Why is editing a table in ArcGIS Pro so hard?

RobCahalan · ‎04-12-2019

I am using ArcGIS Pro 2.3.2 and find it very frustrating and time consuming to edit tables. My first issue is that I can not rely that my edits to the table will be saved. I often will make an edit to an attribute, click out of the field and the record will turn <NULL>. This will happen sometimes even after I press save.

Second issues is that if I adjust the attribute width, the table will refresh. For example, if I am on record 800 and I adjust the attribute with, the table will reset back to record number 1....very frustrating and to the point that I switch back to ArcMap to make any table edits.

Third issue with table edits is the auto-sort. Is there a way to stop sorting? If I make an edit to a field that I have a sort set to, the table automatically re-sorts and throws off my spot in the table.

Forth and final issue...why does the table have to "Scan" while dragging the bar across a table to view off-window attributes...this makes it very difficult to make edits and look at tabular data.

I don't mean to whine in this note, I really like using Pro and I am using Pro approx. 60% over ArcMap but that last 40% is mainly due to making table edits.

KoryKramer · ‎07-02-2019

Hmm, are you hitting Enter to commit the last edit before saving?

https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/help/data/tables/keyboard-shortcuts-for-tables.htm

deleted-user-K9U1SzFzl3f7 · ‎07-02-2019

I haven't been hitting enter on the last row. I will from now on, and will report back.

Robert_LeClair · ‎07-02-2019

Brandon - in addition to Kory's comment, are you able to upgrade to AGP 2.4? There's been a lot of table editing enhancement completed in the latest version.

JoMoore__GISP · ‎07-10-2019

Being forced to edit in ArcPro has expanded my office use of really really foul words.

-Attribute table will not hold a custom sort and cannot be resorted without clearing the original custom sort putting it back in.

-there is no working Find in the attribute table (and yes, I have spent a stupid number of hours trying all the suggestions...)

-table tools stick to the ribbon instead of the table making things just that much more frustrating.

-right click will "occasionally" re-sort the table forcing a repeat of the first item on my list.

the list is endless and growing constantly... dandy if the "next" fix release is constantly available but only if your organization lets you upgrade...

PegGronemeyer1 · ‎10-02-2020

Jo Moore said "Being forced to edit in ArcPro has expanded my office [and home] use of really really foul words".

I could not agree more. and I feel your frustration.

But I would expand my use to pretty much everything in Pro. (Ever tried to seriously customize the ribbon?).

You make an excellent point about updating - some organizations/universities make it difficult, time consuming, and extremely frustrating, to actually GET the updates, fixes, new versions. Does ESRI not realize that? (that is a serious question....) Many organizations do not allow every GIS user to have access to updates, fixes, etc. You actually have to make a formal request through IT - some places do not have GIS support in house - and the update or fix can take a long, long time to be pushed through.

-Peg

Brownschuh · ‎07-17-2023

I know this thread is a few years old, but I figured I'd contribute my list of annoyances Mostly these are things that appear inconsistently, which is the worst when trying to do something straightforward and efficient like editing. Curve-balls aren't very fun when mass editing.

Updating a record that has blank values
If you double click on a blank record to update a value sometimes you are able to type away with no issue. Other times the first letter you type will not enter in the cell, forcing you to backspace and renter what you've already though you typed.

Copying and pasting attributes values
Copying and pasting from cell to cell is not consistent. Let's say you have 6 rows, the first row has the value you want and the ones below are null. Since there are only 5 values to enter, field calculator would be a waste of time. So I would simply copy the first record and manually paste using Ctrl-V the 5 below very quickly. A simple enough task in ArcMap. But it appears many times Pro has a hard time keeping up? And many times records will be left null but others populated. And it can be inconsistent which records remain null; sometimes you'll have just one and other instances you'll have many.

Deleting an existing attribute value
Double clicking on a record to delete existing text will sometimes highlight the text for a second and then un-highlight. Then you have to double click again. This doesn't happen every time, but it's annoying when it does exhibit this behavior.

For reference, I am running 3.0.3. And overall I enjoy using Pro, just the little things bug me, especially when I am having to essentially look over my work even more careful just on the off chance that something else went awry that I wasn't aware of ... Pro is giving me trust issues haha

agjackson1 · ‎11-05-2024

Thank you for this! We're on 3.2.2 and I don't think anything has improved since your post? I've only been out of the field and working on data for a few days and my wrist is already killing me from all of the extra clicking (and double-clicking, and triple-clicking...)! In ArcMap, I could just tab across a row, editing each field, then click a different row and be done. I saw in this post that I should be hitting "enter' - which I will do - but just to get a dang cell to ~activate so I can type in it takes multiple clicks when it used to take 1. Not to mention that I need to delete what was there first - it will occasionally select the entire contents of a cell, but I can't seem to predict when that will be. And ditto to the copy/paste frustration and missing the 1st letter I type.

One thing to add: Scrolling! I have 2 tables stacked so they're only showing 6-7 rows each, and scrolling *sometimes* skips over 5 records. So if ObjectID #501 is the last record showing at the bottom, one wheel click down will occasionally make #506 the first record showing at the top. I'm checking each line of data, so I need to see every single record. Now I have to constantly look at the #s on the left to make sure I'm not skipping anything, or use the arrow buttons, etc. instead of my mouse. Maybe it's a mouse issue - not sure. Frustrating though!

KARLGEBHARDT · ‎08-04-2023

I would agree that inconsistency is a big problem in lots of software. Has to do with jargon changes and interpretation on what makes things easy. Pretty sad when you have to re-learn a tool. I work in a bunch of different CAD and GIS and programming languages and it's a chore sometimes, and I'm old, been doing computer science stuff for over 40-years. Really good computer programmers rarely use the mouse, they know the shortcuts to speed up their work. Same should be true for GIS, but it seems to be going the other direction with three mouse clicks to accomplish something that should only take a left and a right. If you're searching for help on a command and now the command has changed from "appearance" to "feature" that can be very frustrating in a community-based help system, so consistent use of jargon is really important.