Geoprocessing results history empty

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03-03-2017 03:30 AM
DataOfficer
Occasional Contributor III

Hello,

I am trying to retrace the settings that my predecessor used when running a tool (Linkage Mapper 1.0.9) for a species population connectivity exercise so that I can recreate these steps for a follow-on study. 

I have found his original ArcMap document with all the relevant outputs, and have tried to view his tool execution history via the Geoprocessing > Results window. For some reason, the only information that seems to have been logged are tools that have failed to execute under the 'Previous session' dropdown menu (see screenshot attached).

The  'Log geoprocessing operations to a log file' and 'Add results of geoprocessing operations to the display' options are both ticked. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to recover the results history? Is there another way of tracing which settings were used for a particular tool in the ArcToolbox? 

Thank you very much!

Arne 

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6 Replies
DanPatterson_Retired
MVP Emeritus

Did you check the location where the previous users' history would have been saved? since your location might be different even though the project is the same ... check the reference http://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/latest/analyze/executing-tools/history-log-files.htm

DataOfficer
Occasional Contributor III

Hi Dan,

Thanks for your reply. I opened the document from its original location where all of the previous user's history has been saved, but the results history shows only what I've described/screenshotted. I will try finding the original log files next, maybe that will help (although I would rather view everything through the Results window as this is much more intuitive!). 

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ChrisDonohue__GISP
MVP Alum

Besides what Dan Patterson  mentioned about checking the geoprocessing logs, one can also check the metadata.

Each geoprocessing tool that creates new output data or updates the input data will add metadata about the execution of the geoprocessing tool, which includes the tool name, its location, and the parameters used

ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2) - Viewing Tool Execution History.  Scroll down to the section "Geoprocessing History in Metadata"

Chris Donohue, GISP

RebeccaStrauch__GISP
MVP Emeritus

Just to add to Chris' comment, chances are unless it was recent that the tools were run, the GP history probably has been cleared. 

From a production/usage perspective, you don't want to keep to much of the history in a document, since each time you open/close the doc, that information is read/written from/to disk.  That can make opening and closing mxd and Catalog seem like it takes forever, but clearing it then closing and opening the same can significantly speed things up.  So, if a user doesn't manually clear it out, it's good to have a "save for 2-weeks" for example. 

Unless it is less than that time, or they had "keep forever", chances are the GP history is lost (I'm assuming it has been longer than 2-weeks, or you would just ask the other user).  The metadata my be your only option for trying to re-construct the process.

DataOfficer
Occasional Contributor III

Thank you Rebecca, that's very useful to know. I didn't know the GP history would be cleared automatically after a certain time!

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DanPatterson_Retired
MVP Emeritus

Lots of tips in the Geoprocessing options

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