BUG-000118927 for ArcGIS for Desktop

Bug ID Number	BUG-000118927
Submitted	December 19, 2018
Last Modified	June 5, 2024
Applies to	ArcGIS for Desktop
Version found	10.6.1
Operating System	Windows OS
Operating System Version	10.0 64 Bit
Status	Will Not Be Addressed

Additional Information

ArcMap and ArcCatalog are only aware of the basic Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Content Standard for Digital Spatial Metadata (CSDGM) metadata elements specified in the original standard, and not any additional elements such as taxonomy that are specified in extensions to the CSDGM standard such as the Biological profile. When metadata is edited and updated in ArcMap and ArcCatalog, the order of the XML elements stored in the item's metadata document are not explicitly preserved. This is a Microsoft limitation. For example, if the CSDGM standard specifies a group element contains 4 other elements a, b, c, d, those children elements must be presented in order of a, b, c, d. But, in ArcMap and ArcCatalog as the metadata is edited and updated, the children elements can be rearranged such as c, a, d, b. If the metadata document is processed this way by mp.exe, it generates error messages that the elements are out of order. Therefore, before exporting metadata using the geoprocessing tool, place the elements into the appropriate order so that mp.exe is happy with the document. The function that orders the elements does not know about extended elements defined in profiles of the CSDGM. When processing the item's metadata directly using mp.exe without the geoprocessing tool, users are lucky that the elements already exist in the correct order. Use mp.exe directly for the workflow instead of using the geoprocessing tool if it works for the user.

Workaround

Running this via the Command Prompt preserves the necessary <descgeog>Drew Test 2</descgeog> and <taxonomy> values.

Open Command Prompt.
Enter the following folder via the Command Prompt: C:\Program Files (x86)\ArcGIS\Desktop10.6\bin.
Once in the bin folder, call on the tool 'mp.exe'.
Enter the following parameters and change the file paths accordingly. The format is <input>, <output>, <configuration file>.
- With Configuration File: mp "E:\Backup Downloads\ShapefileTest.shp\ShapefileTest.shp.xml" -x "E:\Backup Downloads\ShapefileTest.shp\ShapefileTestOUTPUTMP.xml" -c "E:\Backup Downloads\FGDC_BDP_Prune.cfg"