If you’re using the Attribute Assistant, we need your help!

[MikeMillerGIS]

We’re doing some research into how the Attribute Assistant is being used. We’d like to see what rules you are using and how you configured your dynamic value table. 

This information will help us plan for the future. We want to know what are the most common rules.  We also want to see your gnarly and complicated rules to see how far the Attribute Assistant is being pushed.

So please share your dynamic value table along with any comments you have in this thread. We appreciate your help on this effort!

Thanks,

Mike

ArcGIS Solutions

PS: If you don’t know what the Attribute Assistant is (or aren’t sure if you are using it already) no worries.  You can learn more about Attribute Assistant on the ArcGIS Solution site here. 

[PascalVezina]

Good day,

We are using attribute assistant with the Parcel Fabric. Our most used methods are UPDATE_LINKED_RECORD and FIELD_TRIGGER. The normal behavior for UPDATE_LINKED_RECORD is to transfer the value from the parent to the child. We are using the attribute assistance to transfer the parcel fabric [Type] field from the parcels to the lines using this method. We've also modified the behavior for the UPDATE_LINKED_RECORD to allow a specific value like a NULL to be applied to the child when a parent record is updated. Here is the list of rules we are using currently…

[SheikhHafiz1]

Good day Pascal,

I was trying to use UPDATE_LINKED_RECORD but unfortunately I could not make it work. Might I ask for your help please?

I have two tables in the same geodatabase - "Manholes", which is a feature class and "Table", which is just a table. In "Manholes" among other fields there are GIS_ID and Address fields. In "Table" there are Business_ID and Address1 fields. GIS_ID and Business_ID fields contain same data. I will insert data into Address field and I want to update Address1 field with the help of UPDATE_LINKED_RECORD. This is what I did:

OBJECTID *	TableName	FieldName	ValueMethod	OnCreate	OnChange	OnManual	Comments	RuleWeight	OnChangeGeo	ValueInfo
2558	Manholes	ADDRESS	UPDATE_LINKED_RECORD	True	<Null>	True	<Null>	<Null>	<Null>	Table|Address1|GIS_ID|BusinessID

Might I request you to prepare the dynamic value table for me and attach here as an excel file or send me at sehafiz@gmail.com?

Thank you for your help.

Kind regards,

Hafiz

[MikeMillerGIS]

Can you turn on the log file and post what is being set in there?  What type of field are the ID fields?  What version of the AA are you using. 

Just for reference, here is the help of the method in discussion.

Attribute Assistant methods - Attribute Assistant | ArcGIS Solutions

[SheikhHafiz1]

Morning Michael,

Thank you for your quick reply.

Please get the log file (Loaded.txt) attached. Type of the fields are both

"String". I use alpha-numeric IDs. The version I am using is 6.26.2015.

I would be really happy to get help to make the "Update_Linked_Record"

working.

Thank you for your help.

Regards,

Hafiz

[MikeMillerGIS]

I will need the log file, not the config file.  In the config, change the following tag to true - AttributeAssistant_Debug

[CraigCarsley]

Hi Michael,

The largest application of Attribute Assistant here at Douglas County occurred during the creation of our county-wide Address Points layer.  I still use it regularly when updating both Address Points and Street Centerlines.

I tend to find the most value in Attribute Assistant's ability to drill down through multiple, spatial layers.

For example, when I change the geometry of an address point, Attribute Assistant runs rules that assign values for PIN, Municipality and ZIP Code.

Beyond Addresses and Streets, I fall back on Attribute Assistant occasionally for customized workflows.  I like the flexibility of the dynamic value table in applying value methods however I need them.  The ability to generate unique ids is a big deal, too.  Several of the departments we work with have expressed a need to do just that.

Anyway, I've also attached our Dynamic Value table for reference. Hope it's useful to someone!

[LeonS]

Hello,

I use it primarily for address/road centerline editing and the GENERATE_ID function where ever it makes sense.  I also find helpful for maintaining coordinate based unique IDs for buildings by using the coordinate methods and using the EXPRESSION method

I make use of  NEAREST_FEATURE and  INTERSECTING_FEATURE when editing things like signs, streetlights and poles.

On my to do list is to track just geometry changes on some of my data using AA.  Editor tracking will update the user and date on any type of edit.   Sometimes its helpful to distinguish the last edit on the geometry only.

- Leon

[ChrisBlinn1]

Every time we push out one of the Utility Editing templates we include the default AA functionality and rules.  Plus, we configure the Generate ID (with or without Grid), for most of the Facility ID fields.

If there was anything we would like to see in the future, it would be the ability to run the rules from the database, rather than a map document.  For instance, fields for last editor/date we don't typically use AA.  Many of our clients need these fields updated while editing data in a Feature Service, so AA comes up short for them.  I know the basic response to this has been look into GeoEvent Processor to leverage your AA rules in the web environment, which many of our clients have gone ahead and requested.  But if the rules could somehow work against the database like a trigger, rather than a plugin in the software, then that would be great.

[SSMIC3038]

Michael, I've been using this tool on the electrical distribution ArcFM side of things since shortly after it was made public and I absolutely love it, I only wish I had more time to keep finding more rules to apply to it.

I've put up a few support requests on this over the years and your team has always done a great job supporting and growing this tool, I pray ESRI never drops this tool.

One thing I'd love to see, we briefly discussed it once, is the ability to apply a work order number to a large number of features.

So, in AA I set a single value of "WO# = 12345", then any feature I create or modify and has the WO# field receives the value in AA. As I change WO's I just change the WO number in that one field in AA instead of applying it for each feature I add/edit or changing in all my relevant feature templates. So a single WO # can cascade to all the features I edit under that WO umbrella.

Hope that explanation made sense.

[MikeMillerGIS]

To set a value once and apply it to any new or created feature, I would use Last Value.  On the AA toolbar, you can open the last value table and set the WO number.  Then any new feature will get it.  To manage data in a WO, have you seen the Cascade Attribute rule?  We use it a lot for management of road names and a master street name table.  This might work for you.  If you have a WO table, you can tag features as part of that workorder and any change to that workorder table can push changes to related records.  Update Linked Record might also work. 

Thanks everyone for the tables, feedback and question, these are great!