Why would I install ArcSDE with 10.1?

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05-10-2012 11:01 AM
AlanToms
Occasional Contributor
Hello all,
Why would I install ArcSDE with 10.1?  It seems I can us ArcCatalog to create an enterprise geodatabase without SDE then have all my users use direct connections.  What am I missing?

Thank you
Alan
71 Replies
VinceAngelo
Esri Esteemed Contributor
In fact, you have been encouraged to "register your view with ArcSDE".  This is significantly
different from "use the command line tool to create the views."  I strongly discourage anyone
from using 'sdetable -o create_view' ever again, particularly with native or ST_GEOMETRY
spatial columns.

In your particular use, registration of the existing view is necessary (it is not possible for a query
cursor to mine the database query plan to extract the information you expect it to have), but that
only requires 'sdelayer -o register', not recreation of the existing views (be sure to use 'sdelayer
-o describe_long' to extract the SRID of the base table for the -R flag in the register options).

Hopefully, there will be a ArcPy tool that will register views with geodatabase metadata once
that which was once ArcSDE is gone.

- V
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MarcoBoeringa
MVP Regular Contributor
Hopefully, there will be a ArcPy tool that will register views with geodatabase metadata once
that which was once ArcSDE is gone.


"Hopefully, there will be a ArcPy tool that will register views with geodatabase metadata once that which was once considered ArcSDE is gone."

or

"Hopefully, there will be a ArcPy tool that will register views with geodatabase metadata once that which was once the ArcSDE command line toolset is gone."

might be more appropriate?... or are the ArcSDE system tables due for retirement too?
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VinceAngelo
Esri Esteemed Contributor
The dichotomy of the the two different interfaces has always been the issue.  If there's no command
line and no API to make a command line, then the geodatabase takes over full ownership of all tables
owned by the SDE user.  At that point, your suggested change is a distinction without a difference.
The "SDEish" metadata tables have always been geodatabase metadata tables in fact, so I don't see
any major change.

- V
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MarcoBoeringa
MVP Regular Contributor
The dichotomy of the the two different interfaces has always been the issue. If there's no command
line and no API to make a command line, then the geodatabase takes over full ownership of all tables owned by the SDE user. At that point, your suggested change is a distinction without a difference.
The "SDEish" metadata tables have always been geodatabase metadata tables in fact, so I don't see
any major change
.


X2, this was how I viewed it, but I was just wondering if any new major changes to ArcSDE (/ Geodatabase) Repository were due. I guess any future changes will be pretty much inconsequential for anyone sticking to official APIs like ArcPy, ArcObjects, just like the change to XML based tables for the geodatabase system tables at 10.x, as the APIs pretty much hide what is "behind the scene"...
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VinceAngelo
Esri Esteemed Contributor
If there were major changes under way, I wouldn't be the one making the announcement,
fifty posts deep in the Forums.

- V
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KevinGooss
Occasional Contributor
One could argue that the collection of metadata on the (potential) first record in a view as opposed to the true metadata in the (singleton) spatial column of the base table that was the progenitor of said view is synonymous with proprietary software manufacturer laziness.

-K
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TimHayes
Occasional Contributor III
My goodness what a long and confusing thread! do you need to install ArcSDE? well, yes, no, and maybe.

Here is the skinny I got out of all this mumbo-jumbo:

IF you are at 10.2/10.2.1 YOU do not need to install ArcSDE and you will NOT be given an option to install ArcSDE because it will not be there. ArcSDE is gone! kaput! no more!

At 10.2/10.2.1 you must use Direct Connect. This is your only option so use it.

For those of you NOT at 10.2.1 I say make it so.
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VinceAngelo
Esri Esteemed Contributor
and you will NOT be given an option to install ArcSDE because it will not be there.
ArcSDE is gone! kaput! no more!


   Incorrect.  It is still possible to run the application server at 10.2.x, though it would
certainly be wise to move to a Direct Connect model now, before the next major
release does take the decision away.

- V
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MarcoBoeringa
MVP Regular Contributor
My goodness what a long and confusing thread! do you need to install ArcSDE? well, yes, no, and maybe.

Here is the skinny I got out of all this mumbo-jumbo:

IF you are at 10.2/10.2.1 YOU do not need to install ArcSDE and you will NOT be given an option to install ArcSDE because it will not be there. ArcSDE is gone! kaput! no more!


As an addition to what Vince said: it would also be wise to refer to the ArcSDE Application Server, and the ArcSDE Command Line Tools instead of just generic "ArcSDE" in case you wish to refer to the components of the ESRI Geodatabase Framework that will no longer be available in the next major release.

ArcSDE is far from gone as I tried to illustrate in the PDF document I referenced for you in the other thread you started, and Direct Connect implements all of the geodatabase functionality accessible through the ArcSDE Application Server, while the new Python tools and GUI components for geodatabase management in ArcGIS for Desktop attempt, at least partly, to cover the ArcSDE Command Line Tools functionality. Where they don't cover it yet, ESRI seems to actively work on this and seeking user input.
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TimHayes
Occasional Contributor III
Here is my situation:

I have been using ArcGIS Server 10.1.1 with SQL Server Express 2008 R2 for the past year. I have several Enterprise (Multi-User)
Geodatabases in SQL Server. I am using Versioning, Replicas, Post/Reconcile, and Archiving. All is working great. No problems.

I upgraded to 10.2.1 a few days ago. Again, all is working good.

Here are the facts:

- ArcGIS Documentation says there are 3 types of Geodatabases: Personal, File, and SDE. To me it seems to get muddled as to whether you are required to use ArcSDE or not. If ESRI says there is no need to use ArcSDE then they should say something like this under the SDE Geodatabase Help: "If you do not want to use ArcSDE, click here to use Direct Connect to a Multi-User Geodatabase".

- When I created my Enterprise Geodatabases I used the Geodatabase Tools in ArcToolbox combined with SQL Server Management Studio. I did not use the ArcSDE Command Line and have never used it.

- The default filenames of the Multi-User (Enterprise) Geodatabases I created in ArcCatalog end in .sde.

- I have ArcSDE 10.1.1 installed and never installed ArcSDE 10.2.1.

Question:

I find it very difficult to determine if I am using ArcSDE or Direct Connect? If ESRI says there is no need to use ArcSDE then should there not be a 4th Geodatabase Type maybe referred to as "Direct Connect Geodatabase"?

I could uninstall ArcSDE 10.1.1 and see what happens. If my Multi-User Geodatabases still connect to SQL Server then I know I am using Direct Connect and Not ArcSDE. What is the best way to determine if I am actually using ArcSDE?
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