Need help with One Solution CAD to ARC GIS PRO conversion and back.

[TIMOTHYEALER]

Good Morning,

We recently purchased ARC GIS pro to edit our One Solution CAD Maps (Geo Block has been depreciated). We need help understanding the workflow associated with converting the DBF files to shape files and converting them back for use in OS CAD proprietary map format.

Thank you!

Tim

[JoshSaad1]

How do you manage your GIS data?  You mentioned converting DBF files.  Do you keep your data in shapefiles or a geodatabase?

[TIMOTHYEALER]

Thanks for the quick response.

The Short Answer - It's complicated. We are a 911 center and we get map data (usually in the .SHP format) from different entities within the County. However, because there is substantial lag between the time a change is made to their map data and when it's sent to us in a shape file, we make changes locally first.  So, right now, the data is in .DBF format (Geo Data). We've tried converting .DBF data to .SHP format, but our GIS person needs some insight in how to manipulate the data once it's .SHP format. Once changes are made to the .SHP files, we still need to convert it back to Central Squares format.

I think understanding the workflow is the biggest hurdle.

Thank you!

Tim

[JoshSaad1 · Accepted solution]

I recommend managing your local data in a geodatabase, and that it uses the OneSoltuion CAD data schema.  You can automate importing and transforming the shapefiles from your other agencies into the geodatabase using a geoprocessing model.  And, if it's already in the OneSoltuion schema, you can just export to shapefiles to convert to CAD without additional transformation.

Geodatabases offer functionality that makes managing the data much easier, like versioning and archiving.  You can use either an Enterprise geodatabase in SQL, or store one (or more) locally as a file geodatabase, depending on whether you'll have multiple people editing the data simultaneously.

It still sounds tricky determining which features to use for CAD if you'll be editing the data outside of the authoritative sources.  You could add a 'source' field to the data that identifies which is which, and use some logic in the data export to determine which features to use.

[TIMOTHYEALER]

Thank you! I Added the files to the geodatabase. The next question is, how do I work with and display all that data?

Thanks again,

Tim

[JoshSaad1]

There are some online courses that Esri offers that can help you get started using ArcGIS Pro: ArcGIS Pro Fundamentals | Learning Plan (esri.com).  

Here are some tutorials on how to use Model Builder to automate your work: Work with Iterate Feature Classes—ArcGIS Pro | Documentation.

[TIMOTHYEALER]

Thank you!