Item Description launched from the ArcMap Table of Contents issue

[GregoryLehner]

In ArcGIS Desktop 10, launching the Item Description for a layer by right-clicking on it from the ArcMap Table of Contents > Data > Item Description does not work.Note: Launching the Item Description from the Catalog Window or ArcCatalog does work.

Use the following workaround to solve this issue:

1. Shut down ArcMap and ArcCatalog.
2. Download the following ZIP file: Data Source Item Description window.zip
3. Extract the .reg file located in the ZIP file to your hard drive or desktop
4. Double-click the Data Source Item Description window.reg file. This adds a registry setting that enables the functionality.
5. Open ArcMap.

The Item Description launched from the ArcMap Table of Contents > Data > Item Description will now work.

Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. Please leave any comments in the comment section below this blog post. NOTE: You must be logged in to your Esri Global Account to leave comments.

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- Jeff M., Desktop Development Lead - User Advocacy Group, Esri Support Services

[JulieWilliams]

I'm also having this issue on Windows 10 & using ArcMap version 10.4. The registry fix posted above did not work for me.

[JoeBryant1]

Instead of deleting or replacing the string in the registry (I have not found a zipped download of the default registry entry for the current versions of ArcMap), I just edited the "WindowsPos" string to be "0,0,0,0". This successfully caused the Item Description Window in ArcMap to open in the upper left hand corner of my main monitor.

For me on Windows 7 using ArcMap 10.4, this is located @ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\ESRI\Desktop10.4\ArcCatalog\Settings\DescriptionWindow

You can access the Registry Editor utility by typing "regedit" into your start menu. Start the executable, navigate to the folder for your version of ArcMap, double click the "REG_SZ" (string) file, and type "0,0,0,0".