[GIS] How to compare two Geodatabases

arcgis-10.1enterprise-geodatabasefile-geodatabasepostgresql

I would like to compare the data of two geodatabases, in SDE or a file geodatabase, to detect the changes occured between them , i've tried to compare the Xml workspace document of both databases using notepad++ "compare plugin" , but it's not easy to check and interpret the differences.

i'm looking for a better solution.

Best Answer

As stated by radouxju, the Feature Compare geoprocessing tool is your best option. It can be found in the ArcTools under Data Management > Data Comparison. Below is the tool's summary.

Compares two feature classes or layers and returns the comparison results. Feature Compare can report differences with geometry, tabular values, spatial reference, and field definitions.

The tool is available ArcGIS Desktop since version 9.2 and for all licence levels (i.e. basic, standard, and advanced).

Related Solutions

ArcObjects – How to Distinguish Between File and Personal Geodatabase Workspace

Once you have a reference to the workspace, you can use this function to find out what kind of data source it is. You can find a list of all workspace factory UID values here

Public Function GetCategory(ByVal pWorkspace As ESRI.ArcGIS.Geodatabase.IWorkspace) As String

    Dim sClassID As String
    sClassID = pWorkspace.WorkspaceFactory.GetClassID.Value

    Select Case sClassID
        Case "{DD48C96A-D92A-11D1-AA81-00C04FA33A15}" ' pGDB
            GetCategory = "Personal Geodatabase"

        Case "{71FE75F0-EA0C-4406-873E-B7D53748AE7E}" ' fGDB
            GetCategory = "File Geodatabase"          '

        Case "{D9B4FA40-D6D9-11D1-AA81-00C04FA33A15}" ' GDB
            GetCategory = "SDE Database"

        Case "{A06ADB96-D95C-11D1-AA81-00C04FA33A15}" ' Shape
            GetCategory = "Shapefile Workspace"

        Case "{34DAE34F-DBE2-409C-8F85-DDBB46138011}" ' SDC
            GetCategory = "SDC Workspace"

        Case "{1D887452-D9F2-11D1-AA81-00C04FA33A15}" ' Coverage
            GetCategory = "ArcInfo Coverage Workspace"

        Case "{7F2BC55C-B902-43D0-A566-AA47EA9FDA2C}" ' InMemory
            GetCategory = "InMemory Workspace"

        Case "{59158055-3171-11D2-AA94-00C04FA37849}" 'OLEDB Workspace
            GetCategory = "OLEDB Workspace"

        Case "{30F6F271-852B-4EE8-BD2D-099F51D6B238}" 'Excel Workspace
            GetCategory = "Excel Workspace"

        Case Else
            GetCategory = "Unknown Workspace Category"
    End Select
End Function

[GIS] Creating empty feature class in file geodatabase based on schema of ArcSDE feature class

Just use the CreateFeatureClass tool, passing the original feature class as the template argument. Grab the shape type from the Describe object of the input feature class.

Unlike the other answer, this won't copy a bunch of unnecessary records only to delete them right away.

import arcpy
arcpy.env.workspace= 'MyGDB.gdb'
fcs = arcpy.ListFeatureClasses()
output = "OutGDB.gdb"
for fc in fcs:
    geom = arcpy.Describe(fc).shapeType
    arcpy.CreateFeatureclass_management(output, fc, geom, fc, spatial_reference=fc)

UPDATE:

If you need to preserve domains/subtypes, then run Select_analysis using a generic where clause that will capture none of the records, like OBJECTID < 0:

import os, arcpy
arcpy.env.workspace= 'MyGDB.gdb'
fcs = arcpy.ListFeatureClasses()
output = "OutGDB.gdb"
wc = 'OBJECTID < 0'
for fc in fcs:
    fc_out = os.path.join(output, fc)
    arcpy.Select_analysis(fc, fc_out, wc)

This is far more efficient than copying all the records and then deleting them. I've yet to find an approach that will preserve editor tracking.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

ArcObjects – How to Distinguish Between File and Personal Geodatabase Workspace

[GIS] Creating empty feature class in file geodatabase based on schema of ArcSDE feature class

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