Document databases are nonrelational databases that store markup documents containing key-value pairs to define data. They are sometimes categorized as a type of NoSQL database.
Document databases are different from other databases and data warehouses that you connect to from ArcGIS, because they do not have an enforced schema or structured relationships. This makes them more flexible and responsive. However, their unstructured or semistructured format makes them less suitable for complex data relationships and transactions.
ArcGIS support
ArcGIS Pro supports the following document databases:
At this time, you can connect to these databases from ArcGIS Pro, add data from them to a map, and query the data attributes.
Each layer in the map that you add from a document database is a query layer. You can alter the query layer's definition to exclude certain fields (key-value pairs), but you cannot define the query layer with a SQL statement that includes clauses.
Term equivalents
When you use data from a supported document database in an ArcGIS client, you'll see ArcGIS terms. You'll see these same ArcGIS terms in the help, not the document database terms. The following table equates the ArcGIS terms to those used by document database vendors.
| ArcGIS term | Document database term | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
Table Feature class | Index or alias | Indexes in a document database contain the data definition using key-value pairs and documents. Tables and feature classes (which are spatial tables) define data using columns and rows. An alias in a document database refers to multiple indexes. When accessed in ArcGIS, an alias is read as a single table. |
Field or column | Key-value pairs | |
Row | Document | Represents a single object or feature. |
Index | No document database equivalent | |
Schema | No document database equivalent |