ArcGIS 9.3.1, ArcInfo. I have some small file geodatabase and SDE featureclasses (few thousand records each, 50 columns) that I am doing attribute joins on. After the joins, drawing of the map is slowed down from sub-second to several seconds each time, sometimes more. Add in some definition queries that reference fields from the join and it's time to go get a cup of coffee while redrawing. Any ideas on why this happens? Anyone else ever experienced this?
[GIS] Why do simple joins on small datasets slow down ArcMap so badly
arcgis-9.3arcgis-desktopattribute-joinsenterprise-geodatabaseperformance
Best Answer
I regularly need to join to another depts featureclass: SDE featureclass with no indexes on anything.
Copying to a local file geodatabase + index builds really speeds things up.
Since it's temporary, I'll usually do this on a RAM disk http://t.co/EBTeOem.
Depending on your data, indexing fields that you use for symbolizing or fields used in the definition query can help.