BUG

Drop-down combo box is not displayed when editing a field with a coded value domain through the Editor Attribute dialog box

Last Published: April 25, 2020

Description

After migrating to ArcGIS 9.2, the drop-down combo box is not displayed when editing a field with a coded value domain through the Editor Attribute dialog box.

Cause

The behavior of the Editor Attribute dialog box has changed with respect to the editing of fields with coded value domains at the subtypes level. To understand this behavior, it is important to differentiate between domains specified at the feature class and subtype levels.

Domains specified at the feature class level apply to all features in the feature class, whereas domains applied at the subtype level are specific to that particular subtype.

Prior to ArcGIS Desktop 9.2, given a field with a domain assigned at the feature class level, if the feature had a subtype and no domain was associated at the subtype level for the field, the Editor Attribute dialog box would use the domain for field set at the feature class level. This behavior could cause issues with the Attribute dialog box when multiple features in the feature class were selected.

At ArcGIS 9.2, the Editor Attribute dialog box always honors and uses the field properties at the subtype level, even if another domain is specified at the feature class level. If a domain is specified at the subtype level, the domain is used by the Attribute dialog box. If no domain is specified at the subtype level, the Attribute dialog box does not use a domain.

Workaround

There are two possible solutions to this issue. The decision on which solution to choose should be based on the number of subtypes and domains that are modeled within the feature class.

  • If you have a small number of domains and subtypes, associate the domains with the appropriate field with each subtype where applicable.
  • If the feature class contains a large number domains and subtypes, it is better to remove and recreate the subtype for the feature class. When this is done, the domains associated at the feature class level are also associated with every subtype in the feature class. To model specific domain behavior at the subtype level, associate the domain with the appropriate field at each subtype level.

Article ID:000009206

Software:
  • ArcMap 9 x

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