Dear Esri community,
I'm currently working on a project that involves managing spatial data. I would like to know if there is a recommended approach for handling data versioning and effectively tracking changes over time. My goal is to maintain data integrity while still allowing for updates and modifications as needed.
I understand that data versioning can be a complex task, especially when dealing with large datasets and multiple users. Therefore, I would greatly appreciate any insights or best practices you can share regarding data versioning in Esri. Are there specific tools, workflows, or techniques that you have found effective in managing and tracking changes over time?
Additionally, I'm curious about any considerations or challenges to keep in mind while implementing data versioning in Esri. Are there any potential pitfalls or common mistakes that I should be aware of?
Thank you in advance for your expertise and guidance. Your assistance will be immensely valuable to me.
Thanks & Regards
Cecilia
There are several things to consider when creating versions for the data and database that you are working with.
So there isn't a "recommended" approach simply because the way your organization is set-up can have many factors as to how to create the versions that you need/want. One of the many ways that helps determining how to create the versions is figuring out the importance of the data that you are working with using something similar to the method below.
The other key thing is you don't want to setup your versioning in such a way that you have too many editing versions nor too little editing versions. Having too many could cause roadblocks and having to little could have errors creeping into the default version.
So lots to consider when wanting to create versions.
I am providing resources for you that can assist in what approach you may want to take.
Enterprise Data Management Strategies
Traditional Versioning Scenarios
Branch Versioning Scenarios
Geodatabase Administrations Tasks
-https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/help/data/geodatabases/overview/performing-geodatabase-adminstration-tasks-using-geoprocessing.htm
Tracking Archived Data
- https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/3.0/help/data/geodatabases/overview/enabling-archiving.htm
Hi @CeciliaCecilia! Adding to the above answers, you can also enable editor tracking on your feature classes. It automatically records information about any inserts and updates that are made. It maintains a record of the editor who created or modified the data and a timestamp of when the edit occurred.
Few more weblinks that could be helpful in future.
Versioning 101
https://www.esri.com/news/arcuser/0110/versioning101.html
Discover what version is dependent on a given state of the database
Why does the compression of states take so long for large state_lineages tables?
How does the state tree change during an edit session?
Compress a versioned database to state 0
https://support.esri.com/Technical-Article/000007896