Attribute options for editing

Project options for editing attributes include settings for prompts that appear in the Attributes pane. These settings are available on the Options dialog box, on the Editing tab, in the General group.

Turn attribute validation on or off

Turn attribute validation on to restrict attribute edits to values that satisfy the validation criteria imposed on a field. Examples include domain values and fields that do not allow null values or empty field values.

Tip:

If your workflow requires the ability to override these restrictions, for example, to leave a field empty that otherwise disallows null values, turn validation off.

1. On the Edit tab, in the Manage Edits group, click the Options dialog box launcher .
2. On the Options dialog box, click Editing, and expand General.
3. Check Enforce attribute validation.
4. Click OK.

Turn subtype prompts on or off

Turn subtype prompts on to confirm your edits each time you change a feature subtype attribute. The warning requires you to click Yes to apply the default values defined by the new subtype, or click No to preserve the existing feature attributes.

Clear this setting to turn off the dialog box and automatically apply the default values defined by the new subtype. Fields with no default values associated with them remain unchanged.

1. On the Edit tab, in the Manage Edits group, click the Options dialog box launcher .
2. On the Options dialog box, click Editing, and expand General.
3. Check or clear Warn on subtype change.
4. Check or clear Initialize default value on subtype change.

   Check this setting if you want the source database to reinitialize the default values based on the new subtype value.

5. Click OK.

Turn change prompt on or off

When Auto Apply is turned on in the Attributes pane, the attributes change prompt appears if a field contains uncommitted edits and you change the selection. You can set this prompt to automatically apply or discard your edits when these conditions exist.

1. On the Edit tab, in the Manage Edits group, click the Options dialog box launcher .
2. On the Options dialog box, click Editing, and expand General.
3. In the Uncommitted attribute edits section, click one of the following:

   Always prompt	Always ask if uncommitted attribute edit operations should be applied or discarded.
   Apply	Always apply uncommitted attribute edit operations. Do not ask me.
   Discard	Always discard uncommitted attribute edit operations. Do not ask me.

4. Click OK.