Frequently asked question

Are values beyond a range domain allowed in an attribute table?

Last Published: April 25, 2020

Answer

Values beyond a range domain are allowed in an attribute table because there is a validation process to check if the attributes or relationships of feature do not violate any geodatabase rules, including range domains. This is by design. If an invalid value that exceeds the values defined by a range domain is typed, the value is detected by the validation process and the user must decide whether to keep or correct the record.

To maintain data integrity, users can set the validation process to notify when a geodatabase rule, such as a range domain, is violated. The notification can be set to appear during or after entering the values in attribute tables.

There are two methods to set validation to notify domain range violations.

  • Enable automatic validation.
When automatic validation is enabled, a notification appears as soon as a value beyond the range domain is typed.

To enable automatic validation before an edit session, follow the steps below:
  1. Open the attribute table.
  2. Go to Table Options > Appearance.
  3. Check the box for Automatically validate records when editing.
    User-added image
  4. Click OK.
  • Validate existing features.
For more information, refer to the following documentation: Validating features and relationships in ArcMap.

Article ID:000014410

Software:
  • ArcMap

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