Back in 2010, I posted a python script and an ArcToolbox tool for zipping a shapefile. Well, I had a request to modify the code so it would not error out if it encounters a .lock file. While .lock files exist for a reason and shouldn’t be totally ignored, in some cases it is safe to do so, so I went ahead any modified the code, which can be downloaded from Github.

Someone mentioned an idea on ArcIdeas for making various display settings on a feature classes scale-dependent. Right now some of that can be accomplished by loading a feature classes multiple times, adjusting the settings, and setting the visible range. Working more and more in ArcGIS Server, I can see the value of increased scale-dependent settings. I’m not sure how rapidly ESRI takes ‘Ideas’ into consideration but if you feel like it would benefit you, why not promote this idea: Scale Range, SQL Query and Symbology Rendering in ArcMap.

I was making an edit (adding leading ‘0’s) to a coded-value domain in an SDE database and realized that my edits were changing the order of the rows of my domain. Rows were moved to the bottom of the list when they were edited. So I went through the process of converting my domain back to a table, made my edits in Access and exported the rows to a .dbf in the order I wanted them.

In building our Enterprise GIS Database, we need to support users with different needs. Some of our users just need to see the data on a map while others may want to download a copy of the data so they can use it within their own desktop system. After doing some exploring, one of the options that looks like it will feel the bulk of our internal needs is to create a Map Service/Geodata Service pair–by creating a Map Service, we can make an easy-to-use visual representation of our data.

We finally installed an instance of ArcSDE 10 today. My first attempt at connecting in ArcCatalog 9.3.1 failed with the following error: Failed to connect to the specified server. This release of the GeoDatabase is either invalid or out of date. [Please run the ArcSDE setup utility using the -o install option.] DBMS table not found [sde.sde.GDB_Release]  Turns out the solution was simple, this article points out that Service pack 2 is required.