I have written several blog posts on Esri Geodatabase construction and the individual components. With zero exception, every one of these posts were written pre-ArcGIS Pro. Although I have played with Pro, I haven’t really dived in as much as I should. Here is the first Pro-related post of I would assume many to come.

In April 2016, the first of a two part series titled “I’ll have that Geodatabase to Go” describes the procedure of migrating the data from an Enterprise geodatabase into a Personal or File Geodatabase. Problem is that the “To Go” box is actually a locked safe when trying to use a Personal Geodatabase with ArcGIS Pro. This is because Personal Geodatabases are no longer supported in the 64-bit software.

If a Personal Geodatabase isn’t compatible, how does one extract the data for use within Pro? There unfortunately doesn’t appear to be an OOTB method within Pro to convert the Personal Geodatabase to a compatible File/Enterprise Geodatabase. An easy OOTB way to convert to the File Geodatabase exist within the older ArcGIS/ArcCatalog via the exact same methodology as described in the above-referenced blog post.  Except we require the migration of data from the Personal Geodatabase into the File Geodatabase. Once converted to a File Geodatabase, it should function properly within Pro.

Figure 1

As a refresher, we look at the general Geodatabase structure which is the same in Pro (Figure 1). At the top, the Geodatabase contains the necessary background data structure which enables the functionality of ArcGIS. Within the Geodatabase, there may exist one or multiple Feature Datasets. A Feature Dataset is an organizational container of similar Feature Classes (i.e. Gas, Electric, Telecom) of the same Projection/Coordinate System. Although not mandatory, I personally prefer and recommend all Feature Classes be located within a Feature Dataset. Lastly, Related Objects leverage Esri Relationships to link to feature classes. Because they have no spatial component (i.e. they are just a table) they can’t be shown on a map or contained within a Feature Dataset.

Why go into this detail? I started because I needed more words because I was coming up short. That being said….When copying/pasting a Feature Dataset from an Geodatabase to another, all the contents (including Related Objects and Feature Class-Utilized domains) go along for a ride.

Hope this helps. Enjoy!