Can someone please tell me if PostgreSQL/PostGIS (or any SQL RDMS) can be used on file geodatabases (rather than on SDE databases) with ArcGIS Pro 3.x? I just started a new position and have an ArcGIS Professional Basic license, which doesn't include use of SDE. I'd like to work with my GIS data in a RDMS but have never tried with file geodatabases before.
You can actually load the data without an enterprise geodatabase license, but the Basic license seat makes the process much more difficult (i.e., generate SQL on the fly to execute in the database through a cursor). However, you cannot use geodatabase relationships in PostgreSQL via ArcGIS without an EGDB.
Note that there are no longer any "SDE databases". The RDBMS has managed the data directly since SDE 3.0, and the SDE API was subsumed into enterprise geodatabase methods in ArcObjects (and ArcPy) long ago (and deprecated at 10.2.2, and removed at 10.3).
File Geodatabases are not Enterprise Geodatabases and do not support all the functionality that is only available with Enterprise Geodatabases using RDBMS supported software with ArcGIS.
We setup the Enterprise Geodatabase ArcSDE Repository in a supported RDBMS software like Oracle, SQL Server and PostgreSQL.
Then you can copy your data from the File Geodatabase to the Enterprise Geodatabase.
In order to create Enterprise Geodatabases, you need to have an ArcGIS Server License, even if you do not plan to use ArcGIS Server, the license file has the authorization key to be able to create the Enterprise Geodatabase ArcSDE Repository in a supported RDBMS.
You can use PostgreSQL Enterprise ArcSDE Geodatabase with the Esri ST_GEOMETRY Spatial Type or with the PostGIS Spatial Type to store the data.
For best practices on how to setup the Enterprise PostgreSQL Geodatabase visit my community.esri.com blog below and look for the database guide books and database template scripts for Production Mapping.
| Marcelo Marques | Principal Product Engineer | Esri | | Cloud & Database Administrator | OCP - Oracle Certified Professional | I work with Enterprise Geodatabases since 1997. “ I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them." Isaac Isimov
Thanks for your reply. I do not need all of the functionality of an enterprise geodatabase. We will eventually want to do that in the future, but not right now. Our current licensing doesn't cover SDE yet either. Is it possible to work with file geodatabases in a RDBMS (e.g. PostgreSQL, SQL Server Express, etc.), even if there is limited functionality? No need for version control right now, just table relationships, views, SQL and spatial SQL queries, etc.
No, you cannot use File Geodatabase in RDBMS. Those are 2 things that are completely different. You need the ArcSDE license in order to create the Enterprise Geodatabase ArcSDE Repository in a supported RDBMS for ArcGIS, and then load the data from the File Geodatabase into the Enterprise ArcSDE Geodatabase.
| Marcelo Marques | Principal Product Engineer | Esri | | Cloud & Database Administrator | OCP - Oracle Certified Professional | I work with Enterprise Geodatabases since 1997. “ I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them." Isaac Isimov
To clarify, I do not necessarily need to keep the data in the file geodatabase, but I would like to be able to import the file geodatabase into PostgreSQL/PostGIS so that I can then create relationships and query the data in the RDBMS. I've done this before in the past but it's been about 6 years and I'm not sure if anything has changed.
@NSamu_LOSRC - if you want to load the File Geodatabase data into a PostgreSQL PostGIS database without having to use an Enterprise ArcSDE Geodatabase Repository then you will need to use a tool like FME Workbench from Safe Software to be able to load the data, then you can use ArcGIS Pro Query Layers to access the data.
| Marcelo Marques | Principal Product Engineer | Esri | | Cloud & Database Administrator | OCP - Oracle Certified Professional | I work with Enterprise Geodatabases since 1997. “ I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them." Isaac Isimov
You can actually load the data without an enterprise geodatabase license, but the Basic license seat makes the process much more difficult (i.e., generate SQL on the fly to execute in the database through a cursor). However, you cannot use geodatabase relationships in PostgreSQL via ArcGIS without an EGDB.
Note that there are no longer any "SDE databases". The RDBMS has managed the data directly since SDE 3.0, and the SDE API was subsumed into enterprise geodatabase methods in ArcObjects (and ArcPy) long ago (and deprecated at 10.2.2, and removed at 10.3).
Thank you, I thought it should be possible, but I know things are always changing. Can you please clarify a little more how loading the data into a RDBMS with a basic license is more difficult?
