Map or Layer to KML produces empty or non-symbolized output

[KeithD1]

Running ArcGIS 10.4.1

I have a map consisting of simple attribute tables which are joined to shapefiles, and symbolized. Extremely straightforward.

When I attempt to export to KML/KMZ to share with non-ESRI users, I encounter problems despite the tool generating a "success" message. I was wondering if there's an in-depth list of issues/bugs which I could consult in order to get this to work. I've successfully used the Layer to KML and Map to KML tools before, so there's something about this particular map that's causing problems, and if I knew what that was, I could resolve it and rerun the export successfully.

Here are a few details regarding the map:

• most layer names begin with a number and contain spaces and parentheses
• symbol type is "Simple Line" (solid colors)
• symbolization, for most of the layers, is by "unique values" by category
  • Categorized attributes are short text strings
  • All other values is disables or enabled, makes no difference
• the data-source for each layer is a shapefile (polylines)
  • all layers use the same shapefile
• the joined attribute tables are stored in an .xlsx file
  • each layer is joined with a different tab from the same Excel workbook
• the map document includes bookmarks

I really can't think of anything "controversial" or "difficult"...it's the general kind of map I've produced many times before.

A description of the problems:

These occur whether I run the Layer to KMZ against individual layers, or Map to KMZ against the .mxd. I have not taken the time to figure out which particular problem occurs when. Non-exhaustive.

• KMZ files are produced, but they have a file-size of 1KB (empty)
• KMZ files are produced, but the symbolization is missing (all lines are solid black)
• KMZ files are produced and file-size is >1KB, but most individual layers have nothing inside

I really have no clue what could be going wrong. In every case the tool runs and generates a "success" message. I've done this many times before, with similar kinds of maps, and have never had these problems, which is why I thought there might be a list of known issues/bugs/limitations  which I could cross-check against my situation, and potentially make some simple changes to the map to enable the tools to function properly.

Thanks for any feedback!

[JoeChampagne]

I'm probably really late to the party and this probably isn't the specific issue that you were having, but I just encountered a similar situation ('successful' Layer to KML run that produced an empty/1KB output). In my case, the shapefiles referenced by the layers I was trying to export didn't have projections defined. Once I set their projections and re-ran the tool the output looked as expected.

I hope this is helpful to anyone who stumbles on this post while trying to troubleshoot.

[KeithD1]

The party is still ongoing! I have mostly moved on from sharing layers using the KMZ format but ran into this issue again, and Google brought me back to my own post. Using ArcMap 10.7.1 now. 

I was able to resolve today's instance by exporting the layers having joins to feature classes before exporting to KMZ. Something about the KMZ export tool is incompatible with the way I was joining attribute tables to the layers, I guess. 

Soon I hope to switch to Pro and will see if the issue has been resolved there...

[RichardCrowley]

I hit a similar issue while migrating my ESRI license from old to new computer...  I have a map template with multiple grouped layers and custom formatting so did not want to lose it and start over.  After a bit of trouble shooting I found that having my layers stored as either SHP or in a file geodatabase seemed to work but that a personal geodatabase - even when started from scratch with consistent projections.  I was able to move all layers into a single file geodatabase and chance the layer source data and that seemed to resolve my problem.  

Not sure if this is helpful to others, but sharing as this worked as fix for me, and the inability to use the same KMZ template I have had for years on the old computer was driving me insane. 

[WesternMiner]

I had the same exporting an empty KML problem. Turns out I had the same shapefile loaded as two different layers in ArcMap.  Once I removed one so there was only a single instance of the shapefile as a layer the export worked no problem.  

[kboutiette_epsilon1]

For anyone still googling this.. I just had this issue exporting Map to KMZ, and removing the basemap from my MXD before converting fixed it!