Toolboxes in geodatabases in SQL Server
You can create new toolboxes in your geodatabase by right-clicking the geodatabase in the Catalog tree, pointing to New, and clicking Toolbox.
Tooboxes in ArcGIS Desktop
If you have created a toolbox in your geodatabase, it would appear in the Catalog tree with the following icon:
The name of a toolbox in a geodatabase in SQL Server contains the database name, the name of the owner of the locator, and the name of the locator itself.
For example, a toolbox, MoveData, owned by a dbo user, in a geodatabase named bu_42606 would be listed as bu_42606.DBO.MoveData in the Catalog tree.
Toolboxes in a Microsoft SQL Server database
Toolboxes are represented in a DBMS as a business table to store information about the tools in the toolbox and the GDB_ITEMS and GDB_ITEMTYPES system tables to keep track of both the toolboxes and tools.
The following are the tables for the MoveData toolbox:
The business table and GDB_ITEMS table are associated by the name—the value in the name field of the GDB_ITEMS table corresponds to the business table name. The GDB_ITEMTYPES table identifies the toolbox object as a toolbox and the tools in it as tools.
The GDB_ITEMS and GDB_ITEMTYPES tables reside in the ArcSDE administrator's schema (sde) and the business table resides in the user's schema. The GDB_ITEMS and GDB_ITEMTYPES tables are created when you create the geodatabase; the business table does not get created until you create the toolbox.
For a definition of the GDB_ITEMS and GDB_ITEMTYPES tables, see System tables of a geodatabase in SQL Server.
The following is the definition for a toolbox business table:
Dashed lines indicate implicit relationships between columns.
Field name |
Field type |
Description |
Null? |
---|---|---|---|
OBJECTID |
integer |
Unique identifier of the tool |
NOT NULL |
type |
smallint |
Code that indicates the type of tool: 1 = function tool, 2 = model tool, 3 = script tool, or 4 = custom tool |
NOT NULL |
name |
nvarchar(255) |
Name of the tool |
NOT NULL |
displayname |
nvarchar(255) |
The label for the tool |
NOT NULL |
description |
nvarchar(255) |
Description of the tool |
|
category |
nvarchar(255) |
Name of the toolset in which tools are grouped; this includes the path to the toolset if it is a toolset nested inside another toolset. |
|
tool |
nvarchar(255) |
All other properties of the tool |
Toolboxes in an XML document
Toolboxes are data elements and, therefore, are prefaced with a DataElement tag. The data element type will be esri.DEToolbox.
The following is the XML (including metadata) for a toolbox named MoveData:
<DataElement xsi:type="esri:DEToolbox"> <CatalogPath>/V=dbo.DEFAULT/TB=bu_42606.DBO.MoveData</CatalogPath> <Name>bu_42606.DBO.MoveData</Name> <MetadataRetrieved>true</MetadataRetrieved> <Metadata xsi:type="esri:XmlPropertySet"> <XmlDoc><?xml version="1.0"?> <metadata xml:lang="en"><Esri><MetaID>{AE214421-4877-4FEB-96A5-8668EBAA9326}</MetaID><CreaDate>20060426</CreaDate><CreaTime>11473700</CreaTime><SyncOnce>TRUE</SyncOnce><ModDate>20060426</ModDate><ModTime>114737</ModTime></Esri><toolbox name="bu_42606.DBO.MoveData" alias=""><arcToolboxHelpPath>C:\Program Files\ArcGIS\Help\gp</arcToolboxHelpPath><toolsets/></toolbox><dataIdInfo><idCitation><resTitle>bu_42606.DBO.MoveData</resTitle></idCitation></dataIdInfo><distInfo><distributor><distorFormat><formatName>ArcToolbox Toolbox</formatName></distorFormat></distributor></distInfo></metadata></XmlDoc> </Metadata> <DatasetType>esriDTToolbox</DatasetType> <DSID>-1</DSID> <Versioned>false</Versioned> <CanVersion>false</CanVersion> </DataElement>