Parcel Fabric Line dimensions - Annotation? or Labels?

[CarolWickenheiser]

We would like to be able to reproduce plat data from our parcel fabric data.  Prior to moving the data to parcel fabric, we had a polygon feature for tax parcels and a parcel line feature which contained cogo attributes that had been edited to match plat data.  At one point during our conversion process, we had taken the parcel line feature class cogo attributes and turned them into points, then spatially joined the data to the new parcel fabric lines so that we could keep this bearing and distance data that corresponds to recorded plats and/or surveys.  We had to import parcels a few different times to get things just right, and in the last iteration of the process the attribute transfer step was not completed.  What is the best practice for keeping the attributes from the original data? Should I add fields to the parcel line portion of the parcel fabric, then use those to label the lines? Going forward, will the plat data that is entered stay with the cogo fields in the parcel fabric?  Should we use labels, or annotation, or feature-linked annotation to display parcel dimension? I was thinking that using the parcel fabric, the actual line length might vary from the platted line length, but the fabric would compensate for these differences and just allow the platted length to be displayed.  How is the land records model set up to handle this situation?

[JohnFell]

Carol,

Try reading page 18 of this whitepaper for help with your questions.

[TiffanyPuett]

Carol,

Regarding your question on whether to use anno or labels, it all depends.  Obviously, labeling would be the least labor-intensive; however, feature-linked anno would offer more flexibilty for "reproducing plat data" in the event that it would be used for printing.  It can be tricky to get everything set up exactly to work for every situation in the labeling engine but it can be done.

[AmirBar-Maor]

Hello Carol,
Using labels can save you a lot time
Using feature linked annotation saves you time if dimension values change and remove the annotation when a feature is deleted.
Using standard non linked annotations can potentially creates conflicts and requires a lot of maintenance.
You can read more about Labeling Parcel Lines With COGO Dimensions
Not many counties have good COGO they can use for labeling and have no choice but using legacy annotation for the old data.  New parcels can be identified and filtered (using the Layer--> Label --> SQL) and use labels. This is sometimes referred as the "Day Forward approach".
You can use the Maplex labeling engine (Maplex is part of ArcGIS Desktop 10.1) to always place the label in the middle of the line (50%).
Amir