hire the resources to at least human test things for basic functionality before release and to address issues and feature requests rapidly.

[RyanUthoff]

I 100% agree with this. I've seen several threads on geonet where Esri employees say to log a bug with Esri support. I'm not sure if Esri employees have actually interacted with Esri support, but that is often easier said than done. On average, I have to wait 3-5 days for the assigned support analyst to reply back to me anytime I reply back to their email containing questions. I've also been ghosted by Esri support when we schedule a call to review the issue.

Finally, when I can finally get support to reproduce my issue, the bug sits in the Esri backlog for months and months, if not longer, before most likely being marked as "Not in current product plan." I had to create an ArcGIS Idea for Esri to change their documentation to explicitly list why a tool would fail under certain conditions. Luckily, that post got Esri to change their mind and actually address the issue. But having to jump through all these hoops just to submit bug reports (that might have already been submitted in the past) is ridiculous. 

[wayfaringrob]

Right. I have had numerous problems with support not showing up on the zoom call or not calling when they said they would. Or they call around the clock as if you are holding them up. The burden is always on the user to identify the cause of the issue. If you can't figure out how to reproduce the bug, they waste your time suggesting you try the same workarounds you've already tried and act like they can't do anything about it. This is why I don't report bugs anymore. It was way too much work and often ended with no resolution. So I post things as ideas, but then Esri complains that oh, you can't post that here. Fine! Won't post at all then. You'd think they'd be interested in doing something about their poor reputation for bugs and crashes...

[Bud]

I am finding that I could spend all day every day reporting new bugs to Esri. My organization pays a lot of money for this software, and here I am, essentially being an employee of Esri as a tester, except we're paying Esri, they're not paying me. 

This can't continue.

Edit: I understand that Esri's business model is to deploy rapidly and fix later. But I feel we are at a breaking point. Esri needs to invest more in testing and bug fixing. Otherwise, customers will find the software too problematic and borderline unusable. Example: Is ArcGIS Pro the right tool for tabular/join-based geodatabase analysis?  In that case, we couldn't use ArcGIS Pro due to bugs, and had to use Excel instead.

[wayfaringrob]

I completely agree. There is more tone policing than action. Sick of it.

[RyanUthoff]

What's disappointing is the sheer amount of bugs Esri must have in their software. You're just one person. I'm one person. And think about the number of bugs we, as individual people, have submitted. Then let's add up all of the other users of Esri's software and think about the amount of bugs that must be getting submitted.

The fact that my bug was first introduced in 10.9.1 and first logged on September 8, 2022 and sat in Esri's bug queue for 1.5 YEARS before finally being addressed and fixed in 11.4 (which will be over 2 years since the bug was first logged by the time 11.4 is released), should be enough to say how big Esri's bug backlog is. Or alternatively, how under-staffed Esri's bug fixing department is. Completely unacceptable and disappointing.