Why is it so hard to add and edit coded values to domains in ArcGIS Pro?

SFM_WillBrewer · ‎10-15-2019

Access to fields and domains has improved in ArcGIS Pro. However, one key function is still missing and some functionality was not carried over from ArcMap.

1. Loss of functionality - Pro automatically alphabetizes the domain list based on the domain code without warning after a code is added and the domain/field window closed out. It did not do this in ArcMap.

GOOD - Original Domain Order New Value Added BAD - Realphabatized Domain Order Ex -

This is undesirable because we want a specific domain order that puts the most highly used domain values higher on the pick list for an application like Collector. We do not want to use a 1,2,3,4 etc. coding system for domains because AGOL and ESRI products in general do a poor job allowing export domain descriptions instead of domain codes. We want to share a feature service from AGOL with partners and have allow to them to export a legible (excel, shp) dataset.

2. Missing Functionality - Why can we not manually reorder domain coded values in Pro? The 'Sort Coded Value Domain' tool needs more functionality besides just sort by ascending/descending. In the ESRI ecosystem the only way to do this is in AGOL. It should belong in Pro too.

Robert_LeClair · ‎10-15-2019

This is BUG-000098213 - Coded value domains are automatically sorted in ascending order of domain descriptions when accessing them through the attribute table in ArcGIS Pro. It's in the Product Plan to be fixed but don't know when.

SFM_WillBrewer · ‎10-15-2019

Are there any plans to allow the domain codes to be sorted in a custom order?

Robert_LeClair · ‎10-16-2019

Not sure about development plans for a custom sort order but I did find a possible workflow on the internal systems that may work for you. It basically exports the geodatabase out to an XML Workspace document first, then edit the XML workspace document using XML Notepad and import the XML Workspace document into a new geodatabase. Haven't tried it myself but would think it "could" work.

- Make sure that you save the changes in the XML. Before importing, close and reopen the XML and make sure the changes are permanent.
- Try to create a new blank geodatabase and import the data plus schema into that geodatabase.
- I'm not sure if this would make a difference but I did my editing in XML Notepad.
- Make sure the geodatabase and XML are both on your C:\ drive to make sure that you have write permissions.

ThomasColson · ‎10-17-2019

It does work!

/blogs/HackingArcSDE/2014/12/31/re-order-attribute-domain-values