Attribute Assistant
Attribute Assistant is an add-in for ESRI ArcMap written in C#
The version I am using was release January 2018
The good parts
- They are still releasing new versions (so far).
- The range of built in functions is pretty good.
- The documentation is so-so.
The horrible part
Expressions have to be written in VBScript, which is like stepping back in time about 15 years for me. I stopped using it everywhere when ESRI started supporting Python and (until today) I never looked back.
The stupid part
The word is that ESRI now wants me to learn and use "Arcade" which is not Python and not Javascript. I am delaying in the hopes that it goes away before I have to learn it.
Tricks and pratfalls
In case you have not looked at it yet, the way it works is that you put a table in your MXD called DynamicValue and then populate it with rules. The add-in fires the rules when the events are tripped.
A trick: populate the AutoWho and AutoDate attributes
| Table Name | Field Name | Value Method | Value Info | On Create | On Change (Attribute) | On Change (Geometry) | Manual Only | Rule Weight | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AutoWho | CURRENT_USER | U | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | <Null> | ||
| AutoDate | TIMESTAMP | DATE | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | <Null> |
AutoWho: Putting U in the Value Info column makes it use only the user name, otherwise it puts DOMAIN\USERNAME which is ugly.
AutoDate: Putting DATE in the Value Info column makes it use only the date, no time stamp, which is what I want.
Pratfall category
| Table Name | Field Name | Value Method | Value Info | On Create | On Change (Attribute) | On Change (Geometry) | Manual Only | Rule Weight | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EXPRESSION | DATE | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | <Null> |
