Manage annotation feature class properties

Annotation feature class properties are managed through the Catalog pane.

The Feature Class Properties dialog box is used to set the alias and the spatial and attribute indexes, while the Annotation Feature Class Properties pane is used to manage properties unique to annotation feature classes—annotation classes, symbols, and settings that determine how the annotation features can be edited.

To open these, right-click an annotation feature class in the Catalog pane or a Catalog view and click either Properties to open the Feature Class Properties dialog box or Annotation Feature Class Properties to open the Annotation Feature Class Properties pane. Note that some properties are editable, while others are read-only.

Use the fields view to manage the fields associated with an annotation feature class. You can edit the fields list, subtypes, and domains of an annotation feature class from the view.

Fields

The Fields view lists the fields in the annotation feature class. The following fields are required and can't be deleted:

  • ObjectID
  • Shape: Polygon shape representing the outline of the annotation
  • FeatureID: For feature-linked annotation, contains the ObjectID or, if enabled, the GlobalID of the linked feature
  • For feature-linked annotation relationships:
    • FeatureID: Contains the ObjectID of the linked feature if the feature-linked relationship is based on ObjectID
    or
    • FeatureGlobalID: Contains the GlobalID of the linked feature if the feature-linked relationship is based on GlobalID
  • ZOrder: Unused at this time
  • AnnotationClassID: The annotation class the annotation belongs to
  • Element: BLOB field that stores symbology and text geometry
  • SymbolID: The symbol in the symbol table
  • Status: Whether the feature is placed or unplaced
  • Shape_length
  • Shape_area

The SymbolID field normally contains a value greater than or equal to 0. This value is the number of the text symbol in the symbol collection. If the value is -1, the annotation feature is storing the display properties in the record, and it is not referencing a text symbol in the symbol collection. When the SymbolID value is -1, the Override field value is 0, as every property is overridden.

Learn more about text symbols in the symbol collection

Other fields in the feature class reference the annotation feature's display properties. These fields can be edited, and doing so updates the feature's BLOB element. Likewise, any change to the annotation feature through the Annotation tab in the Attribute pane is updated in the fields. These fields can also be deleted. The list of these fields follows:

  • TextString: The text string for the feature
  • FontName: The name of the font, for example, Arial
  • FontStyle: The name of the font style, for example, Regular
  • FontSize: The size of the font
  • Underline: Whether the text is underlined—true or false
  • VerticalAlignment: The vertical alignment of the text—top, center, baseline, or bottom
  • HorizontalAlignment: The horizontal alignment of the text—left, right, center, or full
  • XOffset: Shifts the text position right or left
  • YOffset: Shifts the text position up or down
  • Angle: Rotates the text angle
  • FontLeading: Adjusts the spacing between lines
  • WordSpacing: Adjusts the spacing between words
  • CharacterWidth: Adjusts the character width
  • CharacterSpacing: Adjusts the spacing between characters
  • FlipAngle: Adjusts the angle at which point rotated text is flipped in place

The Override field is not editable and is maintained by ArcGIS Pro. When the override value is 0, the annotation feature is displayed using the SymbolID text symbol that it references and no display properties are stored in the record. When the override value is greater than 0, the annotation feature uses the SymbolID text symbol as a base display and applies the overridden properties to that symbol. See the table below for a list of these possible values. The values that are seen in the attribute table are a sum of the values below. For example, if the override value is 65, then both the XOffset (1) and Size (64) properties are overridden (1+64=65).

Note:

The table below contains override values for ArcGIS Pro annotation. For ArcMap annotation override values, see Managing annotation feature class properties.

Override valueOverridden property

1

XOffset property

2

YOffset property

4

Horizontal Alignment property

8

Vertical Alignment property

16

Flip Angle property

32

Anchor Point property

64

Size property

128

Color property

256

Character Spacing property

512

Character Width property

1024

Word Spacing property

2048

Leading property

4096

Font Name property

8192

Font Style property

16384

Underline property

32768

Background Symbol

Override constants

Subtypes

If the annotation feature class has more than one annotation class, the annotation classes are implemented as subtypes. The Subtypes view lists the annotation classes. However, to manage annotation classes, use the Annotation Feature Class Properties pane.

Relationships

For feature-linked annotation in the Catalog pane, the Relationships tab on the Feature Class Properties dialog box displays the relationship class that links the annotation feature class to its associated feature class.

Annotation classes

The Annotation Classes tab in the Annotation Feature Class Properties pane allows you to manage annotation classes. You can add and remove annotation classes from the list. To modify or view the properties of an annotation class, double-click the annotation class in the list and access the properties with any of the controls in the pane.

Learn more about annotation in the geodatabase

Annotation editing properties

The Annotation tab in the Annotation Feature Class Properties pane also allows you to set properties that affect how the annotation can be edited.

Learn more about annotation feature class editing properties

Text symbols

The Symbol Collection group on the Annotation tab in the Annotation Feature Class Properties pane allows you to manage the symbol collection. The symbol collection lists the predefined text symbols you can assign to annotation features when creating or editing them in ArcGIS Pro. Each annotation class has an associated symbol in the list. When the class's symbol changes through the Annotation Classes tab, the original symbol will be renamed with the suffix _old and the new associated symbol will be created in the collection. These annotation class-associated symbols cannot be deleted. To modify or view the properties of a symbol, double-click the symbol in the list and access the properties with any of the controls in the pane. To create a new symbol for use in the annotation feature class, click the Add button Add.

Learn more about annotation in the geodatabase

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