{"id":1507052,"date":"2023-05-18T08:00:04","date_gmt":"2023-05-18T15:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&p=1507052"},"modified":"2025-11-13T14:41:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T22:41:20","slug":"its-not-personal","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-pro\/data-management\/its-not-personal","title":{"rendered":"It’s Not Personal: A brief history of the geodatabase and why personal geodatabases are not in ArcGIS Pro"},"author":12901,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[37501,37101,23851],"tags":[86442,25381,764332,758241,764322],"industry":[],"product":[36561,36991,756692],"class_list":["post-1507052","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-administration","category-announcements","category-data-management","tag-data-management","tag-geodatabase","tag-migrating","tag-mobile-geodatabase","tag-personal-geodatabase","product-arcgis-pro","product-arcgis-desktop","product-obsolete"],"acf":{"short_description":"Part 1 - Learn why personal geodatabases are not supported within ArcGIS Pro, and options available to access and use this data moving forward. \r\n","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","content":"

Part 1 – quick summary<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s Not Personal<\/strong><\/a>, is the first<\/strong> blog in this blog series and explains why personal geodatabases aren\u2019t supported in ArcGIS Pro.<\/em><\/p>\n

Microsoft has deprecated support for the Microsoft Jet Database Engine 4.0 libraries and considers the Data Access Objects (DAO) technology obsolete<\/a>. This is the Microsoft technology that previously made support for personal geodatabases possible in ArcMap within ArcGIS Desktop. Also, there are no 64-bit versions of these libraries and ArcGIS Pro is a 64-bit application. Since the technology used to make personal geodatabases is no longer supported and Microsoft is advising against using these deprecated formats, there is no viable or supported path forward for offering personal geodatabases in ArcGIS Pro.\u00a0Moving forward, our recommendation is to migrate your data from a personal geodatabase to either a file or mobile geodatabase. <\/em><\/p>\n

Bridging Data<\/a><\/strong> is the second<\/strong> blog in this series. It guides\u00a0you through the experience of how ArcGIS Pro can be used to create\u00a0OLE DB connections to a Microsoft Access database (.accdb)<\/a>,\u00a0a personal geodatabase (.mdb)<\/a>, and\u00a0a MySQL database, and <\/a>reviews the options available to use and work with this tabular data in ArcGIS Pro<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Migrating Data<\/strong><\/a> is the third<\/strong> blog in this series. It provides a look at the differences between file-based geodatabase types, characteristics, and capabilities.\u00a0 Additionally, <\/a> two new sample tools<\/a> are introduced and available to help with migrating a personal geodatabase to a file\u00a0<\/a>geodatabase and, if needed,\u00a0migrating a file geodatabase to a mobile geodatabase<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

To learn more about It\u2019s Not Personal<\/strong>,<\/a> keep reading…<\/em><\/p>\n","image_reference":false,"layout":"standard","image_reference_figure":"","snippet":"","spotlight_name":"","section_title":"","position":"Center","spotlight_image":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Change is inevitable<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

On a recent weekend adventure with my family to one of my favorite cities, Charleston, South Carolina, I noticed my two daughters were absolutely captivated by a then-and-now book of the historic city that contained side-by-side pictures comparing the same landmark or expanse taken from the exact viewpoint, but a hundred years or more apart.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":1515202,"id":1515202,"title":"Charleston: Then and Now - The Battery","filename":"TN_Charleston_Battery_Small.png","filesize":520408,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Battery_Small.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-pro\/data-management\/its-not-personal\/tn_charleston_battery_small","alt":"Then and Now comparison of the Battery, Charleston, SC","author":"12901","description":"","caption":"Archival photos courtesy of the Library of Congress\n","name":"tn_charleston_battery_small","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":1507052,"date":"2022-03-17 09:04:20","modified":"2022-03-17 09:28:48","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":824,"height":461,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Battery_Small-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Battery_Small.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Battery_Small.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":430,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Battery_Small.png","large-width":824,"large-height":461,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Battery_Small.png","1536x1536-width":824,"1536x1536-height":461,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Battery_Small.png","2048x2048-width":824,"2048x2048-height":461,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Battery_Small.png","card_image-width":824,"card_image-height":461,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Battery_Small.png","wide_image-width":824,"wide_image-height":461}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

I joined them and was fascinated to spot some buildings, churches, and residential mansions that dated back to the early seventeenth century that were the exact same, while other architectural gems that had previously survived the Revolutionary and Civil wars were lost to natural disasters, including fires, hurricanes, and earthquakes, or had suffered the fate of the more modern wrecking ball.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":1515212,"id":1515212,"title":"Charleston: Then and Now","filename":"TN_Charleston_Small.png","filesize":510253,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Small.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-pro\/data-management\/its-not-personal\/tn_charleston_small","alt":"Then and Now comparison of Charleston, SC","author":"12901","description":"","caption":"Archival photos courtesy of the Library of Congress\n","name":"tn_charleston_small","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":1507052,"date":"2022-03-17 09:04:34","modified":"2022-03-17 09:29:11","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":824,"height":425,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Small-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Small.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":239,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Small.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":396,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Small.png","large-width":824,"large-height":425,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Small.png","1536x1536-width":824,"1536x1536-height":425,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Small.png","2048x2048-width":824,"2048x2048-height":425,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Small.png","card_image-width":824,"card_image-height":425,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Small.png","wide_image-width":824,"wide_image-height":425}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Ironically, though, some differences were not necessarily in the structures\u2014it was also seeing a horse and carriage on a dirt-lined road parked in front of the same building that now appears along a paved street with cars and parking meters.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":1515222,"id":1515222,"title":"Charleston: Then and Now - Blended","filename":"TN_Charleston_Blend_Small.png","filesize":766052,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Blend_Small.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-pro\/data-management\/its-not-personal\/tn_charleston_blend_small","alt":"Then and Now blended comparison of Charleston, SC","author":"12901","description":"","caption":"Archival photos courtesy of the Library of Congress\n","name":"tn_charleston_blend_small","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":1507052,"date":"2022-03-17 09:23:30","modified":"2022-03-17 09:31:02","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":824,"height":450,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Blend_Small-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Blend_Small.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":253,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Blend_Small.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":419,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Blend_Small.png","large-width":824,"large-height":450,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Blend_Small.png","1536x1536-width":824,"1536x1536-height":450,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Blend_Small.png","2048x2048-width":824,"2048x2048-height":450,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Blend_Small.png","card_image-width":824,"card_image-height":450,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TN_Charleston_Blend_Small.png","wide_image-width":824,"wide_image-height":450}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Geodatabase – Then and now<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

The real world is constantly evolving, and so is our data.<\/p>\n

Looking through this book, and having worked with the geodatabase for over 20 years, made me think what a peek into a then-and-now comparison of the geodatabase might look like.<\/p>\n

Join us as we acknowledge the past, appreciate the functionality that continues to remain present, and recognize the evolution of change as we move forward and embrace the future.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get started!<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Then<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away\u2026\u2014just kidding!<\/em><\/p>\n

Remember when the first phase of the ArcGIS system and the geodatabase model were first introduced with the release of ArcGIS 8.0 in late 1999<\/a>?<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":1515652,"id":1515652,"title":"Old_ArcGIS_architecture_1999","filename":"Old_ArcGIS_architecture_1999.jpg","filesize":17878,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Old_ArcGIS_architecture_1999.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-pro\/data-management\/its-not-personal\/old_arcgis_architecture_1999","alt":"First phase of the ArcGIS System - 1999","author":"12901","description":"","caption":"First phase of the ArcGIS System - 1999","name":"old_arcgis_architecture_1999","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":1507052,"date":"2022-03-17 14:28:55","modified":"2022-03-17 14:29:31","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":399,"height":269,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Old_ArcGIS_architecture_1999-213x200.jpg","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Old_ArcGIS_architecture_1999.jpg","medium-width":387,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Old_ArcGIS_architecture_1999.jpg","medium_large-width":399,"medium_large-height":269,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Old_ArcGIS_architecture_1999.jpg","large-width":399,"large-height":269,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Old_ArcGIS_architecture_1999.jpg","1536x1536-width":399,"1536x1536-height":269,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Old_ArcGIS_architecture_1999.jpg","2048x2048-width":399,"2048x2048-height":269,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Old_ArcGIS_architecture_1999.jpg","card_image-width":399,"card_image-height":269,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Old_ArcGIS_architecture_1999.jpg","wide_image-width":399,"wide_image-height":269}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Seasoned veterans of GIS would certainly remember, while others might not have even been born yet! I, on the other hand, had just graduated from my alma mater, Florida State University, and was starting fresh in my new job working in the GIS department at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection using ArcView 3.x and spatial databases.<\/p>\n

Our initial focus was helping our department get past the so-called “Millennium Bug” and the Y2K (year 2000) scare. Soon after, interest in the use and benefits of GIS started to increase throughout our department, and our small GIS team began to grow to fill the volume of incoming requests.<\/p>\n

A year later, in early 2001, I started my career as an instructor at Esri, teaching Migrating from ArcView 3.x to 8.x<\/em> and Introduction to Geodatabases<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The ArcGIS 8.0 release introduced the geodatabase as the common data storage and management framework for all ArcGIS software. While some were hesitant at first, interest in migrating data from shapefiles and coverages to take advantage of new behaviors available only within the geodatabase grew exponentially.<\/p>\n

Initially, geodatabases could only be implemented in the 32-bit ArcGIS Desktop application as either personal or multiuser. A single-user personal geodatabase used the Microsoft Jet format, was stored in a single Microsoft Access file with the .mdb file extension, and had a 2 GB size limitation, whereas multiuser geodatabases were stored in a database management system (DBMS) managed by ArcSDE. Support for the file geodatabase was later added in late 2006 with the ArcGIS 9.2 release, as it offered more functionality, a larger data storage capacity, and better performance than the personal geodatabase.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Now<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Fast-forward almost a quarter of a century to present day, and I\u2019m now a product engineer on the geodatabase development team. The geodatabase<\/a> is still the native data structure for ArcGIS and the primary data format used for editing and data management<\/a>.<\/p>\n

ArcGIS Pro<\/a> is the next-generation, full-featured professional desktop GIS application. It provides the best GIS user experience when creating<\/a>, analyzing<\/a>, visualizing<\/a>,\u00a0and working with spatial<\/a> data.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":1583972,"id":1583972,"title":"ArcGISSystemToday_Small","filename":"ArcGISSystemToday_Small.png","filesize":106421,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/05\/ArcGISSystemToday_Small.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-pro\/data-management\/its-not-personal\/arcgissystemtoday_small","alt":"ArcGIS System - Today","author":"12901","description":"ArcGIS System - Today","caption":"ArcGIS System - Today","name":"arcgissystemtoday_small","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":1507052,"date":"2022-05-23 19:39:27","modified":"2022-05-23 19:41:09","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":822,"height":449,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/05\/ArcGISSystemToday_Small-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/05\/ArcGISSystemToday_Small.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":253,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/05\/ArcGISSystemToday_Small.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":420,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/05\/ArcGISSystemToday_Small.png","large-width":822,"large-height":449,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/05\/ArcGISSystemToday_Small.png","1536x1536-width":822,"1536x1536-height":449,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/05\/ArcGISSystemToday_Small.png","2048x2048-width":822,"2048x2048-height":449,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/05\/ArcGISSystemToday_Small.png","card_image-width":822,"card_image-height":449,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/05\/ArcGISSystemToday_Small.png","wide_image-width":822,"wide_image-height":449}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/05\/ArcGISSystemToday_Small.png"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Let\u2019s Review\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n

ArcGIS Pro is a spatial analysis and data science workstation that uses a 64-bit, multithreaded architecture, which means it can run multiple processes simultaneously instead of having to wait for one task to complete before the next task can begin. For example, while running a tool in the geoprocessing pane, you can continue to navigate a view or add a dataset to the Contents pane.<\/p>\n

ArcGIS Pro uses a project-centric approach to keep all your maps, layouts, tools, geodatabases, and connections in one place. This enables you to better collect, store, maintain, prepare, and share your data across a suite of ArcGIS products, such as ArcGIS Online<\/a> and ArcGIS Enterprise<\/a>, and work across the ArcGIS<\/a> system through Web GIS.<\/p>\n

While ArcGIS Pro supports multiple data sources, it is designed to work with and leverage the capabilities of the geodatabase as the center of your spatial data storage and GIS data management workflows.<\/p>\n

Three types of geodatabases are supported in ArcGIS Pro:<\/p>\n