More descriptive error message when query layer's unique ID column has duplicates

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07-11-2023 08:51 AM
Status: Open
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Bud
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When a query layer or database view's unique ID column has duplicate values, we get an error when using the attribute table:

Bud_0-1689089685841.png

“Failed to load data. Error: Failed to retrieve a page of rows.”

Related: Error Opening Table in Pro - "Failed to retrieve a page of rows"

I know the docs clearly state that the ID needs to be unique. But sometimes we don't realize the column isn't unique due to unexpected problems in the data. Or the data changes after the query was created without us knowing. Or ArcGIS Pro automatically chooses a column as a unique ID that we weren't intending.

It's good that we get an error in ArcGIS Pro, rather than silently excluding the duplicate rows like ArcMap did. But it would be better if the error message described the root cause of the problem. For example, add a line that says, "Ensure the IDs are unique." Something like that would have saved me a lot of grief when troubleshooting a query layer problem recently.

There's a saying something like, "The measure of software quality is how good the error messages are." Could that error message be improved?

 

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