Use branch versioned data

Use branch versioned data (a type of enterprise geodatabase versioning) when you want to provide multiuser editing in a service-oriented architecture (through feature services) and your users don't need direct access to the geodatabase. To compare versioning types, see Versioning types in the ArcGIS Pro documentation.

To use branch versioning in your app:

Set up and share your data as described in the Set up and share versioned data section.
Bring your data into the app using the ServiceGeodatabase class, as described in the Work with branch versions section.

Branched versioned data can be edited offline the same way you edit feature services offline or use individual layers offline, as described in the Edit data from a branch version section.

Why use branch versioning

With branch versioning, editors can work within their own personal version of a geodatabase so that other users don't see incomplete work and editors don't block one another from accessing the data. Each version can represent ongoing work, such as a design or a group of work orders, work that can span multiple sessions and extend over a period of weeks or months if necessary.

Some common workflows for using branch versioned datasets include:

Multiuser editing, such as individual field crews working in their own branches
Modeling a variety of outcomes, with each scenario represented in its own branch
Editing and tracking different phases of a project

If you require multiple editors concurrently accessing services with the ability to work with their own set of edits, you must first register your data as branch versioned. When you share that dataset as a service, you have the option to enable the Version Management capability at the time of publishing, which allows for the creation and management of versions. For more information about setting up a database with branch versioning, see Register a dataset as branch versioned in the ArcGIS Pro documentation.

To edit branch versioned data, you must access it through a feature service. After registering data as branch versioned, publish the data to your organization's ArcGIS Enterprise portal as a web feature layer. Be sure you publish a layer that references registered data. The data will then be available as a feature service and you can edit it as part of your branch versioning workflows. For more information about how to share branch versioned data, see ArcGIS Pro help's Share branch versioned data.

Work with branch versions

In ArcGIS Runtime, use the ServiceGeodatabase class to represent a hosted geodatabase. You can create an instance of the class by providing the service URI and optionally the version name. You can also read the service geodatabase property from a service feature table.

A ServiceFeatureTable will have an associated ServiceGeodatabase if the feature table was loaded from a web map or if it was created from a service geodatabase (using ServiceGeodatabase.getTable() ). A standalone service feature table, created using any of the constructors, will not have access to a service geodatabase.

Use ServiceGeodatabase.fetchVersionsAsync() to get information about the versions a service geodatabase contains that the current user has access to. The information includes the name, description, access level (private, protected, or public), creation date, and so on. You can create a new version by providing a name, description, and access level. You can access public and protected versions, and private versions you own. You cannot see information about, or connect to, private versions owned by other users.

The following steps show some common tasks when working with versions in a service geodatabase. These include getting the service geodatabase used by a feature layer, getting information about the current version, creating a new version, and switching the version used by the geodatabase to the new one.

Get the service feature table from a feature layer in the map.

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  // Get the feature table from a feature layer and cast it to ServiceFeatureTable
  // (if the table is not a ServiceFeatureTable, it will be null)
  val table = featureLayer?.featureTable as? ServiceFeatureTable

Get the service geodatabase from the service feature table. Make sure the service geodatabase is loaded. Loading the service feature table will also load its service geodatabase.

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  // If the feature table is a ServiceFeatureTable, see if it has a service geodatabase
  table?.let { table ->
    val serviceGdb = table.serviceGeodatabase
    serviceGdb?.let { serviceGdb ->
      // Load the service geodatabase if necessary
      if (serviceGdb.loadStatus != LoadStatus.LOADED) {
        serviceGdb.loadAsync()
      }

See if the service geodatabase supports branch versioning. If it does, get a list of its versions and information about the current version.

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// (continued from above)
      if (serviceGdb.isSupportsBranchVersioning) {
        // Get the versions contained in the service geodatabase
        val versionsFuture: ListenableFuture<List<ServiceVersionInfo>> =
          serviceGdb.fetchVersionsAsync()

        // Get the info for the current version and read its description
        versionsFuture.addDoneListener {
          val versions: List<ServiceVersionInfo> = versionsFuture.get()
          val versionInfo: ServiceVersionInfo = versions.get(0)
          if (versionInfo.name == serviceGdb.versionName) {
            Log.i("UseBranchVersionedData", "Version description is: ${versionInfo.description}")
          }
        }

Create service version parameters that define properties for a new version: a name, description, and access level.

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// (continued from above)
        val versionParams = ServiceVersionParameters().apply {
          access = VersionAccess.PRIVATE
          name = "DesignTwo"
          description = "Experimenting with an alternate design"
        }

Pass the parameters to the service geodatabase to create a new version. Then switch the current version of the database to the new one.

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// (continued from above)
        // Use the parameters to create a new version in the service geodatabase
        val designTwoVersion = serviceGdb.createVersionAsync(versionParams)
        designTwoVersion.addDoneListener {
          // Switch the version used in the map to the new one
          val serviceVersionInfo = designTwoVersion.get()
          serviceGdb.switchVersionAsync(serviceVersionInfo.name)
        }
      }
    }
  }

Note

For a table from a service geodatabase that supports branch versioning, ServiceFeatureTable.getGeodatabaseVersion() provides the version name. Unlike a table from a traditional versioned geodatabase, you cannot change the version by changing the version name. Instead, use ServiceGeodatabase.switchVersionAsync() to change the version. After switching versions, ServiceFeatureTable.getGeodatabaseVersion() will report the current version. ServiceGeodatabase.getVersionName() also reports the name of the version that the service geodatabase is currently connected to.

Edit data from a branch version

Edits can be made to service feature tables from a branch version in the same way they are made to any ServiceFeatureTable . You can use the same workflow described in the Edit topic. Within that standard workflow, the ServiceGeodatabase class provides some additional members for managing edits. For example, all local edits (to all tables in the version) can be applied by calling ServiceGeodatabase.applyEditsAsync() and you can undo all edits with ServiceGeodatabase.undoLocalEditsAsync() . Reconciling and posting versions are back-office operations that should be performed with ArcGIS Pro or other enterprise processes.

Make edits to the service feature tables, such as adding, deleting, or updating features. Edits to attachments and adding or removing relates can also be managed by the service geodatabase. See Perform Edits for more information about how to perform these feature edits.

Service feature table edits only affect the local datasets unless they are explicitly applied to the service. Before applying your local edits, you may want to examine the connected tables for a service geodatabase to see which tables it manages. When loading a web map, the service geodatabase's connected tables will consist of all tables in the map from the same feature service. Accessing a table from the service geodatabase (using ServiceGeodatabase.getTable() ) will also add that table to the collection of connected tables.

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    // See which tables are from the service geodatabase
  val serviceTables = serviceGdb?.connectedTables

You can use hasLocalEdits() on the service geodatabase to see if there are unsaved edits in any of the connected tables. You can then use applyEditsAsync() on the service geodatabase to send all edits to the service in a single transaction. This ensures that geodatabase behavior is appropriately leveraged.

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  if (serviceGdb?.hasLocalEdits() == true)
  {
    // Apply local edits for all connected tables to the service
    serviceGdb?.applyEditsAsync()
  }

The advantage of calling ServiceGeodatabase.applyEditsAsync() on the service geodatabase, rather than on each individual table, is that it ensures that all of the edit operations take place in a single transaction. Either all of the edits are applied or none of them. If you apply edits on each table individually, it is possible that only some edits will be applied (for example, if you lose network connectivity in the middle of the operation).