Changes and updates are a part of data management workflows. When working with attachments, you can export attachments to an output location for archiving or other data management tasks.
There are two primary ways to export attachments from a dataset:
- In an edit session
- With a geoprocessing tool
Export attachments in an edit session
One or more files can be saved while editing a dataset.
Keep the following in mind when exporting attachments while editing:
- Multiple attachments can only be exported one feature or row at a time during an edit session in the Attribute pane.
- Attachment files can only be renamed after saving to an output directory.
- This process can take significant time when exporting many attachments.
To view the steps to save attachments while editing, see Add or remove file attachments.
Use the Export Attachments geoprocessing tool
The Export Attachments tool exports attachments from data management workflows with the following options:
- Export attachments for selected features or rows.
- Categorically group attachments using attribute field values.
- Rename exported attachments from attribute field values or keep the original file names.
To export attachments using the Export Attachments tool, complete the following steps:
- On the Analysis tab in the Geoprocessing group, click Tools , and search for or browse to the Export Attachments tool in the Data Management Tools toolset.
- Click the Export Attachments search result to open the tool.
The Export Attachments tool dialog box appears with its default parameters.
- For Input Dataset, use the browse button
to select a feature class or table, or click the down arrow to choose a dataset from the active map. - For Output Location, choose an output folder location for the exported attachments.
- Optionally, for Subdirectory Field, choose a field from the input dataset to save exported attachments categorically.
- Optionally, for Name Format, select a name format option described below to use to export attachments.
- Use Original Filenames—The output file names will use the original file names stored in the geodatabase.
- Use Field Values Only—The output file names will use the field values of the Name Fields parameter. Multiple values will be concatenated with an underscore.
- Add Field Values as Prefix—The output file names will use the original file names with a prefix from the field values of the Name Fields parameter. Multiple values will be concatenated with an underscore.
- Add Field Values as Suffix—The output file names will use the original file names with a suffix from the field values of the Name Fields parameter. Multiple values will be concatenated with an underscore.
- Click Run to export the attachments.
Learn more about the steps above and view a short video demonstration of the tool