Re-Organization question

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06-12-2015 01:29 PM
KristenHook
New Contributor II

So I just got hired as the only planner in years to have GIS training in my local planning office.  The GIS folders on the sever are a mess.  I'm trying to re organize the system before I start major projects.  My biggest issue is that if i start moving shape files around the ArcMap files will lose the data and i will have to spend forever reconnecting each layer.  Is there anyway around this issue?

Thank you

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RebeccaStrauch__GISP
MVP Emeritus

Short answer, yes there is an easier way. I have a program wriitten to do just that for my many broken links....it will work easier for yours.  I'm out if the office this week but can send you a preliminary addin ne t week with some explanation.  i need to handle many data formats, and each needs to be handled a little differently (tables, rasters, ArcSDE...ETC) which is overkill for you.

But, besides reorganizing, once you gave that done, I would create a file geodatabbases (fgdb) for each group, or however you want to organize it, then import the shapes into the gdb.  You can then fix the projects with the shapes to get up and running and make sure things are correct.  But long term you can then change them to point to the fgdb once my program is ready.

THe programs will use the "walk" feature so it can process all mxd in a folder and sub folders, and will be able to read in a comma delimited (csv) file to read in old paths, new paths .... And old format, new format.

if it is just changing paths to shapes only, the process can be pretty straightforward, so if you can't wait until next week, others can help with the walk thru folders.  And if you search geonet, there are many threads for replace Workspace, etc.   here is the help page

ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2)

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DanPatterson_Retired
MVP Emeritus

wow...don't move anything unless you have relative paths set in each project...then you would have to move the project and the shapefiles with the same folder/path structure to a new location.  This is easy if you are moving a folder and its subfolders to a new location, but if you want to consolidate shapefiles in a new location relative to the project(s) you will have to rebuild the projects by re-establishing paths.  Not too onerous unless you decide to do something drastic.  Perhaps you might want to provide a current structure and indicate what you want to do before code suggestions are put forward

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KristenHook
New Contributor II

Currently I decided to make a complete second GIS folder on our server and just called it GIS 2. There Ive been creating copy's of all the Shape files from the old system and placing them into more recognized folders.  For example a data set containing all the rivers for NYS was stuck in various folders multiple times in the old system. In my new folder I have it once under NYS data.  My only plan at the moment is to re-link all the Map-projects to the correctly organized files and then delete the old data but its a startlingly large task.

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RebeccaStrauch__GISP
MVP Emeritus

Hi Kristen,  make sure you compare at least a couple of the river data sets to make sure they are equivalent....same name unfortunately doesn't always mean same data....especially if the GIS system has been around for years.  Minor tweaks may have been done in a copy for a particular project ....at least that has been my experience.   But you will have to weigh how much any tweaks may be worth (time to investigate) vs putting the latest and greatest in and dealing with it in the future, if and when you ever need the project again.

versions of data....especially when it comes to formats like shape files can be a pain, even if there is one person dealing with it.  Trying to deal with projects others have worked on is a challenge, but in the long run, cleaning up you structure like you are doing is well worth it.​

KristenHook
New Contributor II

Thanks Rebecca,

So in your opinion there no other way around this?  I'm not the most experienced user, particularly when it comes to data management.  In fact, your comment below went slightly over my head.  But I keep wondering if there's any way to speed up the process.  I've already pointed to the same boundary file (that is commonly used) about a dozen times in various projects.  Is there anyway to 'teach' ArcMap the new location and then send that to all the mxds files?

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RebeccaStrauch__GISP
MVP Emeritus

Short answer, yes there is an easier way. I have a program wriitten to do just that for my many broken links....it will work easier for yours.  I'm out if the office this week but can send you a preliminary addin ne t week with some explanation.  i need to handle many data formats, and each needs to be handled a little differently (tables, rasters, ArcSDE...ETC) which is overkill for you.

But, besides reorganizing, once you gave that done, I would create a file geodatabbases (fgdb) for each group, or however you want to organize it, then import the shapes into the gdb.  You can then fix the projects with the shapes to get up and running and make sure things are correct.  But long term you can then change them to point to the fgdb once my program is ready.

THe programs will use the "walk" feature so it can process all mxd in a folder and sub folders, and will be able to read in a comma delimited (csv) file to read in old paths, new paths .... And old format, new format.

if it is just changing paths to shapes only, the process can be pretty straightforward, so if you can't wait until next week, others can help with the walk thru folders.  And if you search geonet, there are many threads for replace Workspace, etc.   here is the help page

ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2)

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KristenHook
New Contributor II

Thank You!

Ill try to get a simplified version of what your doing up and running.  Ill check back next Monday if It fails but hopefully not considering the file mess is simpler then yours

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RebeccaStrauch__GISP
MVP Emeritus

Hi Kristen, I'm back in the office but working thru a few end of reg year deadlines this before getting back on my project.  I was wondering how your project was coming along.  I "followed" you on Geonet, so if you want to follow me and send me a direct message, I can see if I can explain what I have that might help you.  It may get too much for this list until I have things cleaned up some.  It's been a process for me to make exceptions for all the different types of data I have.  Your stuff may be much simpler.

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SepheFox
Frequent Contributor

Can someone move this question to Managing Data​?

DanPatterson_Retired
MVP Emeritus

Dont' know who runs this but if it is a private group, the owner will have to​

EDIT

It is an open user group so either the owners of the group or the original poster has permissions to do so, it is out of the hands of Moderators.