Geodatabase Designer

Geodatabase Designer is an ArcCatalog toolbar with the following functionality:

1. Export geodatabase schema to XML
   Geodatabase Designer supports all geodatabase objects. The exporter is divided into five separate components:
   a) Domains - Exports all coded and range domains to a single XML document.
   b) ObjectClasses - Exports all featuredatasets, featureclasses and tables to a XML document.
   c) Relationships - Exports all relationships to a XML document.
   d) GeometricNetwork - Exports the currently selected geometricnetwork to a XML document. This file also includes all connectivity rules and weights.
   e) Topology - Exports the currently selected topology dataset to a XML document. All topology rules are included in the file.
2. Create geodatabase schema from XML
   Geodatabase Designer support the import (or creation) of all geodatabase objects. The importer can be divided into the following five components:
   a) Domains - Creates coded and range domains from a XML document.
   b) ObjectsClasses - Creates featuredatasets, featureclasses and tables from a XML document.
   c) Relationships - Creates relationships from a XML document.
   d) GeometricNetwork - Creates a new geometricnetwork (and connectivity rules) from a XML document.
   e) Topology - Creates a new topology dataset (and rules) from a XML document.
3. View geodatabase schema in a web browser
   Whenever the Geodatabase Designer creates an XML document it inserts a reference to a XSL (XML Stylesheet). When the XML document is viewed in Microsoft Internet Explorer the XSL transforms the source XML into HTML making it viewable. The XSL document is stored in the XSL sub-folder of this developer sample.
4. Edit geometric network connectivity rules
   The GeometricNetwork ConnectivityRule Editor allows the connectivity rules of a geometricnetwork to be edited directly in a matrix-style form. The editor provided an alternative environment to view rules and includes commands to efficiently edit or add rules.
   For this tool to function you MUST have the Microsoft Hierarchical FlexGrid Control 6.0 (MSHFLXGD.OCX) installed on your computer. This OCX is bundled with Microsoft Visual Studio 6. If this control is not present then you will get a "Cannot create ActiveX control" error message.
5. Truncate a geodatabase, featuredataset, featureclass or table.
   This powerful and equally dangerous command allows all rows/features within the currently selected object to be deleted. If the selected object contains children then these too will be truncated. For example, if a geodatabase is selected then the entire database will be clears of rows/features. This command is most useful to professionals involved in database design. Use with caution.

Bundled in the SAMPLES/XML sub-folder of this developer sample is a collection of XML files. These files represent the schema from 15 data models, 14 of which are from the ESRI ArcOnline website. To recreate the geodatabases, first create a new personal geodatabase and use the importer commands from the Geodatatabase Designer toolbar. Be sure to import the XML files in the correct order, that is, domains, objectclass, relationships, geometricnetworks and then topology datasets.

For more information on these commands or a detailed explanation of the XML structure please consult the online help (HELP/HELP.htm). This help is also accessible from the Geodatabase Designer toolbar (the last button in the toolbar).