Treat file geodatabases as files not folders in Win/File Explorer

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03-08-2019 06:37 AM
Status: Open
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JeffThomasILM
Occasional Contributor II

It would be nice if file geodatabases in Windows/File Explorer could be treated like "bundles" in macOS Finder: it is technically a folder but it's treated like a single file unless you invoke a special command to enter it like a folder. There are a few reasons this would be nice:

 

  1. There is nothing that should normally be edited or is even directly usable within a .gdb in File Explorer.
  2. It would keep FGDBs sorted with files rather than folders, where they tend to hide.
  3. It would mimic the presentation of FGDBs found in ArcCatalog.
    • Perhaps double-clicking a FGDB would launch ArcCatalog
    • Some other TBD action would open the FGDB like a folder, if you insist

 

There is probably more than one way this could be accomplished - some in Esri's control, some in Microsoft's. Neither company might be interested in fundamentally changing the functionality (if that's what it would require) of FGDBs or Explorer, respectively, to accomplish this. Nonetheless, it's something to consider.