Enable an Enterprise Geodatabase in an Azure SQL Managed Instance database using SQL Server Management Studio and ArcGIS Pro.

An ArcGIS Enterprise Geodatabase is a collection of geographic datasets of various types stored in a multi-user relational database such as Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, and PostgreSQL.

Several vendors, such as Microsoft and Amazon, offer cloud-based database services that are supported by ArcGIS, and you can create enterprise geodatabases in these database service offerings as well.

Can I edit data in a database not enabled as a geodatabase from ArcGIS Pro?

Organisations may have a requirement to work with data a database management system from ArcGIS Pro without enabling it as a geodatabase.

You can connect from ArcGIS Pro and work with the data in supported database management systems. Database management systems differ from each other in how they are implemented and the functionality they provide in ArcGIS.

Create an Enterprise Geodatabase in an Azure SQL Database using Azure Portal and SQL Server Management Studio.

An ArcGIS Enterprise Geodatabase is a collection of geographic datasets of various types stored in a multi-user relational database such as Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, and PostgreSQL.

Several vendors, such as Microsoft and Amazon, offer cloud-based database services that are supported by ArcGIS, and you can create enterprise geodatabases in these database service offerings as well.

Unable to edit a feature class not registered with the geodatabase

Enterprise geodatabases work with a variety of DBMS storage models and support native SQL spatial types for all supported database management systems. Third-party application or SQL can be used to create spatial or nonspatial tables in the database management system (DBMS) and you can view and query these datasets in ArcGIS Pro.

Attempting to edit these datasets in ArcGIS Pro does however result in the following error message: ‘No editable layers‘

Basic Enterprise Geodatabase Maintenance

So, you’ve got your new database set up by IT or your vendor, you create an Enterprise Geodatabase on top of it and you’re good to go! Not quite. There is a tendency for a gap to form between the maintenance tasks required for a RDBMS and a Geodatabase. Normally, the IT department will not be aware of the specific requirements of an Enterprise Geodatabase. Below are some key points to consider:

FAQ: Why is versioning a large feature dataset in Oracle slow?

Question
Why is versioning a feature dataset containing large amounts of data (e.g. a geometric network or parcel fabric) very slow in an Oracle geodatabase?

FAQ: How do you turn on verbose logging when connecting to an enterprise geodatabase?

Question

How do you turn on verbose logging in ArcGIS for Desktop when doing a direct connection to an enterprise geodatabase?

 

Is ArcSDE dead? Part II

The term ArcSDE/SDE is being gradually replaced with the term “Multiuser Geodatabase” and this is probably creating some confusion among the users of the ArcGIS platform. In order to understand the difference between ArcSDE and multiuser geodatabase, let’s start clarifying what is and what is not ArcSDE.

What is not ArcSDE:

ArcSDE is not a product. It’s a technology. In the same way ArcGIS is not a product, is a platform. Only prior to ArcGIS 9.2, ArcSDE was a standalone software product. At the ArcGIS 9.2 release, ArcSDE was integrated into both ArcGIS for Desktop and ArcGIS for Server.

ArcSDE is not only the application sever connection, a piece of software that packs the giomgr.exe and a gsrv.exe processes. This is a common mistake that I have mentioned in my previous post but from a more business perspective. I’ll try to do the same exercise now but from a technical perspective.

So, what is ArcSDE  – also called “the database enhanced with the ArcSDE technology” or simply the “ArcSDE geodatabase” or the “Multiuser geodatabase”?

Let’s answer this question step by step.

Is ArcSDE dead? Part I

This is a recurrent question in my geodatabase seminars.

“ArcSDE” is a concept that has always created some confusion, and part of the reason is, I think, due to how ArcSDE has evolved overtime.

I have seen that some users tend to associate the concept ArcSDE with the “application service connections” which has been deprecated in 10.3.  Sometimes, I see people mixing things up and ending up asking questions like, “Has Esri got rid of ArcSDE?”

It’s also common to see users asking in forums why they should use ArcSDE if there are many databases that support spatial data, multi-user editing, replication,  and even spatial functions, as one of colleagues here in the Melbourne office found the other day. The confusion comes from the terminology used:

• Do I get the same spatial capabilities using native database spatial data versus ArcSDE enhanced spatial databases – even when both use the same spatial data types – for example,  do I get the same capabilities using a MS SQLServer database using the Geometry spatial data type and a MS SQLServer ArcSDE enhanced database using Geometry spatial data type?
• Is it the same multiuser editing found in SQL Server or any other database and the multiuser editing available with ArcGIS?
• Is it the same “replication” functionality the one found in a database and the one we have with the Esri technology?

A short answer to all these questions is: – No, it is not the same.

Web AppBuilder: A new way of sharing data, maps and GIS processes

It’s always great to hear about new products emerging that allow users to be more productive and get results much faster than doing things in a traditional way.