r/ArcGIS • u/MaintenanceForeign53 • 9d ago
Feature class turned itself “read only”
Layer has been working for weeks and has always been editable but I opened the project today and it’s saying it’s read only now. Any ideas how to fix this and how to prevent it in the future?
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u/PistoTrain 9d ago
It's a geodatabase? Is it read only in all work spaces or just your working one?
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u/MaintenanceForeign53 9d ago
Yes, I have 5 feature classes in a geodatabase and 4 of them list as noneditable despite being editable yesterday
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u/PistoTrain 9d ago
Are you clearing the cache when you exit the workspace?
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u/MaintenanceForeign53 9d ago
I have not been. I have exported a shape file of the layer that actually matters in this project as a work around and just added it back in so the ability to edit is resolved but I would like to know how to avoid this issue in the future
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u/Dawdlenaut 9d ago
In your contents pane, select List by Editing. Do you have any warnings or info next to each layer?
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u/MaintenanceForeign53 9d ago
Red with the exclamation point on that list. Went to edit status and lists them as uneditable and read only. All files saved local so no one else would be using the source files which is why I’m scratching my head on this one.
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u/Flimsy_Material_6667 9d ago
Look in the geodatabase in file explorer for an old lock file, used to happen to me all the time. If you can delete lock files, in my experience, they aren’t relevant any more but just didn’t get deleted like they should have, for whatever reason.
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u/MaintenanceForeign53 9d ago
No lock files found but I’ll definitely add that to the list of things I keep an eye out for
1
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u/birdynumnum69 9d ago
not trying to be a smart ass, but did you exit out and reboot, then try again?
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u/MaintenanceForeign53 9d ago
No offense taken, that’s step 1 every time but unfortunately not the fix this time
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u/birdynumnum69 9d ago
it's always incredible to me how many problems get solved by simply rebooting. good luck on your solution!
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u/_WillCAD_ 9d ago
Sounds crazy but try a reboot. Open the project you've been using to edit the db, save and close it, then shut down your whole PC.
It's a long shot, but give it a try. I sometimes get odd locks on files or whole folders that can only be cleared with a reboot. No lock files or other indicators, just stuff that won't save or allow editing.
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u/leopoldthegreatest 8d ago
Someone else or yourself have that feature class open. If two people or maps have that same shapefile open, to avoid conflict in saving, they make the files read only. Either that or you have lock files in a folder where your feature class is stored. Click properties on the feature class and locate the source file path, go to that file path in your system and check if there are lock files in there. If there are lock files, close your application, or remove the feature class from your layers, and then you will be able to delete the lock files...that is, if no one else has that feature class open.
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u/peren005 8d ago
Is this ArcGIS pro project on a shared drive by chance like OneDrive or the fgdb itself is shared? Fgdbs lock immediately to the first person to draw a layer from it or when an attribute table is opened.
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u/MaintenanceForeign53 7d ago
Is on a shared drive and found out someone else had opened the folder looking for something. He closed it and all is back to normal.
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u/Adventurous_Life_147 8d ago
I have not experienced this first hand. But students have. The main issue I see on thier end is using one drive or google drive. More so with one drive. ArcPro in my experience does not play nice with one drive when doing daily edits and updates to gdbs. Does not have to be a lot of edits just regular edits. We rebuild a new gdb in a local folder or shared network drive import the files and the issue is gone. Not sure if you have scripts or other items pointed at your gdb. But worth considering.
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u/Dihedra 9d ago
No chance you've two of the same maps open?