Problems connecting to Feature tables (Ftables) from MS Access

[SteveKendrot]

Hello,

I am trying to connect to my ArcGIS 10.1 SQL geodatabase using MS access 2010 using an ODBC connection. I can link to feature class Base Tables in Access, but I cannot seem to find and link to the feature tables (F<layerID>) that store the geometry of the feature class (len in this case). I was able to do this previously in 10.0, but now cannot see any of the Ftables. The Ftables were not visible in SQL Server Mangement Studio either.

Can anyone provide some insight and/or workaround as to why these tables are not accessible.

Steve

[VinceAngelo]

If it's a newly created table, the default storage type may well be GEOMETRY,
in which case, there is no F table.  Instead, you can use an SQL function to
extract the property in the query.

- V

[SteveKendrot]

We converted the GDB when we moved to 10.1 so I'm not sure if it would be considered a newly created table or not. However, I notice that in the dbo_SDE_geometry_columns table, the g_table_name lists ftables, so based on that, I was looking for f15.

Unfortunately I am not fluent in SQL (thus my interest in using Access to query data) so am not sure how to follow your recommendation if the data is stored in a GEOMETRY table.

[AsrujitSengupta]

Steve,

The Default storage type for a SQL Server sde geodatabase has changed in 10.1. The default is "GEOMETRY" now, because of which the f-tables are no longer created for newly created/loaded data with "DEFAULT" storage type.

You can check the storage type of the layers in ArcCatalog.
RightClick on the Feature Class-->Properties-->General tab--> check the "Storage" details.

In case, the storage is "Geometry" and you need the f-table for your workflow, you'll have to reload the data and select the "SDEBINARY" as the storage type. This should create a corresponding f-table.

Regards,

[VinceAngelo]

Or you can hit the SQL-Server online documentation and discover the
STLength() method, which should be accessible via ODBC.

- V

[SteveKendrot]

Vince and Asrujit,

Thanks for your responses. The mystery is solved, now I just need to figure out the solution. Hopefully a mind meld with my team mates will get me beyond my coding skills barrier.

Steve