HOW TO

Ensure backward client compatibility when registering a Date or Number(38) field type with the geodatabase

Last Published: September 18, 2024

Summary

With ArcGIS Pro 3.1 and older clients, a table that has a Date field type or Oracle NUMBER(38) is registered as Date field type and Long field type.

Starting with ArcGIS Pro 3.2 and newer clients, for unregistered tables, the Date field type will be read as High Precision Date by default. This change was made to allow underlying database tables that have always stored dates as high precision to now be correctly read and displayed in the client. Similarly, for Oracle unregistered tables, the Number(38) will be read as Big Integer by default since Number(38) can store 64-bit integer values.

When registering tables with a geodatabase from an ArcGIS Pro 3.2 or newer client, the following data type mapping is used by default:

  • Date field type will be read as High Precision Date
  • Oracle Number(38) will be read as Big Integer
Note:
Once registered with the High Precision Date and Big Integer field types, these tables will not be compatible with older clients. ArcGIS Pro 3.1 and earlier clients will receive an error “This version of the Geodatabase client is incompatible with the dataset and cannot open it”, when accessing geodatabase tables or feature classes that contain fields of the following data types: Date only, Time only, Timestamp offset, Big integer, or 64-bit object IDs.

Procedure

To ensure that ArcGIS Pro 3.1 and earlier clients can access a registered table with the Date or Number(38) field type, the following options are available:

  • Use an ArcGIS Pro 3.1 or earlier client to run the Register With Geodatabase tool
  • If using a 3.2.4/3.3 or later client, apply the following registry key prior to using the Register With Geodatabase tool
    • Create the following DWORD registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\ESRI\ArcGISPro\Geodatabase\Settings\FieldTypeCompatibility

Setting FieldTypeCompatibility=1, allows Date and Number(38) field types to be registered as Date and Long type, respectively. The resulting registered table can be accessed by earlier ArcGIS Pro clients.

When the tool runs successfully, a warning message with the following text will be displayed as a reminder that the registry key is enabled:

“The tool output will use supported data types for ArcGIS Pro 3.1 and earlier releases. Disable the registry key for the tool output to use supported data types for the current ArcGIS Pro release: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\ESRI\ArcGISPro\Geodatabase\Settings\FieldTypeCompatibility”

Article ID: 000032250

Software:
  • ArcGIS Pro

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