Poked around a bit, it turns out a related issue has been around since ArcGIS 9.2!
Bug NIM048170 Synopsis Make Query Table Tool SQL Query Validation throws an error on valid query expressions when the expression contains a statement to set field in one table equal to a field in a second table. |
Supposedly it is "In Product Plan," they are just moving rrreeeaaallllyyyy ssslllooowwwlllyyy. I guess since ignoring the error works, they figure they have time.
Funny enough, a very similar bug was logged with ArcGIS 10.0!
Bug NIM096505 Synopsis The SQL query validation in the Make Query Table tool displays an error on valid query expressions. |
Oddly, this bug is still "New," which I guess makes some sense given they are still working on fixing the same bug in 9.2.
The problem, or a similar one, was logged again at ArcGIS 10.2.2. The response is such a doozy I have to include it all.
Bug NIM101930 Synopsis The Make Query Table tool does not correctly process data from file geodatabases. Additional Information This works correctly in the current development build. Note that the quotes around the field names in the join expression must be removed for this to work. So "FeatureClass.FeatureID" = "Table.TableID" must be FeatureClass.FeatureID = Table.TableID Alternate Solution 1. Migrate the data to a personal geodatabase. 2. Make sure to adjust the syntax of the expression to brackets. |
The status is "Not in Current Product Plan," which is a bit confusing to me, but maybe they don't plan on addressing it because it is already working in the "current development build," although we have no idea what build that is. My favorite suggestion is to copy data to a personal geodatabase, which we know the expression builder doesn't build valid expressions for. The user could put the brackets in themselves, just don't try to verify the syntax because you will get a bogus error message.
Because the issue still exists, and seems to be larger than just validating syntax, I opened another bug with Esri. Who knows, maybe fourth time will be a charm.
#BUG-000097508 The Query expression builder in the Make Query Table geoprocessing tool uses inconsistent delimiter syntax, throws inconsistent errors and leads to inconsistent results in 10.4.1 |
