Find the common field values between fields of two tables in ArcGIS Pro

Summary

In ArcGIS Pro, data from the common numbers and text fields can be joined to another layer or table. Comparing the data between the two tables can be used to discern patterns, and identify differences and similarities, preventing multiple entries of the same value. The Table Compare and Feature Compare tools are only used when the number of rows for both tables are equal. This article demonstrates the workflow to highlight the common fields between the two tables in ArcGIS Pro.

Procedure

1. Open the ArcGIS Pro project.
2. In the Contents pane, open the Attribute Table.
3. Right-click the layer in the Contents pane and select Join and Relates > Add Join.

4. Configure the parameters in the Add Join window.
   1. For Input Field, select from the drop-down the fields common to both tables.
   2. For Join Table, select the second table to be joined.
   3. For Join Field, select the field contained in the Join Table in Step 4(a).
   4. Check the Keep all input records check box. This option joins the data with all values intact. If only the common value is required, check the option and the resulting table contains only common values.
   5. Click Validate Join to determine if the tables have valid field names and Object ID fields to produce matching records.
   6. Click OK.

5. In the Attribute Table, click Select By Attributes.
6. Configure the parameters in the Select By Attributes window.
   1. For Input Rows, specify the join table.
   2. For Selection Type, choose how the selection is applied and what to do if a selection exists in the view. In this example, New selection is selected.
   3. Construct the Where clause. Select the input field in Step 4(a).
   4. Select is equal to.
   5. Click the drop-down and select Fields.
   6. Select the field specified in Step 4(c).
   7. Click Apply and OK to run the selection query.

Alternatively, the SQL query can be utilized.

<field_1> = <field_2>

7. In the Attribute Table, select Switch to view the selected switch roles.

The image below shows the common fields between the two tables highlighted.