ArcMap tools not returning transactions

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09-21-2011 06:53 AM
SusanEnyedy-Goldner
New Contributor
Hello everyone,

I am new to using JTX and trying to set up a test environment. I cannot get the ArcMap Transaction tools to work and am calling on your expertise, I may be missing something obvious here.

I have set up workflow for a job step to smart-launch ArcMap. Once in ArcMap, I make a number feature edits, save, yet when I try to use either the Feature Inspector by clicking on the feature, or the Transaction Inspector, I get "no transactions found".

I believe I have correctly worked through the post-install to set up users and privileges, and registered the datasets I am editing with JTX for the GlobalID field.

Anything I else that I need to do?

I am not using versioning (editing the default database) and am using JTX 9.3.1 build 128 on a SQL Server database.

Thanks!
Sue Enyedy-Goldner
Halton Region
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4 Replies
BrianDemers
Esri Contributor
Hi Sue,

I believe that you'll need to have versioning and geodatabase archiving enabled on your geodatabase in order for the transaction/history tools to work.

When I've used them in the past, I would:

  1. Create an editing version with the "Create Version" step

  2. Make my data edits on that version

  3. Use the "Workflow Manager Custom Post" tool (briefly described here) to post these edits back to the default version.

If you have GDB archiving enabled, it's this custom post that links your job to that specific group of edits.  (...and you can't do a post unless you're doing versioned editing.)

One important clarification: you only want versioning/archiving enabled on your *data* tables and feature classes, not your Workflow Manager tables/FCs.

I hope that helps,

Brian D.
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BrianDemers
Esri Contributor
Hi Sue,

I don't recall all of the details about 9.3.1, but I'm fairly certain that you'll need to:

  1. Register your datasets as versioned

  2. Register your datasets with JTX (like you already did)

  3. Create an editing version for your job (you can use the "Create Version" step), and

  4. After making your edits, use the "JTX Custom Post" tool to promote your edits from your editing version to the default version

The custom post is what associates a job with a changeset in JTX (...and you can't do a post without having an editing version).  This association is what is used by the transaction tools.

I hope that helps,

Brian D.
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SusanEnyedy-Goldner
New Contributor
Thanks Brian,

I have followed your steps and been able to track the changes in the Transaction Inspector.

I am wondering if you could answer a few other questions. Our organization deals with large datasets and subsequently large number of edits/transacations.

Do the transacations remain indefinetely in the JTX transaction tables? Can they be "cleared" e.g. after a number of years, we don't care about the viewing/keeping older changes?

Is there an upgrade path from JTX 9.3.1 to 10? Can the jobs setup, transaction tables be migrated?
What about upgrading to a new the server - can the transactions be migrated?

I appreciate your help.
Sue
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BrianDemers
Esri Contributor
Susan,

From what I was told, the transaction information at JTX 9.3.1 is stored in the "JTX_TRANSACTIONS*" table(s).  I believe that date/time information is stored with these records, so you could certainly set up a script/scheduled task that deletes the rows from these tables that are older than a certain date.

When you upgrade your Workflow Manager database from 9.3.1 to 10, the post-installer will retain whatever information is in your transaction tables.  So this history will remain visible after the upgrade.

One thing to keep in mind: with Workflow Manager 10, the preferred way to track feature change history is through geodatabase archiving; have a look here.  If/when you switch to this approach, you'll now be able to use ArcMap's geodatabase archiving tools to view your feature history, but you'll still need to use the transaction tools to view the changes made in any "pre-archiving" jobs, if that makes sense.

Brian D.
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