Spatial Join Annotation Problem

[SeanGambrel]

I am having trouble spatially joining selected attributes of a polygon FC to an Annotation FC.  I am doing this so that I can use a Definition Query to control when annotation is displayed on certain polygons.

Both FC's (as well as the resulting FC) are located in the same File GDB.  The FC I am working on is a copy of a perfectly functional Annotation FC in the same File GDB.  The annotation is NOT feature-linked.  I am using 10.1.

The spatial join completes and attributes are correctly transferred from the source (polygon) to the target (Annotation), however there are two problems with the resulting Annotation FC: 
1)  Some of the attribute fields (Anno Class ID, Symbol ID) are lost in the join, resulting in a field of NULL values.
2)  Second, the Annotation will not display (though it IS there - it has rows on the attribute table and I can select in the map).
I have a feeling problem #1 is a result of problem #2.

No matter what I do, I cannot get the annotation to display.  I have populated the Anno Class ID and Symbol Class with valid values, no luck.  I have moved the target FC into a different GDB and re-run the join, no luck.  I have re-created the target FC from scratch in a separate GDB and re-run the spatial join, no luck.  I have tried symbol substitutions, no luck.  I have tried modifying the symbol in the "symbol collection", no luck.  I have changed the size of the symbol as well as the reference scale (just in case it was dsplaying but too small to see), no luck.        

Is there anything else I should be trying?  Is there anything I am missing?  Why won't my annotation display???

Thanks all!

[NobbirAhmed]

I would like to reproduce the issue on my machine. Could you please let me know whether you are using 10.1 Final or 10.1 with SP1?

[SeanGambrel]

Oh, right, SP1...  I was working on a new machine and I forgot to do SP1 when I did the install. 

Perhaps that is the problem.  I'll install the service pack and attempt the process again and let you know if I have any different results.

[SeanGambrel · Accepted solution]

Well, I installed 10.1 SP1, restarted and retried the Spatial Join. 

Now the Annotation Class and Symbol ID are retained in the target anno FC.  Unfortuantely the annotation only displays as little red bounding rectangles, no text at all. 

But then I found this forum post from nearly 10 years ago
http://forums.esri.com/Thread.asp?c=93&f=986&t=134588&mc=2#msgid389445
Followed its suggestions, and problem solved!

[NobbirAhmed]

Great! Thanks for updating the thread with the solution 🙂

[KristenGrady]

I am having this exact same issue (as described in the initial post). However, I am using ArcGIS 10.0 SP5. Is this something I'm not able to do in 10? The spatial join works, but then the annotation is not showing. It is selectable though. 

I tried to follow the advice in the link below from 2004, but I don't quite understand it. And in any case, my annotation is labels, not symbols, so I'm a bit confused how that translates.

Any help? Thanks!

[KristenGrady]

I wanted to post a reply to say that I found a workaround, for any one else who may stumble upon this thread. Since the spatial join did work, but then it wasn't able to display the annotation (and the original annotation worked fine, but lacked the field I needed to use it in a data driven pages page definition), I simply joined the field that resulted from the spatial join TO the original annotation. Then I was able to use it in a data driven pages page definition.