GUID values aren't unique when add new feature?

[MKF62]

I have a feature class with a field set up as a GUID data type that cannot be null. When I'm in editing mode and add a new point to the map, the GUID is populated with an ID made up of entirely 0s and dashes, and if I add multiple points, they all have the same GUID. I don't understand why it's not creating unique IDs as that's kind of the whole purpose of the field. What's wrong here?

[MicahBabinski]

Hi Molly,

A couple questions/thoughts that might get you going:

• What kind of geodatabase are you using to store the data?
• What is the intended purpose of the GUID field (are you using it as a primary or foreign key to relate to another table or feature class)?
• Did you try creating an attribute index on the field with the "unique" option set? Add Attribute Index—Help | ArcGIS for Desktop 
• Would a GlobalID field be more appropriate? GlobalID - GIS Wiki | The GIS Encyclopedia 
• Would this widget in the production editing toolbar work for ya? Populating the GUID field—Help | ArcGIS Desktop 

Hope this helps!

Micah

[MKF62]

I've looked for the Production Editing toolbar and I do not have it available in ArcMap which is strange as we have an advanced license. It's not even under Customize Mode.

In my original question I was just testing this process with a file geodatabase as I can't get it to work in my enterprise geodatabase where I actually need it to work.

In the enterprise geodatabase, the GUID fields were not my doing as someone created this database before I got here and now that it's established in the production database which a bunch of web applications are built on top of, I have to stick with the current GUID system. My goal is to append records from a feature class to the enterprise geodatabase table which contains a non-nullable GUID field. Every time I try to do so (with the "Load Objects" button on the editor toolbar) the GUID field gets populated with the series of 0s and then fails because there cannot be more than one record with the same GUID (it keeps trying to add all the new features with the same GUID of 00000000-0000-0000-0000-0000000000000).

The table field names/data types are the same between the feature class I am trying to append and the existing feature class in the enterprise geodatabase. The only time I can get it to successfully load the features into the SDE feature class is if I populate the GUID field of the feature class I'm appending manually using Field Calculator before attempting to load it into the SDE feature class. Of course, when I use field calculator to populate the GUID field before loading the data in, there's a chance it will create a duplicate key to a record that already exists in the SDE feature class, thus not solving the issue.