About editing ArcSDE geodatabases

This topic applies to ArcEditor and ArcInfo only.

When you need a large multiuser geodatabase that can be edited and used simultaneously by many users, the ArcSDE geodatabase provides a good solution.

ArcSDE geodatabases work with a variety of DBMS storage models (DB2, Informix, Oracle, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server), taking full advantage of the underlying database architecture. The ArcSDE technology provides the ability to manage a shared, multiuser geodatabase, as well as support for a number of critical version-based GIS workflows involving simultaneous multiuser editing, distributed geodatabases, and historical archiving.

Data in an ArcSDE geodatabase can be either versioned or nonversioned. If the geographic data is versioned, it can be edited in a specific version of the geodatabase. On the other hand, editing nonversioned data is the equivalent of performing standard database transactions. When you edit nonversioned data in an ArcMap edit session, you edit the data source directly.

Editing versioned data in an ArcSDE geodatabase

Versioning allows multiple users in a multiuser geodatabase to edit the same data without applying feature locks or duplicating data. As you edit the ArcSDE geodatabase, you work within your own view or geodatabase state; no one else sees your edits until you save them. In other words, two editors who edit simultaneously see only their own edits.

When you start editing, you are working with your own representation of the version. Other users who are connected to the same version cannot see any of your changes until you save the edits. When you are ready to apply your edits to a different version of the geodatabase, you will merge your changes through a process of reconciling edits, resolving conflicts, and posting your changes to the parent version of the geodatabase.

The general workflow for editing a versioned ArcSDE geodatabase is as follows:

1. Establish a connection with the geodatabase.
2. Register the data as versioned.
3. Add the data to ArcMap.
4. Start editing and make your edits.
5. Review and reconcile any conflicts between the version being edited and the target version.
6. Post changes to the parent database.

The version editing process is described in more detail in A quick tour of the version editing process.

Editing nonversioned data in an ArcSDE geodatabase

Editing nonversioned data is the equivalent of performing standard database transactions. You perform a transaction within the scope of an ArcMap edit session. You start the edit session and perform the required operations, such as adding, deleting, or moving features and updating attributes. When you save your edits, they are committed to the geodatabase as a single transaction. If you don't want to commit the changes to the geodatabase, you must stop the edit session without saving the edits. This rolls back all the edits you made since you started the edit session or since your last save.

The general workflow for editing nonversioned data is as follows:

1. Make sure the data is not registered as versioned.
2. Use the Editing Options dialog box to configure ArcMap to perform nonversioned editing.
3. Add the data to ArcMap.
4. Start editing and make your edits.
5. Save edits and stop the edit session.

The nonversioned editing process is described in more detail in A quick tour of working with nonversioned data.