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ESRI Geodatabase Read/Write

As of Version 10.6, Alteryx supports connecting to ESRI File GeoDatabases from the input tool but it doesnt support writing to a geodatabase.  This is something we would really like to see implemented in a future version of Alteryx.  Those of us working with ESRI products and/or any of the ESRI online mapping systems can do our processing in Alteryx and store large files as YXDBs, but ultimately need our outputs for display in ArcOnline to be in shapefile or geodatabase feature class format. Shapefile have a size limit of 2 GBs and limitation on field name sizes. Many of the files we are working with are much larger than this and require geodatabases for storage which are not limited by size (GDB size is unlimited, 1 TB max per feature class) and have larger field name widths (160 chars).  Right now, we have to write to one (or many) shapefile(s) from Alteryx, then import them into a GDB using ArcMap or ArcPy.  This can be an arduous process when working with large amounts of data or multiple files.

 

The latest ESRI API allows both read and write access to GDBs -- is there a way we can add this to the list of valid output formats in Alteryx?

 

This idea is an extension of an older idea:

https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Alteryx-Product-Ideas/ESRI-File-Geodatabase/idi-p/1424

45 Comments
mpsaris-weis
7 - Meteor

My sense is Alteryx is focused on building out their GUI predictive analytics features, and not so much on GIS.

StephenR
Alteryx
Alteryx

 

@mpsaris-weis  That's the sense here too, but connecting to a file geodatabase is not a new feature issue.  It's a fundamental issue to spatial support.  Alteryx is expanding the offerings of what it can connect to, but they only have shapefile and .mid/.mif and .tab formats.  Shapefile is now a legacy format.  The file geodatabase is the future of spatial data. 

 

This is actually becoming a larger issue too.  Since Esri updated its file geodatabase API moving to ArcGIS 10.4,  Alteryx cannot read new file geodatabases. Any file geodatabase created after 2016  will no longer have its spatial information available to Alteryx.  This is critical issue for anyone using spatial data every day.

Samanthaj_hughes
ACE Emeritus
ACE Emeritus

This needs to happen :) Lets brainstorm this and get the developers involved. I'll see what I can do at Inspire Europe :)


@KHoward wrote:

As of Version 10.6, Alteryx supports connecting to ESRI File GeoDatabases from the input tool but it doesnt support writing to a geodatabase.  This is something we would really like to see implemented in a future version of Alteryx.  Those of us working with ESRI products and/or any of the ESRI online mapping systems can do our processing in Alteryx and store large files as YXDBs, but ultimately need our outputs for display in ArcOnline to be in shapefile or geodatabase feature class format. Shapefile have a size limit of 2 GBs and limitation on field name sizes. Many of the files we are working with are much larger than this and require geodatabases for storage which are not limited by size (GDB size is unlimited, 1 TB max per feature class) and have larger field name widths (160 chars).  Right now, we have to write to one (or many) shapefile(s) from Alteryx, then import them into a GDB using ArcMap or ArcPy.  This can be an arduous process when working with large amounts of data or multiple files.

 

The latest ESRI API allows both read and write access to GDBs -- is there a way we can add this to the list of valid output formats in Alteryx?

 

This idea is an extension of an older idea:

https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Alteryx-Product-Ideas/ESRI-File-Geodatabase/idi-p/1424


 

StephenR
Alteryx
Alteryx

@Samanthaj_hughes  That would be great!  I talked to a few people at Inspire in Las Vegas about this and Calgary Databases but didn't get much of a response.  Let us know how it goes!

steven4320555
8 - Asteroid

I love to use Alteryx, and I am very much looking forward to see the update on File Geodatabase input/output function! 

simon
11 - Bolide

FYI - Tableau 10.4 will add support for shapefiles. Yes, shapefiles... This old ESRI file format is not going anywhere so I am sticking with that (unfortunately). IMHO, support for ESRI FGDBs will be as likely as building a wall ... unless I missed something at the last Inspire conference

StephenR
Alteryx
Alteryx

The problem is that they already support FGDB, up to version 10.3 which is now 2 years out of date and is starting to lead to errors reading data in.  The minimum request is for them to update the API they are using to the latest version for continuity of support.  That should require minimal effort.  The ability to write to FGDB was not available with the 10.3, but is available in 10.4.  It's logical to add that feature as well since that would make the I/O pair complete.

dbreeding
5 - Atom

I just looked on Git and it seems Esri has FileGDB API documentation for 10.4.X and 10.5.0/1  I'm not a developer, but I hope this helps move the ball forward.  https://github.com/Esri/file-geodatabase-api

KHoward
7 - Meteor
ARich
Alteryx Alumni (Retired)
Status changed to: Accepted

Hi All,

 

We're evaluating the effort behind implementing this and are hoping to have it in the product sometime in 2018.

 

Best,

Alex