Enabling feature-level metadata without a product library set

You can enable and disable the use of feature-level metadata on the Metadata tab on the Manage Features window. To ensure that the feature-level metadata attributes are being populated during the edit session, you need to enable the feature-level metadata by configuring metadata fields in the product library. If you do not have this information specified, a wizard appears that guides you through the process of choosing a product library and configuring the field properties.

Steps:

1. Start ArcMap.
2. If necessary, load data in the map.
3. On the main menu, click Customize > Toolbars > Production Editing.
4. Click the Production Start Editing button on the Production Editing toolbar.
   Note:

   The Manage Features and Create Attributes, Update Attributes, or Metadata Attributes windows automatically appear when you start an edit session using the Production Start Editing tool.

   Tip:

   If the Create Attributes, Update Attributes, or Metadata Attributes window does not appear when you start an edit session, click the Show/Hide Attributes button on the Manage Features window.

5. Click the Metadata tab on the Manage Features window.

   The Set Product Library dialog box appears.

   If a product library has already been specified, the Update Workspace message appears. Proceed to step 10.

6. Click Browse.

   The Choose Product Library Location dialog box appears.

7. Navigate to the product library database.
8. Click Open.

   The Update Workspace message appears.

9. Click Yes to update the geodatabase to a product library.

   The geodatabase is updated to a product library, and an Update Workspace message appears and asks if you want to update the data workspace to a production database.

10. Click Yes to update the data workspace.

    The production database tables are copied to the current workspace and a new data model is created based on the feature classes in the geodatabase. Once this process is complete, the Set Product Library dialog box appears with the path to the product library.

11. Click OK.

    The Field Configuration Manager dialog box appears.

12. Click Create Configuration.

    The Creating Field Configurations window appears with a progress bar. Once the processing is complete, the Field Configuration Manager dialog box appears. You can now set which fields will be feature-level metadata fields.

13. Click Create Configuration.

    The Creating Field Configurations window appears with a progress bar. Once the processing is complete, the Field Configuration dialog box appears.

14. Click Tables to Edit.

    The Choose Product Class Tables to Edit dialog box appears with a list of feature classes and tables in the data model.

15. Check the check boxes next to the feature classes and tables in the Choose Table(s) to Edit list whose filters you want to edit.
    Tip:

    You can right-click in the list and click Select All or Clear All to check or uncheck all the check boxes, respectively. You can also right-click in the list and click Expand All or Collapse All to respectively display or hide all the subtypes within the feature classes.

16. Click OK.

    The Field Configuration dialog box appears with the selected feature classes and tables in the Current Fields Configuration Table list.

17. Click Edit Shared Fields on the Field Configuration dialog box.

    The Edit Shared Fields dialog box appears.

    Tip:

    You can also right-click in the Current Fields Configuration Table list and click Edit Shared Fields to open the Edit Shared Fields dialog box.

18. Right-click the field you want to use as feature-level metadata, then click Metadata Field.
19. Right-click the feature-level metadata field again, then choose the metadata type that is appropriate for the field.

    To populate the field with the current date	Click Metadata Type > Date.
    To populate the field with a user name	Click Metadata Type > User Name.
    To populate the field based on domain values	Click Metadata Type > Domain, then choose the domain you want to use as possible values for the field.
    To populate the field with any other type of data	Click Metadata Type > Other. Note: When you choose Other, you can specify the value that is going to populate the field in a text box. The value can be defined when you create a metadata favorite.

20. Right-click the feature-level metadata field again, then choose the event type that is going to cause the value to update.
    Note:

    By default, both the Create and Update Events are selected.

    To update the field only when a feature or table row is created	Click Metadata Events > Update to uncheck the Update option.
    To update the field only when a feature or table row is modified	Click Metadata Events > Create to uncheck the Create option.

21. Check the check boxes next to the names of the tables to which you want to apply the feature-level metadata in the Choose Table(s) to Apply Shared Edits list.
    Tip:

    To indicate that the filter applies to all feature classes, you can right-click in the Choose Table(s) to Apply Shared Edits list and choose Select All.

22. Click OK when you are finished setting up the feature-level metadata.

    The Class Properties dialog box appears.

23. Click OK.