It says things like: 1. In the Catalog tree, connect to the database server that contains the geodatabase you want to compress. 2. Right-click the geodatabase you want to compress. 3. Choose Administration from the geodatabase context menu and click Compress Database.
I do 1 and 2, but the geodatabase context menu has no "Administration" submenu. How can I find it? I am using ArcEditor. I have connected to the gdb as an administrator (using SQL Server authentication), i.e. as a user whose login has the db owner role on the gdb.
We're using ArcGIS Server 9.3.1 and SQL Server 2005.
The PDF mentioned above says, "You must be an ArcSDE database server administrator or a geodatabase administrator to compress a geodatabase. The Compress Database function will be deactivated if you are not in one of these two roles."
I believe I am the gdb administrator; in any case, there is not even an Administration submenu, let alone a grayed-out "Compress Database" submenu item.
Can someone help me find this submenu?
Interestingly enough, if I right-click on one of the Feature Data Sets in the gdb I'm looking at, I do get a menu item "Analyze", which is similar to what I want to do; and I can run the Analyze operation without errors. Which suggests to me that I do have administrator privilege.
The "Administration" submenu you're looking for is only available when you right-click an ArcSDE geodatabase implemented on SQL Server Express (aka. Personal or Workgroup ArcSDE geodatabases, also collectively referred to as "Database Servers"). This functionality is available because ArcSDE geodatabases implemented on SQL Server Express were designed to be managed within ArcCatalog.
Based on what you've described, it sounds like you're working with an Enterprise ArcSDE geodatabase implemented on SQL Server 2005. In which case, some administration is performed within ArcCatalog (e.g., the Analyze option for feature datasets, stand-alone feature classes, and tables), and some is performed within the DBMS management tools. Connections in ArcCatalog to enterprise ArcSDE geodatabases do not have an "Administration" submenu option - so what you are seeing is expected.
Derek, Thanks for your reply. That does help me understand why I'm not finding the menu item.
SQL Server Express (aka. Personal or Workgroup ArcSDE geodatabases, also collectively referred to as "Database Servers")
OK. I've come across this very counterintuitive ArcGIS terminology before... SQL Server 2005 is not a "database server" but SQL Server Express is... Very misleading. I really wish documentation would say "Personal or Workgroup database server" if that's what they mean. It's like deciding that in my world, "computer" is going to mean "Mac" and I'm going to expect you to know that in every document I write.
Everywhere else that I know of, "database server" includes SQL Server non-Express, and indeed a "server" is *more* likely to mean a non-Express db instance, in contrast to a "desktop" db instance as SQL Server Express usually is.
I understand that terminology is sometimes established for historical reasons that are no longer applicable, or because of usage in a particular industry niche that stands in contrast to broader usage. But this one is a particularly difficult semantic distinction to discover and maintain in the light of what these words mean in the broader IT industry. I guess I will put a post-it note on my monitor: "In ArcGIS, database server = SQL Express" 😛
I had checked dbserver.pdf to verify that it applied to ArcSDE GDB's in general, not just SQL Server Express, and indeed early in the document ("How is ArcSDE technology included in ArcGIS?") it specifically talks about enterprise DBMS including SQL Server, and does not exclude that as a topic of the document. The document does not say that "database server" = SQL Express. If you happen to read the section "How to install SQL Server Express and enable geodatabase storage" (which I had no reason to do based on the heading), it says "... the SQL Server Express installation. This instance is referred to as a database server in ArcGIS Desktop," but it does not say that *only* a SQL Express instance is a "database server", nor that this meaning applies in ArcGIS Server. Chapter 6 talks about maintaining a gdb, and compressing a gdb, then switches to "Compressing a geodatabase on an ArcSDE database server" without saying anything to contrast this with an enterprise gdb. Even though I had an inkling that "database server" was at least sometimes used by ESRI to mean SQL Server Express, the document failed to confirm that it was making that distinction.
I'm not trying to shoot the messenger... you are probably not the one who decided on this terminology. But maybe if I express my frustration to enough messengers, ESRI will realize how confusing the usage is, and clarify documentation by making references to Personal and Workgroup database servers more explicit.
Based on what you've described, it sounds like you're working with an Enterprise ArcSDE geodatabase implemented on SQL Server 2005. In which case, some administration is performed within ArcCatalog (e.g., the Analyze option for feature datasets, stand-alone feature classes, and tables), and some is performed within the DBMS management tools. Connections in ArcCatalog to enterprise ArcSDE geodatabases do not have an "Administration" submenu option - so what you are seeing is expected.
Hope this helps,
I found the PDF I referred to above as a result of searching for ESRI documentation on how to perform administration on ArcSDE geodatabases on SQL Server 2005. Can you point me to more detailed information that pertains to enterprise gdb's? We have a query in an ArcGIS map service in production that used to be very fast, but is now unacceptably slow (15-30 seconds). I've tried Analyzing the FDSs/FCs/tables, but the query is still slow. I see there is a course on enterprise db tuning, e.g. for SQL Server, for several hundred dollars... is that my only recourse? On the non-ArcSDE tables we use, I can use SQL Server 2005's Database Engine Tuning Advisor; but in the case of ArcSDE tables, we have multiple interrelated tables (aNN, dNN, etc.) that would all affect the query. I hesitate to use DBMS tools that are ignorant of the interrelatedness of these tables, if there are ArcGIS tools available for this purpose. But maybe there aren't?
Thanks for any further pointers on how to compress or update statistics on an enterprise ArcSDE GDB.
You can customize ArcCatalog to add the Compress command to the context sensitive menu. Please see the topic "Adding the Compress command to ArcCatalog" at the following link:
Once you've customized ArcCatalog you can right click on your enterprise connection and use the Compress command. Alternatively, during customization, you can drag the command to a tool bar in ArcCatalog.
... I understand that terminology is sometimes established for historical reasons that are no longer applicable ...
This is exactly what happened from the ArcGIS 9.2 release to the current release.
... I'm not trying to shoot the messenger... you are probably not the one who decided on this terminology. But maybe if I express my frustration to enough messengers, ESRI will realize how confusing the usage is, and clarify documentation by making references to Personal and Workgroup database servers more explicit...
Thanks for understanding and I agree with you. 🙂
... I found the PDF I referred to above as a result of searching for ESRI documentation on how to perform administration on ArcSDE geodatabases on SQL Server 2005. Can you point me to more detailed information that pertains to enterprise gdb's? ...
Also, are you using a "regular" map service or an optimized map service? In other words, is the source file for your map service a .mxd file or a .msd file? The latter .msd file, which is an optimized map document is strongly recommended.
