weird issue

[Brett]

I've imported our GIS data into a new geodatabase based on the APGG
data model but I'm getting a weird issue when editing the attribute
table on a PlantCenter. I start an edit session and then select a
PlantCenter feature and open it's attribute table. The Plant Center
Type is UNKNOWN and the Accession Number is 200801150 in this case.
But when I select a new Plant Center Type for the feature it sets my
Accession Number to UNKNOWN automatically. Has anyone else
experienced this or is there some sort of validation that would set my
Accession Number to UNKNOWN.

Any help would be appreciated.

Brett

[Brian Morgan]

Brett,

The issue you are having is due to the way that ArcGIS handles changing subtypes. 

The PlantCenter feature class uses the PlantCenterType field as a subtype (check ArcGIS help for more info on subtypes) for the various growth habits of plants.  By default the data model is programmed to set this field to UNKNOWN when a new feature is added.  If you fill in additional attribute information before attempting to change the PlantCenterType to another value, ArcGIS will do one of two things depending on how you attempt to make the change.  If you change the value through the attribute table, it will automatically overwrite values in other fields with default values (in your case UNKNOWN for the SourceAccessionNumber field).  If you make this change through the Attribute window (available from the Editor toolbar in ArcGIS 10) it will ask you if you would like to overwrite the values.

I recommend setting the PlantCenterType value right away when you first create a feature, and if you do need to change it, do so through the Attributes window.  You can find more information on how to do this in the Digitizing Plant Data video available at http://www.apgg.org/events/workshops/20101023.

You may also choose to change the default subtype and/or default field values (through the feature class properties in ArcCatalog), but incorrectly doing so can disrupt other data model functionality.  I would be happy to help you with this if necessary.

I hope that this answers your question.  Please let me know if there is anything else that I can do to help.

Brian Morgan
Alliance for Public Gardens GIS