PROBLEM

Potential memory errors occur when background processing large files in Microsoft Excel or Access formats

Last Published: April 26, 2020

Description

Business Analyst Desktop 10.3.1 may return a memory error when processing large input files in either Microsoft Excel or Access .mdb formats. This is an intermittent issue and input file size triggering the error varies by machine.

Cause

Excel and Access .mdb file types do not work in ArcGIS 64-bit background geoprocessing. Therefore, these files are processed in the foreground, which limits the amount of RAM that can be allotted to the operation.

Solution or Workaround

Export the Excel or Access .mdb file into a format compatible with 64-bit geoprocessing. Doing so eliminates the memory error, as additional RAM can be partitioned to the operation.

There are many methods of changing input file types within Business Analyst Desktop, as well as several acceptable file types. The approach described below involves exporting the file in question to a new File Geodatabase, which is an Esri native file type.

  1. Import the source table (Access .mdb or Excel file) to Business Analyst Desktop.
    To do so, click the 'Add Data' button, navigate to the folder location of the table, and select the source table. Click Add.

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  2. In the Table of Contents, highlight the source table, right-click, and select Data > Export from the menu.

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  3. In the Export Data dialog window, click the Browse folder icon next to 'Output Table:' and identify a folder location to save the exported table.

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  4. Once the desired output folder is located, click the 'New File Geodatabase' button in the Saving Data dialog.
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    Enter a name for the new file geodatabase.
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  5. The exported table can now be added to the file geodatabase by double-clicking the newly created file geodatabase, which has a file extension of '.gdb.' Give the new table a meaningful name. Click Save.
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    Once these steps are completed, the new table can be navigated to and used efficiently within any Business Analyst operation.

Article ID:000012665

Software:
  • ArcGIS Business Analyst Desktop

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