In a versioned table with Move Edits to Base enabled, why are edits not moved to the base table when working with the table outside ArcGIS Desktop?

Answer

When a feature class is registered as versioned with the option to move edits to base, the changes applied to the versioned table are only compressed to the base table when an ArcGIS geodatabase application edits the DEFAULT version or posts a version to the DEFAULT version.

If changes are made to a versioned table that is registered with the option to move edits to base using commands, such as ArcSDE’s sdeimport with the append option or with a multi-versioned view and SQL, the changes will not be compressed to the base table until the following: the next geodatabase edit session edits the DEFAULT version and saves, a version is posted to the DEFAULT version (and the same versioned table has been modified), or the geodatabase is compressed.